new video loaded: Behind the Vote to Release the Epstein Files
By Annie Karni, Claire Hogan and James Surdam
November 18, 2025
Annie Karni, Claire Hogan and James Surdam
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Though the suspect in the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was revealed by authorities on Friday, questions surrounding his identity and motivations have exacerbated intense US political debates in the aftermath of the shooting.
Authorities revealed Kirk’s suspected killer to be Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man who grew up in Washington, Utah, along the state’s south-western border.
In absence of a clear motive for the slaying, reports have tried to piece together information about Robinson and his background. He is a third-year student in an electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in the state. Both of his parents are registered Republicans, though his personal political beliefs remain unclear. Now-deleted pictures on social media show Robinson and his family posing with guns.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Saturday, Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, said: “It’s very clear to us and to investigators that this was a person who was deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.” Cox cited the findings of the ongoing investigation into Robinson and his possible motive but did not provide any further details about how officials arrived at that conclusion.
Related: FBI director ridiculed by far right for clumsy response to Charlie Kirk’s killing
Those remarks from Cox were published a day after he delivered a speech following Robinson’s arrest where he had a candid moment about Robinson’s identity as a Utahn.
“Bad stuff happens, and for 33 hours, I was praying that if this had to happen here, it wouldn’t be one of us,” Cox said. “That somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country. Sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for.”
He went on to explain that it would have been “easier on us” if the suspect weren’t from the community.
“Just because I thought it would make it easier on us to say, ‘Hey, we don’t do that here.’ Indeed, Utah is a special place, we lead the nation in charitable giving, we lead the nation in service every year,” Cox said, tears welling in his eyes. “But it did happen here, and it was one of us.”
After Robinson’s identity was revealed, some conservatives have softened their attacks against Kirk’s alleged murderer as an individual – but continue to leverage anger toward liberals as a group.
Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina tweeted on Wednesday that “it’s time to bring back the death penalty” following Kirk’s murder.
On Friday, Mace said that Kirk “would want us to pray for such an evil and lost individual like Tyler Robinson to find Jesus Christ”.
“We will try to do the same,” she wrote.
She later doubled down on the death penalty, saying: “Some crimes are so evil, the only just punishment is the death penalty.” But, referring to the way the suspect’s father reportedly had a role in turning him over to authorities, she also said: “We are sending prayers and our high regards to Tyler Robinson’s father for doing the right thing.”
Cox’s speech has largely been praised as highlighting unity during a divisive moment, providing a stark contrast to Donald Trump, who considered Kirk a close ally. The president on Friday appeared on Fox & Friends and was asked by host Ainsley Earhardt, “How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?”
“The radicals on the right are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” Trump said. “The radicals on the left are the problem – and they are vicious and horrible and politically savvy. They want men in women’s sports, they want transgender people, they want open borders. The worst thing that happened to this country.”
Conservatives had latched onto reports – that have since been retracted – that the casings for bullets found with the gun that police suspect was used to kill Kirk were engraved with markings indicating “trans ideology”.
“To the surprise of literally no one,” Megyn Kelly said on her show earlier in the aftermath of Kirk’s killing. “There’s one particular group that’s been running around killing Americans in the name of ideology, and it’s transgender activists or individuals, or those who proclaim that they are.”
Once Robinson’s identity was revealed, Kelly speculated that Robinson must have been radicalized after going to college.
“This kid got radicalized, and obviously had a psychotic break … I am disturbed to see that he appears to have come from a loving, intact family,” Kelly said. “If you look at the family social media profile, it looks like a happy family. It looks like a loving mom, and a loving dad. He had two younger brothers, there’s lots of family photos of them going on vacations and family dinners.”
Kelly noted that while authorities will be seeking the death penalty, it is ultimately a “mental health issue” that underpins the “radicalization” of young people who go to college.
Meanwhile, white nationalist Nick Fuentes sought to shut down speculation that Robinson may have been a “Groyper”, a nickname for a follower of Fuentes, after reports on the engravings on the bullets of the alleged killer’s gun led to theorizing on his ideology.
Groypers had long criticized Kirk and trolled speakers at his events because the former perceived the latter to be too politically moderate.
While Fuentes claimed in a social media post that he and his followers were “currently being framed for the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he also said in a streaming video: “I pray to God there is no further violence.”
“To all of my followers, if you take up arms, I disavow you,” Fuentes said. “I disown you in the strongest possible terms.”
What could go wrong here?
Photo: Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
On September 23, the federal government will be exactly one week away from shutting down absent congressional action.
There’s another thing about that date you should know: It’s when Democrat Adelita Grijalva will almost certainly be elected to the House seat in Arizona that was made vacant by her father’s death earlier this year. As soon as she is sworn in, she’s expected to join every other House Democrat in signing on to what’s known as a “discharge petition” that will bring the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill to force the Department of Justice to immediately release all the files in its possession, to the House floor for a vote. With four Republicans already signed on, this should bring the total number of petitioners to 218, a majority, giving Speaker Mike Johnson and the congressional leadership no choice but to give it a vote. The timing couldn’t be much worse, particularly for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The government-shutdown negotiations will be complex and time consuming, but the dynamics generally favor Republicans. They’ll be in a position to draft the measure that will be the vehicle for avoiding a shutdown and can make it as tempting or repellent to Democrats as they choose, depending on how they want the crisis to end. And that’s assuming they want it to end without a shutdown that many of them would happily greet. Democrats will be in a position to kill another spending bill with a Senate filibuster, or to cut a bipartisan deal if one is on offer, or to “cave” again and earn the fury of the party base. Some Democrats think an agreement to extend the Obamacare premium subsidies due to expire at the end of the year would be a sufficient trophy, for instance. The White House will dictate the GOP strategy during the government-shutdown talks, and Republicans will fall in line. That’s an asset Democrats can only envy, and it’s why they probably aren’t going to “win” the spending negotiations.
The Epstein files legislation, however, unites Democrats and divides Republicans, precisely at the time Republican solidarity will be more essential than ever. Word is that the White House is already putting the screws to the four House Republicans who have signed the discharge petition. One of them, Thomas Massie, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Democrat Ro Khanna, is a professional troublemaker who has already crossed Trump in the past and survived a MAGA primary challenge. Two of the other three, Lauren Boebert and her frenemy Marjorie Taylor Greene, have longstanding ties to the QAnon conspiracy crowd for whom cabals of sexual predators are the keys to understanding all world affairs. And the fourth, Nancy Mace, is running for governor of South Carolina and accusing one of her rivals of going easy on sexual-abuse offenders, including her own former fiancé. These four will be nearly impossible to move on the Epstein bill and Republicans can’t use too much force without risking their support for the spending measures needed to keep Democrats on the defensive and out of power.
Successful discharge petitions are so rare that the precise rules for dealing with them are a bit murky. Johnson could probably exercise some delaying tactics prior to the vote and, even if it passes, getting the Justice Department to comply over Trump’s objections would be difficult to put it mildly. Only Trump himself probably knows exactly how much damaging material is in danger of floating into the atmosphere like radioactive fallout. But after all these months when everything Trump did was described as a “distraction” from the Epstein files by those who were certain it was deadly for him, the Epstein files themselves are proving to be the biggest distraction of all.
Ed Kilgore
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It’s about damn time!
The country has been waiting for years now for the release of the Epstein Files — all the info the government collected on underage sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein both before and after his death. Many of Donald Trump‘s supporters believed he would be their champion and make all of it public… but it’s become clear even to most of MAGA that’s a long wait on a train that ain’t comin’.
No, Trump — a longtime pal of Epstein, and not the only one in the government — has made clear where he stands. He doesn’t want any of it out, he wants everyone to shut up and stop asking about it, he even went so far as to say the entire thing was just a fake Witch Hunt — repeating as recently as Wednesday that it’s “a Democrat hoax.”
But of course, we know that’s not true. Epstein’s right-hand woman and sometime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted on sex trafficking charges, essentially proving in court that Epstein was guilty, too. We mean, he died rather inconveniently in prison before he was able to face justice, but his accomplice’s guilty verdict was pretty definitive legal proof. After all, the victims said it was both of them who recruited, sexually abused, and trafficked them to powerful men.
Related: Trump Nightmare! Ghislaine Maxwell Said Some Of Epstein’s Pals ‘Are In Your Cabinet’!
So there’s just that one loose end. Why the hell aren’t any of these powerful men facing justice? The ones who participated in the underage sex trafficking? That’s who everyone has been hoping would be exposed when the Epstein Files finally went public. But that… never happened.
Well, thankfully a few Republicans are standing up to Trump and siding with Democrats to demand everything be released. Congressmen Ro Khanna (D-California) and Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) are asking their fellow reps to sign a discharge to force Trump’s DOJ to release all the files. They already have 134 of the 218 signatures they need, including Republicans Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Wow. We may not agree with them on anything else, but at least we can all agree that UNDERAGE SEX TRAFFICKING IS WRONG! Jeez, why does this have to be difficult at all??
In a press conference on Wednesday morning, Rep. Massie hit back directly at Trump’s “hoax” defense, saying:
“I think it’s shameful that this has been called a hoax. Hopefully, today, we can clear that up. This is not a hoax. This is real. There are real survivors. There are real victims to this criminal enterprise, and the perpetrators are being protected because they’re rich, powerful, and political donors to the establishment here in Washington, DC.”
In their most powerful push for votes yet, Khanna and Massie invited some of those real survivors of Epstein to speak out about what was done to them — and why it’s so important these files be released. Trump’s FBI and DOJ used the victims as an excuse why the files should be kept private, to protect them — but these women are standing up and calling BS. And we are so in awe of their bravery.
Annie Farmer was just 16 years old when Epstein and Maxwell assaulted and took sensitive photos of her and her sister Maria Farmer. They even reported it to authorities at the time, and… nothing. That was in 1996, btw. Now she’s had three decades to witness the inaction when powerful men are involved. She told the crowd gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday:
“I am now 46 years old; 30 years later, we still do not know why that report wasn’t properly investigated, or why Epstein and his associates were allowed to harm hundreds, if not thousands, of other girls and young women.”
She added, pointing at the men still being protected:
“Not only did many others participate in the abuse, it is clear that many were aware of his interest in girls and very young women and chose to look the other way because it benefited them to do so. They wanted access to his circle and his money. Their choice to align with his power left those of us who had been harmed by this man and his associates feeling very isolated.”
Sky Roberts, brother of the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre — who died by suicide earlier this year, echoed these sentiments:
“The justice system was not designed to serve the powerful, it was meant to protect the people — and it’s time it started doing just that.”
He has every reason to be furious. The President of the United States admitted to knowing that Epstein “stole” his 16-year-old sister from Mar-a-Lago, and has faced no consequences whatsoever…
But the victims weren’t just there to inspire Congress to try to find them justice — they revealed they’re ready to fight with the one weapon they have: information.
As Haley Robson, who says she was trafficked by Epstein to other men starting when she was 16 years old, said:
“We are the keys. We know the games. We know the players.”
She also blasted the DOJ for using the victims as their shield for not releasing the files, saying:
“Shame on you for using our trauma to weaponize this moment.”
Well, you know who isn’t going to exploit the survivors and their trauma? The survivors themselves. Accuser Lisa Phillips declared to thunderous applause:
“And let me announce now: Several of us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list of names. We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now together as survivors we will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world. And it will be done by survivors and for survivors. No one else is involved.”
Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa! Hell yeah! This is a total game changer!
We have to assume they’ve stayed quiet for so long because they were afraid of what would happen to them. After all, accusers have faced threats both of the legal AND violent kind. Well… not anymore! Now that it’s become clear the government has to be dragged kicking and screaming to truth and transparency, it’s well past time for these women to take charge.
It sounds like one way or another, an “Epstein list” is going to get released. After all, they know who some of the men who abused them are. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to shout it from the rooftops? Who’s going to stop them from outing sexual predators and rapists of minors??
Oh, right.
A White House official blasted the efforts to release the Epstein files, even though they clearly have the backing of the victims. They said:
“Helping Thomas Massie and Liberal Democrats with their attention-seeking, while the DOJ is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the Oversight Committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration.”
A “very hostile act” to the Trump administration?! Why would the push for a release of information be hostile to Trump? Hmm, let’s think about that one…
Some of the victims hinted at the men involved. Chauntae Davies pointed out how Epstein and Maxwell were consistently “boastful about their famous or powerful friends.” And Epstein loved bragging most about how close he was with Trump:
“And his biggest brag forever was that he was very good friends with Donald Trump. He had an 8 by 10 framed picture of him on his desk with the two of them, like they were very close.”
Several men have been associated with Epstein over the years. Bill Clinton rode on his plane and apparently had him over to the White House. Attorney Alan Dershowitz had some kind of relationship, though he’s quite litigious about what kind. Prince Andrew has been straight up accused of having sex with 17-year-old Virginia Roberts.
But we don’t know of any other name as closely associated with Jeffrey Epstein as our 47th President.
Trump was good friends with Epstein for years, they were party pals, having been described by mutual friends and acquaintances as “best friends” and “wingmen.” There’s a ton of photo and video evidence of them partying together. There are stories about them hanging out with young women. Hell, Trump even said in a profile in 2003:
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy, He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
If that weren’t suspicious enough, Trump actually has been accused of wrongdoing with Epstein. A woman going by the pseudonym Katie Johnson told a horrifying story years ago, accusing Trump of tying her to a bed at Epstein’s apartment and raping her. She said she was only 13 years old when this happened. The same age as his daughter Ivanka Trump that year.
Johnson withdrew her lawsuit against Trump, citing fears for her safety, and has since disappeared. You can read her entire story HERE, if you have the stomach for it.
The point is, there may be a huge reason Trump is so keen to sweep all this under the rug — and always has been. But he can no longer silence the survivors.
We don’t know what will come first, the victims’ unofficial Epstein list or the actual release of actionable material by the US government… but if we had to bet, the smart money is on the women to come through.
And damn, we cannot wait.
See the full press conference for yourself (below):
[Image via MEGA/WENN/PBS/NBC/YouTube.]
Perez Hilton
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Survivors, lawmakers demand release of all Jeffrey Epstein files
Survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are pushing for a discharge petition, forcing a House floor vote to release nearly everything related to the case.
Updated: 3:17 PM PDT Sep 3, 2025
Demanding transparency, truth and their own healing, survivors of sexual abuse, along with bipartisan lawmakers, called for the release of all documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Survivors accuse Epstein of abusing and trafficking countless underage girls for decades before his death in a New York jail cell in 2019. Survivors, including some speaking out for the first time, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers, pushing for a discharge petition that would force a House floor vote on releasing nearly everything related to the Epstein case. “I am no longer weak, I am no longer powerless and I am no longer alone,” Anouska De Georgiou, a survivor, said before reporters on Wednesday. “With your vote, neither will the next generation be.”On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee released more than 30,000 pages on the case, which some say were heavily redacted and revealed too little new information. The petition’s supporters want all investigation files released, emphasizing that the issue should be non-partisan.”The American people deserve to see everything,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said. “When you sign this discharge petition, it should mean nothing should be off limits.””The FBI, the DOJ, and the CIA hold the truth. And the truth we are demanding come out,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said.But the petition is already facing some roadblocks. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says he believes the House Oversight Committee should be responsible for carefully handling the documents, while President Trump dismissed the effort Wednesday, calling it “a Democrat hoax.”Related video below: Speaker Johnson on meeting with Epstein victimsSurvivors responded directly to President Trump’s dismissal, with one registered Republican calling on him to meet her at the Capitol to share her story and explain why the issue is not a hoax. Others pleaded that he recognize the abuse as real and humanize them.Lawmakers leading the petition are close to a House floor vote, needing only two more signatures to reach the required 218. So far, the petition includes all Democrats and at least a handful of Republicans, including Greene and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.Lawmakers emphasized the rare coalition of bipartisanship, signifying the growing issue. If the petition passes the House, it still needs to pass the Senate before heading to Trump’s desk.Regardless of the petition’s outcome, survivors are planning their own action for justice by compiling a list of those involved in Epstein’s network of abuse, though they did not specify if or when they would release it. In Wednesday’s press conference, the victims said they aim to hold the powerful accountable and help their healing, despite concerns about retaliation from Epstein’s circle.
Demanding transparency, truth and their own healing, survivors of sexual abuse, along with bipartisan lawmakers, called for the release of all documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Survivors accuse Epstein of abusing and trafficking countless underage girls for decades before his death in a New York jail cell in 2019.
Survivors, including some speaking out for the first time, joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers, pushing for a discharge petition that would force a House floor vote on releasing nearly everything related to the Epstein case.
“I am no longer weak, I am no longer powerless and I am no longer alone,” Anouska De Georgiou, a survivor, said before reporters on Wednesday. “With your vote, neither will the next generation be.”
On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee released more than 30,000 pages on the case, which some say were heavily redacted and revealed too little new information. The petition’s supporters want all investigation files released, emphasizing that the issue should be non-partisan.
“The American people deserve to see everything,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said. “When you sign this discharge petition, it should mean nothing should be off limits.”
“The FBI, the DOJ, and the CIA hold the truth. And the truth we are demanding come out,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said.
But the petition is already facing some roadblocks. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says he believes the House Oversight Committee should be responsible for carefully handling the documents, while President Trump dismissed the effort Wednesday, calling it “a Democrat hoax.”
Related video below: Speaker Johnson on meeting with Epstein victims
Survivors responded directly to President Trump’s dismissal, with one registered Republican calling on him to meet her at the Capitol to share her story and explain why the issue is not a hoax. Others pleaded that he recognize the abuse as real and humanize them.
Lawmakers leading the petition are close to a House floor vote, needing only two more signatures to reach the required 218. So far, the petition includes all Democrats and at least a handful of Republicans, including Greene and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
Lawmakers emphasized the rare coalition of bipartisanship, signifying the growing issue.
If the petition passes the House, it still needs to pass the Senate before heading to Trump’s desk.
Regardless of the petition’s outcome, survivors are planning their own action for justice by compiling a list of those involved in Epstein’s network of abuse, though they did not specify if or when they would release it. In Wednesday’s press conference, the victims said they aim to hold the powerful accountable and help their healing, despite concerns about retaliation from Epstein’s circle.
On his first full day back in Washington, House Speaker Mike Johnson sat for hours in a closed-door interview with six women who say they were abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein.Johnson’s presence in the room on the first day of a frenetically busy September on Capitol Hill underscores how significant the issue of Epstein’s past crimes has become within the GOP.Within days, House Republicans are expected to take their first major floor votes on forcing President Donald Trump’s administration to release more records related to the case. And Johnson — like his members — is under intense pressure to meet the base’s demands for transparency without going against the wishes of the president, whose inner circle has attempted to quiet this summer’s political firestorm over Epstein.“The fact that Mike Johnson sat there for two and a half hours — we’re serious about this,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer told reporters after leaving the meeting Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything we can to make this right.”Johnson himself told reporters the testimonials he heard were “heartbreaking and infuriating” and said “there were tears in the room. There was outrage.”Five weeks ago, Johnson and his leadership team had hoped that sending lawmakers home early to their districts for their August recess would defuse tension around the issue. But the return of Congress to Washington showed that the pressure on GOP leaders has only continued to build.That pressure on Republicans will dramatically increase on Wednesday, when Rep. Thomas Massie and his Democratic counterpart in the effort, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, will hold a press conference in which some of Epstein’s survivors are expected to speak publicly for the first time.Massie and Khanna are leading a push to force the full House to vote on a resolution that would require Trump’s Justice Department to turn over all documents related to Epstein or his crimes. Under their maneuver, known as a discharge petition, Massie would need just five more Republicans to force the bill to the floor since every Democrat is expected to sign on.So far, two other Republicans have signaled they’ll support it: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Other Republicans who have supported the bill itself — including Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona and Tim Burchett of Tennessee — were either noncommittal or suggested they would not support the discharge petition when asked by CNN on Tuesday.The House Oversight Committee has been leading an investigation into Epstein after some Republicans joined with Democrats to compel a subpoena to the Justice Department for records. The panel on Tuesday night released more than 33,000 pages related to the case – all of the subpoenaed documents the panel had obtained earlier this summer.But the public release of information has not stopped the push for more transparency that has ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson. Massie and Democrats said nearly all of those documents had already been made public as part of various court cases and that it did not alter their push for their own Epstein measure.As part of its investigation, the Oversight Committee hosted a meeting on Tuesday with several survivors who are planning to speak at Wednesday’s press conference. In that closed-door meeting, several of them shared chilling stories of abuse. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, one of the lawmakers in the room who has spoken out about being raped at age 16, left the meeting in tears.Inside the room, one survivor said the women had been told by Epstein that they were disposable and threatened against coming forward, according to a person in the room who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting. The women were told if they went to police that Epstein had powerful friends, that person said.If the bipartisan Epstein resolution does pass the House, its fate is unclear in the Senate. But it would be an extraordinary move by a GOP-controlled Congress to take against a president of its own party.To prevent such an escalation, Johnson and the White House are attempting to sell their GOP members on an alternative path. They have backed a non-binding resolution that encourages the Oversight Committee’s investigation. And Johnson stressed the importance of the work of that panel, in part by sitting in on one of the sessions himself.“I sat by him in our meeting and listened to his compassion for these survivors. I listened to his questions,” Greene said of Johnson as she left the meeting. “I’ve listened to some of his plans that he has going forward. I do think he’s doing a great job there.”Even so, Greene is one of the three Republicans so far willing to buck her leadership on the discharge petition. She said it was nothing against Johnson personally, but that she decided: “I just think we need to do everything we can to bring it out.”Inside the House GOP conference, some Republicans are privately dreading weeks of questions about the Epstein matter and would rather move onto issues like appropriations, tariffs or Russian sanctions, according to multiple lawmakers and senior aides. But many of those GOP lawmakers also realize that there is a small but vocal faction of their party that is deeply invested in getting more answers on Epstein and that they can’t be seen as dropping the issue.Democrats, meanwhile, are accusing Johnson of attempting to stonewall further investigations in Congress.Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico told reporters after the meeting that Johnson was advocating that the investigation should remain within the Oversight panel — rather than expanding the probe to include more committees.“In the room with six victims of sexual violence by Jeffrey Epstein, it was suggested by Democrats that this be investigated using the full force of every committee here in Congress. And the speaker ended by saying he didn’t think that was necessary. He’d like to just keep it in the Oversight Committee,” Stansbury said. “That is where the speaker actually chose to end this conversation.”Johnson, speaking after the Tuesday meeting, vowed “transparency” in releasing information to the public, and said that Trump shares the same perspective.“That’s his mindset. And he wants the American people to have information so they can draw their own conclusions. I’ve talked with him about this very subject myself.. He also, just as we do, is insistent that we protect the innocent victims, and that’s what this has been about,” he said.
On his first full day back in Washington, House Speaker Mike Johnson sat for hours in a closed-door interview with six women who say they were abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Johnson’s presence in the room on the first day of a frenetically busy September on Capitol Hill underscores how significant the issue of Epstein’s past crimes has become within the GOP.
Within days, House Republicans are expected to take their first major floor votes on forcing President Donald Trump’s administration to release more records related to the case. And Johnson — like his members — is under intense pressure to meet the base’s demands for transparency without going against the wishes of the president, whose inner circle has attempted to quiet this summer’s political firestorm over Epstein.
“The fact that Mike Johnson sat there for two and a half hours — we’re serious about this,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer told reporters after leaving the meeting Tuesday. “We’re going to do everything we can to make this right.”
Johnson himself told reporters the testimonials he heard were “heartbreaking and infuriating” and said “there were tears in the room. There was outrage.”
Five weeks ago, Johnson and his leadership team had hoped that sending lawmakers home early to their districts for their August recess would defuse tension around the issue. But the return of Congress to Washington showed that the pressure on GOP leaders has only continued to build.
That pressure on Republicans will dramatically increase on Wednesday, when Rep. Thomas Massie and his Democratic counterpart in the effort, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, will hold a press conference in which some of Epstein’s survivors are expected to speak publicly for the first time.
Massie and Khanna are leading a push to force the full House to vote on a resolution that would require Trump’s Justice Department to turn over all documents related to Epstein or his crimes. Under their maneuver, known as a discharge petition, Massie would need just five more Republicans to force the bill to the floor since every Democrat is expected to sign on.
So far, two other Republicans have signaled they’ll support it: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Other Republicans who have supported the bill itself — including Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Eli Crane of Arizona and Tim Burchett of Tennessee — were either noncommittal or suggested they would not support the discharge petition when asked by CNN on Tuesday.
The House Oversight Committee has been leading an investigation into Epstein after some Republicans joined with Democrats to compel a subpoena to the Justice Department for records. The panel on Tuesday night released more than 33,000 pages related to the case – all of the subpoenaed documents the panel had obtained earlier this summer.
But the public release of information has not stopped the push for more transparency that has ratcheted up the pressure on Johnson. Massie and Democrats said nearly all of those documents had already been made public as part of various court cases and that it did not alter their push for their own Epstein measure.
As part of its investigation, the Oversight Committee hosted a meeting on Tuesday with several survivors who are planning to speak at Wednesday’s press conference. In that closed-door meeting, several of them shared chilling stories of abuse. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, one of the lawmakers in the room who has spoken out about being raped at age 16, left the meeting in tears.
Inside the room, one survivor said the women had been told by Epstein that they were disposable and threatened against coming forward, according to a person in the room who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting. The women were told if they went to police that Epstein had powerful friends, that person said.
If the bipartisan Epstein resolution does pass the House, its fate is unclear in the Senate. But it would be an extraordinary move by a GOP-controlled Congress to take against a president of its own party.
To prevent such an escalation, Johnson and the White House are attempting to sell their GOP members on an alternative path. They have backed a non-binding resolution that encourages the Oversight Committee’s investigation. And Johnson stressed the importance of the work of that panel, in part by sitting in on one of the sessions himself.
“I sat by him in our meeting and listened to his compassion for these survivors. I listened to his questions,” Greene said of Johnson as she left the meeting. “I’ve listened to some of his plans that he has going forward. I do think he’s doing a great job there.”
Even so, Greene is one of the three Republicans so far willing to buck her leadership on the discharge petition. She said it was nothing against Johnson personally, but that she decided: “I just think we need to do everything we can to bring it out.”
Inside the House GOP conference, some Republicans are privately dreading weeks of questions about the Epstein matter and would rather move onto issues like appropriations, tariffs or Russian sanctions, according to multiple lawmakers and senior aides. But many of those GOP lawmakers also realize that there is a small but vocal faction of their party that is deeply invested in getting more answers on Epstein and that they can’t be seen as dropping the issue.
Democrats, meanwhile, are accusing Johnson of attempting to stonewall further investigations in Congress.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico told reporters after the meeting that Johnson was advocating that the investigation should remain within the Oversight panel — rather than expanding the probe to include more committees.
“In the room with six victims of sexual violence by Jeffrey Epstein, it was suggested by Democrats that this be investigated using the full force of every committee here in Congress. And the speaker ended by saying he didn’t think that was necessary. He’d like to just keep it in the Oversight Committee,” Stansbury said. “That is where the speaker actually chose to end this conversation.”
Johnson, speaking after the Tuesday meeting, vowed “transparency” in releasing information to the public, and said that Trump shares the same perspective.
“That’s his mindset. And he wants the American people to have information so they can draw their own conclusions. I’ve talked with him about this very subject myself.. He also, just as we do, is insistent that we protect the innocent victims, and that’s what this has been about,” he said.
Rep. Nancy Mace’s campaign for South Carolina governor suffered an embarrassing stumble last week when she canceled a planned speech in Myrtle Beach after just eight people arrived, undercutting her claim that she is leading the Republican field.
Mace, who announced her gubernatorial bid on August 4 with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and declared herself a “proud transphobe,” had advertised that more than 100 people would attend a Moms for Liberty event at Forward Church on Thursday. But at the scheduled start time, rows of empty chairs greeted her. Only eight attendees were present, not including reporters and security, according to My Horry News.
Instead of taking the stage, Mace and her staff slipped into a back room. A press aide later told reporters that the speech was off. The Charleston Republican answered media questions outside the sanctuary before meeting briefly with those who did show up.
The flop came just weeks after Mace launched her run on the parade ground of The Citadel, where she became the first woman to graduate from the military college’s Corps of Cadets. At that event, she promised to “ban pronouns in the classroom” and cut off public funding to schools and colleges she accused of promoting “gender ideology,” The Advocate reported. She also leaned into Trump-style messaging, pledging to punish prosecutors and sheriffs she deems too lenient and to defund colleges “that can’t define what a woman is.”
Days before she announced her candidacy, Mace called herself a “proud transphobe” on X, formerly Twitter.
Mace insists she remains the frontrunner. Her campaign released polling last week showing her at 25 percent support, ahead of Attorney General Alan Wilson and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, though more than a third of Republican voters were undecided. She said she texted the results to President Donald Trump, who reposted them on his social media platform Truth Social, according to My Horry News.
“The bellwether that Horry County brings is, ‘Where are Trump voters? Where are they leaning?” Mace told reporters after the canceled speech. “Trump voters are two-thirds of the state, and we’re winning Trump voters by double digits, almost 20 points,” she said, according to My Horry News.
But the optics of an empty room added to a string of awkward campaign moments. Earlier this month, Mace berated a reporter at a town hall after being fact-checked on her opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act. She also faced backlash after boasting that she likes to unwind by watching Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Mace, who has branded herself as “Trump in heels,” is one of five Republicans vying to succeed Gov. Henry McMaster, who is barred by term limits from seeking reelection.
This article originally appeared on Advocate: Nancy Mace scraps South Carolina campaign stop after nobody showed up to see the ‘proud transphobe’
Car rental giant Hertz is in the hot seat, after customers have come out of the woodwork to complain that the company’s newly instituted AI scanners are charging them outrageous fees over minor issues. Now the system reportedly has the attention of one of Congress’s most artificially intelligent members.
The company recently rolled out the scanners as part of a partnership with Israeli firm UVeye, whose products were originally developed as a homeland security device—designed to detect guns and bombs. Its executives ultimately decided to make money by scanning cars. UVeye’s product is described as an “AI-driven inspection technology,” and is designed to assess returned cars for damages.
According to The New York Post, “dozens” of Hertz customers have complained about the company’s AI scanners, with many claiming they’re being sent huge bills for minor scuffs and scrapes. On Reddit, the scanners have also gotten a lot of hate.
The Drive recently interviewed a Hertz customer who said he was charged $440 over a minor scuff on the tire’s hub. When the customer attempted to reach a human, he says he was faced with a complicated, not altogether clear system for filing a complaint. The outlet writes, of the customer’s ordeal:
When he returned the car, he did so with a 1-inch scuff on the driver’s side rear wheel. Patrick says he was alerted to the damage “minutes” after dropping the VW off, and with it, charges for the blemish: $250 for the repair, $125 for processing, and another $65 administrative fee. That’s $440 all told, for curb rash on one wheel.
Now, so much animosity has built up against the rental giant’s automated system that congressional curiosity has settled on the company in the unlikely form of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina). The Post writes that Mace, who is mostly known for her unhinged opinions about immigrants, liberals, and the LGBTQ community, sent a letter to Hertz CEO Gil West this week, asking for clarification about the company’s use of AI. The exact contents of the letter aren’t clear, although the Post writes the following of Mace’s inquiry:
Rep. Nancy Mace, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation, asked Hertz CEO Gil West to provide her office with a “better understanding” of the company’s “experience as an early adopter of AI scanning technology,” according to the letter obtained by The Post. The South Carolina congresswoman questioned how the AI scanners “may impact” Hertz’s “work as a vendor to the Federal government.”
Gizmodo reached out to Mace’s office and Hertz for comment. In a statement previously shared with the Post, Hertz vaguely defended the new system: “The vast majority of rentals are incident-free. When damage does occur, our goal is to enhance the rental experience by bringing greater transparency, precision, and speed to the process.”
Mace is clearly an imperfect vector to probe this issue. She recently bragged about securing infrastructure funding that she voted against in 2021, so don’t expect much from the congresswoman. But now that Hertz’s practices have received such high-level notice, maybe a lawmaker who is a serious person will step in and review the situation.
Lucas Ropek
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Mitch McConnell embraced being called the Darth Vader. For 17 years he has commanded the GOP Senate, and, had an oversized influence in the larger Republican Party. In the last year, he has been plagued by a divided party, a tussle with a former president, and health issues. So it was only a somewhat surprise he announced he was stepping aside in leadership. Politicians are lining up to take his place and he will have a tough go until November when he relinquishes the position. But does McConnell’s exit signal the end of marijuana prohibition?
RELATED: Science Says Medical Marijuana Improves Quality Of Life
McConnell has been proud of remaking the Senate and accomplishing his personal political goals. While Senator, he and his wife has amassed a fortune of $35 million while stopping small marijuana business owners from getting ahead. Born in a different era, McConnell is a conservative from the old school, legal marijuana, LGBT rights, expanded voter access and are enemies to him. As the legal state by state cannabis industry has blossomed to $20+ billion in sales filling state coffers, McConnell only grew more firm in his stand to block federal legalization.
Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-SC), a strong ally of the industry, said publicly what everyone is thinking. If McConnell is a no on federal legalization, it is a no go. He has stonewalled the SAFE Banking Act multiple times. When the Senate flipped, Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) put forward the SAFER Banking Act with a bipartisan group only to have it die due to the House’s leadership chaos.
McConnell has been fine going against public opinion when making policy he feels is correct. Marijuana federal legalization has over 87% of public approval and veterans groups have pleaded for support on cannabis for help with PTSD. Both appeals have fallen on the deaf ears of the Grim Reaper. And he has seemed pleased when he wins a major battle against the public and voters.
RELATED: People Who Use Weed Also Do More Of Another Fun Thing
While his loss indicates a positive for the cannabis industry, there is a downside. Like the House, the Senate could get swept up in a power play as the players reshuffle who is control. Meaningful legalization could come to a standstill without strong, focused leadership whipping votes. With the Biden administration hesitate to move forward in the campaign procmises, the cannabis industry is holding its breath.
Terry Hacienda
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Traditionally, the GOP has been the nemesis of expanded marijuana legalization. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been proud of preventing national movement. They party also has been quick to blame cannabis use for everything including mass shooting and the fentanyl crisis. But over the last couple of years, a few Republican champions have emerged and it is a bit startling.
RELATED: Marijuana Can Make Your Holidays Better
The cannabis industry held its breathe with the election of the Biden/Harris ticket. Vice President Harris had been a foe and there was fear about what would happen when they entered office. The reality is nothing happened. Despite Biden’s promise of helping, it took 3 years for him to consider cannabis rescheduling. He has refused to nudge Congress to support federal legalization and Harris has remains out of site.
In a surprise to most, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, came out in support of the taxation and regulation of recreational cannabis. DC is overseen by Congress and has been begging for statehood for generations. Currently, they still have the federal elected overseeing how parts of the city are run. In 2014, Nearly two-thirds of D.C. voters favored legalizing recreational marijuana for in a 2014 ballot initiative. In the District, the possession of up to 2 ounces of marijuana is decriminalized for residents 21 years or older for recreational or medical use, according to the district’s marijuana laws. Comer is very open to following the voter wishes.
RELATED: California or New York, Which Has The Biggest Marijuana Mess
Also, Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) reintroduced the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) 2.0 Act, signaling a renewed effort to end federal marijuana prohibition in states where it is legal. And it is being driven by Republicans. Co-sponsored by Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Brian Mast (R-FL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Troy Carter (D-LA), it goes beyond decriminalizing state cannabis programs by proposing a federal tax-and-regulate framework for the cannabis industry.
You also have Rep Nancy Mace (R-SC) has lead efforts for SAFE Banking and more and has worked across the aisle to support the cannabis industry.
While this is a good sign, it doesn’t mean it has full throttle support from the GOP. Ohio is a a hot mess as Republicans feel voters were confused when 70% voted and passed recreational marijuana, they are now working to gut it. They can learn from Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) who told Florida voters who doesn’t care 70% voted for cannabis, he knows better.
There is a saying about politics make strange bedfellows, I guess marijuana makes odd cannabis buddies.
Terry Hacienda
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Fox News’ Neil Cavuto on Wednesday flat-out asked Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to respond to reports she is a narcissist.
The “Your World” host noted how Mace had “certainly gotten a lot of people’s attention” in recent months with her vote to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House speaker, her “scarlet letter” stunt, reported TV appearance quota and a Washington Post report in which colleagues described her as narcissistic.
“There was a time that you liked Kevin McCarthy, then you didn’t, that you liked and supported Steve Scalise, and then you didn’t. Right now, you say you’re with (new House Speaker) Mike Johnson. That’s great. But they don’t trust you.” Cavuto said.
“A lot of people feel that you’re a narcissist. ‘It’s all about Nancy Mace.’ What do you say?” he asked.
“Politics sure is an ugly business, isn’t it, Neil?” Mace replied. “And when you are on the rise, people are going to attack you, no matter what.”
“I didn’t read the Washington Post article,” she added. “I, quite frankly, don’t care what the Washington Post thinks about me. I care about what my constituents and my state and the people across this country that I’m trying to support. I care what they think.”
“Our two-party system of government works best when one party accepts election results and the other doesn’t.”
“Lord knows I’ve been asking my colleagues to overlook some shit.”
“Why would I abandon the strategy that got me this far?”
“As the representative of a grossly gerrymandered district, I kind of forgot elections were a thing.”
“It seems like he never recovered from his parents’ divorce, so I thought the speakership might cheer him up.”
“That’s not fair. A lot of my colleagues voted for me because of how much I hate gays.”
“If America didn’t want us empowering election deniers they would have voted the right way and not forced our hand.”
“Because I’m going to be raking in seven figures lobbying for Wal-Mart by next year so who gives a fuck.”
“Anything’s better than that cuck Paul Gosar taking charge.”
“He said I could use the speaker’s office when he goes home for the night.”
“He had the little ‘R’ next to his name.”
“How are we supposed to deny the results of the next election if we don’t have a speaker?”
“My entire existence is centered around not making Donald Trump mad.”
“We need to make Mr. Trump feel good. I mean, look at him: He’s mad all the time. Like, all the time! Don’t you just want to do something nice for a big ol’ grinch like that?”
“The beautiful thing about elections is that they’re subjective, like a work of art. They’re not determined by who had the most votes, but by which candidate spoke most eloquently to your heart.”
“At the end of the day, we all just want what’s best for our wealthiest constituents.”
“Because we’re laying groundwork to steal the next election. Was that not clear?”
“I’m wearing the scarlet letter after the week that I just had, last week, being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice,” said Mace, who referred to the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel where an unmarried woman becomes pregnant out of wedlock and wears a scarlet letter as punishment.
“Okay, that’s a no, no, that’s not – the ‘A’ just does not make sense, unless you see the guy she was standing next to,” Colbert quipped as he tossed to an edited image of Mace standing next to someone with a ”-hole” shirt.
He later launched into another dig at Mace, comparing her look to that of one popular musical rodent.
“She looks way less Hester Prynne and way more Alvin Chipmunk,” he joked.
You can catch more of Colbert’s monologue in the clip below.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) defended her position on abortion, warning her fellow Republicans “they’re walking the plank” over their extreme positions on reproductive rights.
“I’m pro-life,” Mace told CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview Sunday. “I have a fantastic pro-life voting record, but I also understand that we cannot be assholes to women.”
Mace, who has previously shared her experience as a rape survivor, has called for exceptions to bills restricting abortion, and more accommodations for those pregnant.
“As a Republican woman today in 2023, this is a very lonely place to be,” Mace said. “I feel like I’m the only woman on our side of the aisle advocating for things that all women should care about.”
Mace continued: “No woman wants to go to the doctor and make the decision that she’s going to have an abortion. Nobody wants that. And what are we doing to ensure that she doesn’t have to make that decision? What are we doing about the foster care system? What are we doing about child care?”
Asked if Republicans would suffer in moderate districts across the country if they don’t take steps to soften their position on the issue, Mace replied: “I think they’re walking the plank.”
Republicans, however, have continued to make moves to restrict the medical procedure even though their stance is unpopular with the majority of Americans, and has previously hurt them electorally, including during the 2022 midterms.
Last week, Alabama’s Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) argued he has the right to prosecute those who provide and help women travel to get an abortion. Alabama has made abortion illegal at any stage, with the sole exception being to save the life or health of the mother.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday warned such threats could also affect a state’s economy.
“I think that they’re going to see these draconian, wrongheaded actions as it relates to reproductive health care are going to backfire as it relates to their ability to attract talent and attract business,” Raimondo told CNN.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last summer, several states have banned abortion or passed bills severely restricting the procedure.
CNN
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GOP Rep. Nancy Mace has a warning for her party about some efforts to restrict abortion without exceptions – and how it could affect moderate House Republicans on whom their narrow majority depends.
“I think they’re walking the plank,” the South Carolina Republican told CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview that aired Sunday, when asked if members in moderate districts like hers are doomed.
“I’m pro-life. I have a fantastic pro-life voting record, but I also understand that we cannot be a**holes to women,” said Mace, who has been vocal about including exceptions for rape in measures to restrict the procedure.
The two-term congresswoman went public about her own experience of rape during an abortion debate in the South Carolina state house before coming to Congress. “Being the victim of rape, you don’t ever get over it,” she told Bash, noting how the experience has affected her and her outspoken advocacy for exceptions.
“As a Republican woman in 2023, this is a very lonely place to be,” said Mace, who was first elected to her coastal South Carolina congressional district in 2020. “Because I feel like I’m the only woman on our side of the aisle advocating for things that all women should care about.”
Still, Mace has faced criticism for voting the party line, even on measures where abortion rights are at stake.
“I think I get labeled a flip-flopper unfairly because of that,” Mace said. “I have my own ideology that I believe in. I’ll take the vote. That doesn’t mean I want to take the vote.”
She argues she has tried to secure changes to measures she may not fully agree with. “I have been very effective at trying to push the ball – not always – but doing the best that I can. I’m only one person, and a lot of times I’m doing it alone and by myself.”
In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last year, Mace – the first woman to graduate from the Citadel’s Corps of Cadets – has often said she’s looking for ways to show that the GOP is “pro-women.” In her interview with Bash, she called on lawmakers to address the foster care and child care systems, for example, arguing that having an abortion is a decision no woman wants to make.
In April, the congresswoman urged the Food and Drug Administration to ignore a ruling by a federal judge that suspended the approval of a medication drug used for abortion. (The Supreme Court subsequently said that the drug and regulations that make it accessible would remain in place for the time being.)
“This is an issue that Republicans have been largely on the wrong side of,” Mace told CNN at the time.
CNN
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The Supreme Court’s conservatives expressed doubt at oral arguments Wednesday that South Carolina GOP lawmakers engaged in impermissible racial gerrymandering when they redrew congressional lines for a House seat to benefit Republicans.
The case is one of several racial and political gerrymandering-related lawsuits that could impact which party controls the House after next year’s congressional elections.
The district at issue was reworked in 2020 to benefit the GOP and current incumbent, Rep. Nancy Mace – one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker last week.
The South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and a Black voter named Taiwan Scott say the use of race dominated the decision-making process and that the state worked to intentionally dilute the power of Black voters. A federal court agreed, referring to the revised map as “bleaching.”
Several of the conservative justices on Wednesday suggested that map drawers had taken politics into consideration, not race.
Chief Justice John Roberts said those challenging the map had “no direct” evidence that race had predominated in the decisionmaking process. He said that there were no “odd-shaped” districts drawn and that there existed a “wealth of political data” that would justify the chosen boundaries. He said the challengers had only presented “circumstantial evidence” and suggested the court would be “breaking new ground” in its voting jurisprudence if it were to side with them.
Justice Samuel Alito repeatedly suggested that a lower court had made serious legal error in invalidating the map by relying upon erroneous expert testimony. He said the Supreme Court could not “rubber-stamp” the district court’s finding and he noted that the individual charged with drawing the maps had years of experience and had worked for both Democrats and Republicans.
Alito contended that there was “nothing suspicious” if a map drawer is aware of race as long as it is not a predominant factor when drawing lines.
Justice Neil Gorsuch said there was “no evidence ” that the legislature could have achieved its “partisan tile in any other way.”
For their part, the liberals on the court suggested that the Republican-controlled South Carolina Legislature adopted the maps by considering race as a predominant factor, in violation of the equal protection clause of the US Constitution.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that Republicans were launching “pot shots” at the experts who claimed the maps could only be explained by race. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted that the challengers are not required to produce a “smoking gun” to prove their point.
The dispute comes as the justices this year ordered Alabama to redraw its congressional map to account for the states’ 27% Black voting population. That decision, penned by Roberts, came as a welcome relief to liberals who feared that the court was poised to make it harder for minorities to challenge maps under Section 2 of the historic Voting Rights Act. A federal court approved a new map last week that significantly boosts the Black population in a second district, which could lead to the pickup of a Democratic seat next year.
The South Carolina case raises different questions rooted in the Constitution concerning when a state crosses the line between permissible partisan goals and illegal racial discrimination.
The state chapter of the NAACP and Scott are challenging the state’s 1st Congressional District, located along the southeastern coast and anchored in Charleston County. Although the district consistently elected Republicans from 1980 to 2016, in 2018 a Democrat was elected in a political upset.
Two years later a Republican candidate, Mace, regained the seat in a close race. When the state House and Senate began considering congressional reapportionment in 2021, the Republican majorities sought to create a stronger GOP tilt in the district, one of seven in the state. A new map could make the seat more competitive.
After an eight-day trial featuring 42 witnesses and 652 exhibits, a three-judge district court panel in January held that District 1 amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because race was the predominant factor in the district’s reapportionment plan.
“To achieve a target of 17% African American population,” the court said, “Charleston County was racially gerrymandered and over 30,000 African Americans were removed from their home district.” The court referred at one point to the “bleaching” of Black voters out of the Charleston County portion of the district.
“State legislators are free to consider a broad array of factors in the design of a legislative district, including partisanship, but they may not use race as a predominant factor and may not use partisanship as a proxy for race,” the court concluded.
South Carolina Republicans, led by state Senate President Thomas Alexander, appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that the maps had not been drawn impermissibly based on race, but instead with politics in mind.
The person who devised the map testified in federal court that he was instructed to make the district “more Republican leaning,” but that he did not consider race while drawing the lines. He did, however, acknowledge that he examined racial data after drafting each version and that the Black voting-age population of the district was viewed during the drafting process.
“If left uncorrected, the panel’s holding would place States in an impossible bind by exposing them to potential racial gerrymandering liability whenever they decline to make majority-white, modestly-majority Republican districts majority-Democratic,” argued John Gore, a lawyer for the Republicans.
Mace filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the high court in support of the Republicans, charging that the lower court “ignored one of the most important traditional districting principles – the preservation of the core of existing districts.”
Joined by other GOP members of Congress from South Carolina, Mace argued that constituent services, voter education and the seniority of long-serving members of the House are “vital interests” and that the lower court was “bent on destroying the legislatures’ duly enacted and carefully negotiated map.”
Lawyers for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund told the justices in court papers that the state impermissibly used race as a predominant factor when drawing the district.
“Using race as the predominant means to sort voters is unconstitutional even if done for partisan goals,” they argued.
They said the lower court made clear that the state “intentionally exiled more than 30,000 Black Charlestonians from CD1 predominately because of their race.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday questioned Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) over why she had called on fellow Republicans to “stop being assholes to women” while also backing a House amendment to block a Defense Department abortion policy.
Earlier that day, the chamber passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act with an amendment that would reverse the Pentagon policy, which reimburses travel expenses for service members who are stationed in states banning abortion but want to receive the procedure. A compromise on the final legislation is expected after the Senate passes its own version of the bill.
Mace, who voted in favor of the NDAA in the House, had sent a blunt message to her party over the amendment Thursday.
“If we want to show America that we can come together and that we care about women, we’ve got to stop being assholes to women,” she told CNN’s Manu Raju. “We’ve got to stop targeting women, and do the things that make a real difference.”
On a broadcast of “The Source,” Collins asked Mace about her vote.
“You said yesterday — and I’m quoting you now — that your party needs to ‘stop being assholes to women.’ So, why did you vote for this today?” asked the CNN anchor.
“I want to be consistent on military policy and whether travel — because this is very specific to travel. The military does not pay for abortion services at all. But this was strictly related to travel,” responded Mace, who has previously warned that her party will suffer in 2024 for its support of strict abortion measures.
“And the military does not in any other case reimburse for travel expenses for elected procedures. Now, I did not like the idea of this amendment. These are not issues that I believe we should be voting on right now without some consideration of what we can do to protect women and show that we’re pro-women, which has been my frustration for the better part of the last seven months.”
Collins later asked whether Mace thinks it’s “fair” that a service member in upstate New York has “more access to abortion services and reproductive health options” than a service member in Texas, who would have to travel to receive such care.
“Nothing in here would prohibit a woman from traveling out of state to follow state law,” said Mace, referring to the legislation.
“Nothing would prohibit her from being able to do that. There are no limits on her travel.”
Watch Collins’ discussion with Mace below:
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Wednesday the Republican Party will stumble in the 2024 elections if it pushes bans on abortion. (Watch the video below.)
Appearing on CNN’s “The Lead,” Jake Tapper asked Mace whether her party would face electoral consequences or “would suffer in the polls” for the restrictive laws.
“We suffered in 2022 and I do believe we’ll suffer in 2024 if we don’t have a message that shows compassion to women, both for women’s rights and the right to life,” Mace replied. “You can balance the two.”
Mace said that even in her conservative state, “the majority of voters would not be supportive of a six-week ban that allowed very few exceptions for a very short period of time and required women to have their rapes reported to police.”
“That’s really not going to fly with most people, whether they’re men or women,” she added.
Mace made her remarks as Tapper showed the South Carolina House on the verge of passing a bill to ban abortion at six weeks. The exceptions include rape or incest, but those claims must be backed by a police report or restraining order, she said.
“I have grave concerns as a rape victim about the reporting requirements for rape victims within this legislation,” said Mace, adding that coming forward to law enforcement was distressing for many who don’t want to “relive” the experience.
The congresswoman said she wants to extend exceptions up to 20 weeks to “make sure victims have time to process their trauma.”
“I can tell you I was horrified to tell my mother. It took me seven days to tell her what happened to me and I was a wreck,” Mace said. “And when I dropped out of school, I was suicidal for months afterward. It was a horrific experience.”
Mace has previously sounded the alarm for the GOP as the party ramps up its attacks on women’s reproductive rights.
Most abortions are now prohibited in 14 states, following the Supreme Court’s repeal of Roe v. Wade, The New York Times reported. Some ban abortions by six weeks, when most women don’t even know they’re pregnant. South Carolina passed a similar six-week ban in 2021 but it was struck down by the state Supreme Court.
The South Carolina republican congresswoman has come under fire from her fellow conservatives because her views on abortion aren’t as extreme as the rest of the party.
“We need to find a middle ground on this issue, and I have a great pro-life voting record,” she said. “But some of the stances [Republicans] have taken, especially when it comes to rape and incest, protecting the life of the mother ― it’s so extreme [that] the middle, independent voters, right of center, left of center, they cannot support us.”
Mace’s so-called middleground approach has come under fire from other conservatives, such as far-right radio host Stew Peters, who started to attack her abortion views on Sunday, but apparently decided attacking her looks would be the more professional way to handle their differences:
“Someone tell @RepNancyMace supporting life is NEVER extreme. (You’d think someone who goes under the knife for cosmetic surgery like she does would be a bit concerned about getting the Joan Rivers treatment.)”
Mace responded to the nasty tweet on Monday and didn’t pull any punches:
“Ahhh yes, if you can’t defend your extremism go after a woman’s appearance.
As a rape victim, I will continue to fight for women who’ve been raped. I’m not OK with executing women who’ve had abortions, I want women to have access to birth control. Let’s start there…”
So far, Peter hasn’t responded to Mace’s comeback, but others chimed in.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) took to national television Sunday to call Rep. Matt Gaetz “a fraud” for his antics during the protracted House speaker election.
Mace accused Gaetz of turning his repeated rejections of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) into a fundraising plea. Joining other far-right dissenters, Gaetz voted against McCarthy 14 times before capitulating in the 15th round Friday by voting “present,” allowing McCarthy to win.
“Matt Gaetz is a fraud,” Mace said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” with Margaret Brennan. “Every time he voted against Kevin McCarthy last week he sent out a fundraising email. What you saw last week was a constitutional process diminished by those kinds of political actions. I don’t support that kind of behavior.”
“I have no regrets about casting my vote on the House floor against Kevin McCarthy for Speaker!” one Gaetz fundraising outreach read, Axios reported.
Mace also fumed that Gaetz and other Republican holdouts squeezed a concession out of McCarthy to allow for a third of the rules committee to consist of ultraconservatives from the Freedom Caucus. The rules committee determines which bills make it to the floor.
“I am concerned that commonsense legislation will not get through to get a vote on the floor,” Mace said.
Mace, who calls herself “pro-life” with “many exceptions,” noted upcoming abortion bills that will never get approved by the Senate or President Joe Biden. She said that “if we’re going to be serious about protecting life,” the GOP should entertain more centrist views that promote birth control so the need for abortions could be diminished.
Mace said she was “on the fence” over approving the rules that will facilitate actual legislation. That vote comes on Monday.
Mace, who has accused Gaetz of fraudulent behavior previously, wasn’t the only Republican to express frustration with the Florida conservative. Some walked out on Gaetz’s floor speech on Friday, and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama had to be restrained from physically going after Gaetz at one point.
Gaetz’s office did not immediately respond to a HuffPost request for comment.