Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer filed an amendment on Wednesday to the must-pass defense authorization bill that would force the Department of Justice to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
The surprise move from Schumer is an effort to put Senate Republicans on the record as the Epstein issue roils the House. In a rare power play by the minority leader, he filed cloture on the amendment, which will force a vote on the measure. The text of Schumer’s amendment mirrors the language in Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna’s petition in the House that is aimed at compelling complete DOJ disclosure within 30 days.
“There’s been so much lying, obfuscation, cover-up,” Schumer told reporters. “The American people need to see everything that’s in the Epstein files.”
The exact timing of a procedural vote on the amendment is unclear. The Senate is expected to consider amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act this week.
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“The American people, Democrats, independents, Republicans are demanding it be made public, and it should be,” Schumer said. “We hope Republicans will vote for it. They should.”
Republicans have tried to distance themselves from the Epstein issue — Speaker Mike Johnson even sent his chamber home early for August recess to avoid a vote on the matter. The matter returned to Capitol Hill with new fervor this week, however, when Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published a photo of a letter for Epstein’s birthday that depicted a naked woman, bearing President Donald Trump’s signature.
Trump said Tuesday that it was “not my signature.”
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