The Justice Department is now a month past the deadline Congress set for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, and Republican lawmakers appear to have given up.
Politico reported Monday that those who were once so adamant about seeing the files are now "largely shrugging their shoulders."
“I don’t give a rip about Epstein,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) last week. Just a month ago she was pressured by President Donald Trump to take her name off of the discharge petition that mandated a vote on the release of the files.
“Like, there’s so many other things we need to be working on,” Boeberg continued. “I’ve done what I had to do for Epstein. Talk to somebody else about that. It’s no longer in my hands.”
Other Republicans who initially pushed for the files have also backed off. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has abandoned her seat. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who emerged tearful from a survivors’ hearing, is now focused on her gubernatorial race. That leaves Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) as the only Republican still pressing for the files.
"The public falling out between Greene and Trump was largely over Greene’s support for releasing the Epstein files — Trump called her a 'traitor' — and ultimately culminated in Greene’s resignation from the House earlier this month," Politico reported.
Trump then issued payback, vetoing “a bill that would have supported a water infrastructure project in Boebert’s district,” and administration officials privately warned Mace that her defiance would likely cost her Trump’s endorsement in the South Carolina governor’s race.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said she has moved on to a campaign to hold former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress.
In the month since the DOJ was supposed to release the files, Trump has invaded Venezuela and seized its leader, threatened war with Cuba, and now targeted Greenland.
House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told reporters he believes the Justice Department is cooperating with the law mandating release by Dec. 19. Democrats appear to have given up as well.
Democrats appear to have given up as well, however.
Rep. Ro Khanna (R-Calif.) told Politico, “The law has passed. Now it’s for the courts. Now it’s a legal matter.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi is set to testify to the committee in February. Massie said he intends to use his five minutes to question Bondi by asking about the Epstein files.