Hiding the Epstein files appears to be Mike Johnson’s first priority: analysis

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) is a "self-proclaimed beacon of Christian morality" who is silencing the victims of the Jeffrey Epstein to protect President Donald Trump, writes Salon's Amanda Marcotte.

"The Louisiana Republican has already gone to great lengths to make sure FBI files chronicling the alleged misdeeds of Epstein and his associates never see the light of day," she writes. "The reason for Johnson’s action wasn’t mysterious. Trump, whom Epstein called his 'closest friend,' is reportedly in the files."

Marcotte says Johnson is using the government shutdown as an excuse to block a House vote to release the elusive Epstein files, refusing to seat Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) "blaming the shutdown — despite the fact that the Senate is still open and holding votes."

Johnson, she says, has ulterior motives. "He knows that if Trump turns against him, he would likely lose the speakership. Hiding the Epstein files appears to be Johnson’s first priority, even above reopening the government so federal employees can be paid," she writes.

Marcotte also says that Johnson's blocking the release of the Epstein files is proof that there was no backlash to the #MeToo Movement against sexual abuses being publicly outed.

"For years, there has been a wave of whiny 'manosphere' influencers and right-wing pundits telling men that they are the real victims — that feminism has gone 'too far' and masculinity is under attack," she writes.

"This anti-feminist reaction has been wrapped in a misleading moral justification regarding 'innocence.' Women, we’re told, got so revenge-minded about sexual abuse that they went overboard, sweeping up blameless men in the cancel culture dragnet," she adds.

Johnson's actions —or lack thereof — tell an "uglier truth," Marcotte says.

"The backlash to #MeToo was never about male innocence. It was about protecting those who are likely guilty — and reasserting male privilege to abuse women, and even children, without consequence," she says.

Trump's determination to quash the Epstein scandal and bury the evidence, she writes, "shows he’s deeply worried about the truth getting out."

The Speaker, she says, knows exactly what he's doing.

"There can be little doubt that Johnson knows he’s covering for a sexual abuser. This has been adjudicated twice by civil courts, with juries finding that Carroll told the truth when she said Trump sexually abused her in a department store dressing room. There is also a tape of Trump bragging about grabbing women by the genitals in a way that directly echoes Carroll’s experience," Marcotte says.

Epstein, she notes, was charged in 2019 because of the #MeToo movement, and the backlash against it, "is also geared toward silencing victims of sexual assault."

"There is no doubt of the message being sent to abuse victims by Johnson, Trump, Bondi and everyone else involved in the cover-up: There’s no use in speaking out, because you will never see justice," she writes.

"The GOP’s shameful actions are just the most blatant example of how the #MeToo backlash has nothing to do with innocence, and everything to do with shielding men from the consequences of bad behavior," Marcotte says.

She writes that columnist E. Jean Carroll has become an icon, facing backlash for her successful pursuit against Trump.

"She didn’t just sue Trump for sexually assaulting her, but for repeatedly defaming her by accusing her of lying. Even after she won $5 million, he continued to defame her. So she sued him again, this time winning $83 million in damages," Marcotte says.

Carroll's critics, Marcotte says, knew she told the truth about Trump, but their attacks on her weren't about the truth.

"Those two cases laid bare the ugly truth about the backlash to #MeToo. Carroll’s critics didn’t think she was lying. They were mad she told the truth — and they want victims to shut up and let men get away with abuse. It was never about anything else," Marcotte says.