WASHINGTON — Even after winning key battles in the ongoing Epstein files saga Tuesday, Democrats still fear President Donald Trump’s planning to quietly kill the bipartisan effort.
"Every time I think that this Republican leadership can't sink lower, they do. I don't trust these people. I don't trust [Speaker Mike] Johnson. You know, I don't trust this White House,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) told Raw Story.
“I don't trust them to tell me the correct time. I mean, they lie. They lie like a rug."
Tuesday’s overwhelming 427-1 floor vote in the House pressured the Senate to approve the Epstein bill without a formal debate or vote. It did so, sending the bill to the president who now says he’ll sign it.
But Trump’s last-minute change of heart over the weekend, after pulling out all stops to try and kill the measure, has Democrats bracing for betrayal.
“I just think it has to come through to some action,” Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) told Raw Story.
“It can't just be, like, ‘Well, we've passed it on the floor,’ but it never actually turns into anything.
“So yeah, it is disheartening, but that is exactly what I felt like when the president reversed this weekend. I was like, ‘He knows he can kill it.’”
‘Very, very worried’
Survivors are also worried.
Earlier Tuesday, before the House and Senate approved the Epstein bill, both the House Democratic Women's Caucus and Republican Women's Caucus met privately with Epstein survivors who fear the president has a trick up his sleeve.
“Very, very worried,” Balint said. "If that f–––ing happens to them, they're going to be so devastated, because they feel like every single step of the way, they thought that they were getting to action — and like it was so moving and so powerful what these women had to say — and yeah, they're worried about that too, that they're going to be dragged through all of this only to have it snatched at the last minute.
“Yes, that is what my concern is."
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) didn’t allay such fears. At a press conference earlier in the day, Johnson ripped the effort to advance the files release via a discharge petition, which ultimately empowered a majority of House members to force the vote on the bill.
“The truth is, the biggest proponents of this discharge petition were never actually interested in transparency or ensuring justice or protecting victims of this unspeakable tragedy, the Epstein evils,” Johnson said.
“And how do we know that? Because the Democrats had every one of the Epstein files in their possession for the four long years of the Biden administration.”
Democrats were dubious of the speaker’s tone.
"What he's trying to do is find a way to provide cover for the administration to not release all the files. I mean, I think that's clear,” McGovern of Massachusetts said.
“He wrapped himself in more contradictions than — I mean, it just made no sense.
"People have to be vigilant, because these guys, all they're about, you know, is providing cover for Trump and that's it.
“They wake up every day and they don't ask themselves how they can help American people. It's about how we help Trump? How do we protect Trump? And that's so outrageous.”
Protester holds a sign referring to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Capitol Hill. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
Johnson and other GOP leaders ended up voting for the measure — but McGovern said that was all smoke and mirrors.
"They're doing so to cover their ass back home, because their constituents, you know, would be totally outraged if they didn't vote to hold a pedophile accountable and release the files," McGovern said.
"I'm embarrassed for this institution.”
Like other Democrats, McGovern fears more attempts to bury the Epstein files.
“Trump could just release this on his own. So what the hell is the big deal? … So the big deal is that he's not releasing it.”
‘He was losing’
Last week, Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to open investigations into Democrats, but not Republicans — including himself — who palled around with Epstein, former President Bill Clinton among them.
Democrats worry that effort is meant to block the release of potentially damaging files.
"He's ordered her to start the investigation,” Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) told Raw Story. “I mean, there is this theory that you can't disclose files in the midst of investigations — and in fact, it appears the Biden administration may have been operating under that, because [Ghislaine] Maxwell was being prosecuted, so..."
"Interesting," Raw Story said. "So they might just keep an investigation going perpetually?"
"That's what he ordered, right?" Scanlon said. "Crazy."
Raw Story asked: "Do you trust your Republican counterparts on this Epstein vote?"
Scanlon said" "Oh, Lord, you know, they're all over the lot. I think the bigger question is, do you trust the White House not pulling the rug out from under them? Yeah, who knows?
"We're still a long way from seeing the files. I mean, there's an outstanding subpoena for the files that he's refused to obey.”
Still, Epstein survivors and the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who got the bill over the line are trying to keep politics out of the effort.
"This is not a political issue,” Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) told Raw Story.
"What did you think of Trump's about-face this weekend?" Raw Story pressed.
"I think he was in a position where that was his only option," Houlahan said. "And he did an about-face because he's, in the end, always desiring to be a winner, and he was losing."
