Mike Johnson accused Democrats of “cherry pick[ing] three emails out of 20,000 documents” to “try and imply that the president was guilty.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has claimed that the Democrats rushing toward a vote next week to release files linked to the sex trafficking investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is a part of the party’s “entire game plan.”

“President Trump has clean hands. He’s not worried about it. I talk to him all the time. He has nothing to do with this. He’s frustrated that they’re turning it into a political issue,” the Louisiana politician told host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”

Johnson called the move “not surprising because the Democrats have nothing else to talk about.”

  • KarlHungus42@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    “Democrats made it a political issue”

    trump literally campaigned on releasing the files. Vance promised to release the files after they took office.

    How the fuck are the people seriously trying to claim that trump is innocent, yet releasing the files would be damaging to him?

      • takeda@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        16 hours ago

        No, those will stay on, it’s just certain people will be justified.

        They really trying to have the same model Russia has. Theoretically they have legislature, courts, rule of law, but not really. One person has final word on everything.

  • Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    Does he know something we don’t know? Like they’ve already destroyed evidence or some other tactic to hide his obvious guilt. Trump sycophants are leading the CIA, FBI, DOJ. I have zero trust or faith in our system. No rule of law for the elites, no checks and balances.

    Trump is guilty and belongs in prison along with everyone covering for him.

    • ripcord@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Trump is suddenly pushing for their release. So yeah, whatever destruction of info/etc they’ve been working on for the past several months has been done.

      • III@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        Trump is pushing for investigations by the DOJ into the Democrats on the list - which effectively makes the files unable to be released to the public during the investigation.

        Same pedophile protection, different path.

      • BanMe@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        There are multiple copies of the files, in many hands - I don’t think editing is possible anymore. I could be wrong.

        What I am expecting is Trump to just say “there see I told you, it’s nothing” even as it’s salacious and incriminating as hell, and Fox News carries that message, and people just move on, as our society hits a new low.

  • BrotherL0v3@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    Trump raped kids.

    Nothing about the way he has handled the Epstien investigation makes sense UNLESS he raped children.

    There is no word in my vocabulary that captures how disgusted I am with Mike Johnson and the rest. They know he’s a child fucker. They’re not stupid enough to believe otherwise.

    Soulless, inhuman, evil pieces of shit. Every bad thing that happens to him for the rest of his life will be less than he deserves.

  • BigMacHole@sopuli.xyz
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    19 hours ago

    How DARE the Democrats try to get to the Bottom of a GLOBAL CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING RING! How DARE they!

    • hope@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      This was disgusting to read. For one, arguing in any capacity that it is acceptable to rape children between the ages of 11 and 14, and that it’s not a church problem because most of those children were boys, is absolutely heinous.

      But they don’t stop there!!?! They essentially brush over that 22% of victims WERE prepubescent?! That’s still many thousands of pedophiles, even if you want to argue that most of the rapists are um actually hebaphiles?!

  • Tony Bark@pawb.social
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    19 hours ago

    I do find it funny that all of this coulda been avoided had Trump’s campaign not made Epstein an issue.

    • Zier@fedia.io
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      10 hours ago

      Actually, had trump just shut his fat orange mouth and stayed in his criminal lane, he would still be quietly scamming people and may never have been caught. But his ego flared up like terminal herpes and he had to be the “president”. He put himself in the spotlight, he deserves every bad thing that happens to him. I wouldn’t doubt he had a hand in killing Epstein. Then again, he is as dumb as a broken rock. He thinks no one knows what magnets are, what a “stable” genius.

  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    This is what makes Schumers actions last week make even less sense.

    He had Trump on the ropes. He could have had Republicans dismantle the fillibuster.

    Then a Epstein vote coasts through.,

    • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      15 hours ago

      A possible vote on the Epstein files is apparently worth sacrificing healthcare and SNAP for millions of Americans and making Republicans worried about consequences.

      Controlled opposition.

    • Serinus@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      My theory is that he traded the release of these files. Still questionable at best.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        My theory is that he’s a neoliberal corporatist traitor who decided to sabotage the party because the socialists and progressives did too well in the election. Can’t have success associated with a leftward shift, ever, at all costs – even capitulating to fascist pedos for zero gain.

        • Serinus@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          Absurd. I get that you want everything to be black and white. It’s certainly easier to just rage indiscriminately. But it’s not productive.

  • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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    19 hours ago

    He’s not entirely wrong. Democrats didn’t care about the Epstein files before Trump’s reelection and they don’t have anything else to talk about because most of the party hates the DSA’s ideas. They don’t care about the victims and they’d have been happy to bury this, they’re doing this because there’s no other choice. It’s their best political move.

    Don’t get me wrong, Trump is obviously in the files and this is a great political move!

    But, Democrats are fair-weather allies.

  • Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de
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    19 hours ago

    As we’ve learned, trump’s hands may be ‘clean’, but that mouth sure isn’t.

    It’s the current game plan because it’s got high visibility, the people want less pedos, not less pesos.