During a Thursday speech on the U.S. Senate floor, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) openly said the goal of his party was to "cover" for President Donald Trump over the Jeffrey Epstein controversy.
Earlier on Thursday, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee blocked an effort by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) to attach an amendment to legislation that would have compelled the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release evidence pertaining to its investigation of the convicted pedophile. Mullin proposed a resolution of his own on Thursday that would essentially outsource the job of releasing Epstein documents to the courts, whereas Democrats have taken the approach of forcing the DOJ to publish its troves of evidence on the longtime friend of President Donald Trump, which, according to ABC News, the FBI has had in its possession since 2019.
In his floor speech, Mullin characterized Democrats' Epstein-related resolutions as "political theater" while arguing that his own effort would suffice for full transparency. However, the Oklahoma Republican also said during his speech that Republicans' goal was to "cover" for the administration.
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"I'm sure this would be handled just like any other thing they trued to go after like the baseless impeachments, or the baseless special counsels. Or the unbelievable amount of charges they tried to file against the president. I'm sure this will be handled the exact same way," Mullin said. "What we're simply wanting to do here is give [Trump] cover."
Mullin's remarks were met with outrage and lack of surprise on social media. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) tweeted from her personal account: "Yes, it's pretty clear that['s] what y'all are doing." Former CNN reporter John Harwood quipped that Mullin was "not the smartest senator."
"Holy s--- he just said it out loud," liberal group MeidasTouch observed.
"What a magnificent public speaker," First Amendment attorney Andrew Fleischman wrote on X. "You owe it to yourself to hit play and listen to him orate."
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Watch the video of Mullin's comments below, or by clicking this link.