GOP senator challenges Democrats on Jeffrey Epstein files transparency

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to see all court documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein unsealed in a bid to see if Democrats are serious about shedding light on the situation.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., plans to introduce a resolution on Thursday that would call on federal and state courts to “immediately unseal all materials, including grand jury materials” that were part of any criminal investigation or prosecution of Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. 

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Mullin’s measure comes as Congress has been rocked by turmoil and drama surrounding the Trump administration’s handling of the so-called Epstein files. Congressional Democrats have used the Epstein probe, and the administration’s alleged lack of transparency on the matter, as a rallying cry over the last two weeks. 

The House was paralyzed by the Epstein drama, with some Republicans and Democrats joining forces in their calls to bring the information out in the open. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., didn’t relent, and sent lawmakers home early.

In the Senate, Democrats are demanding the immediate release of the files, too.

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But Mullin’s resolution, while designed to offer more transparency and protect and redact any information on victims that may appear in the documents, is also meant to see if Senate Democrats are ready to put their money where their mouths are.

Last week, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., tried to force a vote on a resolution that similarly would force the release of documents related to Epstein.

“If there is any evidence of a cover-up in the Epstein case, the public has a right to know. If there is a list, the public deserves to see it and Americans deserve to see the truth even if it’s not what Donald Trump and his elite friends want,” he said on the Senate floor.

But Mullin blocked the move and charged that Gallego was just engaging in “political theater.”

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He argued that if Democrats were truly serious about uncovering the truth behind the Epstein files, why didn’t they do so when former President Joe Biden was in power?

“Where were they? Silent, doing nothing but covering up for an absent president,” he said. “And now, all of a sudden, they want to talk about transparency. Maybe you can figure out who ran the White House the last four years, and now, all of a sudden, they want to make something of this.”

It’s also the first action from a Senate Republican demanding that Epstein-related court documents be made public. And it comports with Trump’s direction to Attorney General Pam Bondi to “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony.”

However, that order already hit a snag on Wednesday, when a judge appointed by former President Barack Obama denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal court files on Epstein.