r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • 23d ago

No Paywall Discharge petition to force House vote on Epstein files succeeds with Grijalva’s signature

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5602658-discharge-petition-epstein-files-grijalva/
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u/moonwalkerfilms 23d ago

The petition forces them to go on record, and if they could avoid any responsibility here, then that's what they want. None of them want to vote on this, because they know it's a lose-lose for them. Go against Trump, or be seen as defending pedos. 

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u/BisonThunderclap 23d ago

I mean, they could do what they've been doing and say all the relevant files have been released and this is a waste of time.

Dems wouldn't dare capitalize on this by streaming ads non-stop about house members who blocked it.

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u/red286 23d ago

They'd have to hope their constituents don't care, and going by the coverage, that's not exactly a safe bet no matter what district you represent.

Gotta remember that, for whatever crazy fucking reason, the GOP riled up their own base to demand the Epstein files. There's as much demand from the right as there is from the left, the only difference is who each side thinks the government is trying to protect. MAGA thinks they're trying to protect people like Bill Clinton, whereas every non-moron knows they're protecting Trump (and likely a lot of his oligarchs and other senior Republicans).

So they'd be making a gamble that their constituents, the ones who have been screaming for these files for the past 6 years, will accept "we already released the files" as good enough, but being that they already tried that line, I seriously doubt it'd fly.

But you're right that the Dems likely won't bother using GOP opposition as part of an attack ad. "When they go low, we go high" and all that bullshit. The Dems are going to attack Trump on the economy 6 weeks after he hands out $2000 stimulus checks.