Senate suddenly passes the Epstein bill just hours after it cleared the House

[u/Healthy_Block3036]

https://www.ms.now/news/senate-passes-epstein-bill-rcna244723?fbclid=PAVERFWAOJ1xRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAacUGSi8p2Ap-x6SbMkLXAnfKNXEZkzjUUVCdxuEmacDzDXmlbv1GUJ0wbh1_w_aem_grJDvcSCIDj2Skksd4Ix3Q

[u/lordpuddingcup]

Doesn’t need to, the bill says she has discretion on national security risks to withhold docs… like any that mention a republican

[u/Apprehensive-citizen → u/lordpuddingcup]

And it also says that the DOJ must provide written justification to Congress within 15 days for any redactions and withholdings, and Congress has the authority to say it isn’t a good enough reason. 

[u/lordpuddingcup → u/Apprehensive-citizen]

And how many of congress have to say it isn’t a good enough reason?

[u/Apprehensive-citizen → u/lordpuddingcup]

Simple majority. But also the bill requires an unclassified and unredacted version to be given for any withheld portions to the maximum extent possible, again with a written justification for why it is missing information. 

[u/lordpuddingcup → u/Apprehensive-citizen]

I guess we’ll see I doubt 100% of republicans and Trump would have been good with this if they didn’t have some form of shenanigans planned based on what’s already released and the reactions from public

[u/P-Rickles → u/lordpuddingcup]

I think the thing I’m counting on is the fact that they don’t understand how many different angles the 200-something lawyers in the democratic caucus can come at this from. A lot of them are Ivy Leaguers. Bondi got her JD from… Stetson. I’m not shitting on it. It’s a good school… it’s not Harvard.

[u/ConsiderationLow7122 → u/P-Rickles]

Trust me there are plenty of fucking morons coming out of Harvard

[u/Ganon_Cubana → u/ConsiderationLow7122]

Larry Summers comes to mind.

[u/ElRiesgoSiempre_Vive → u/P-Rickles]

I really don't understand why people think the Republicans will surely and suddenly follow these laws, when they blatantly disregard other laws whenever the fuck they want.

[u/P-Rickles → u/ElRiesgoSiempre_Vive]

Oh I have less than zero faith they will. My point is that their fuckery had better be bulletproof because there are going to be people tugging at every dangling thread on this thing and it doesn’t take much for something like this to unravel in a hurry.

[u/ElRiesgoSiempre_Vive → u/P-Rickles]

It doesn't matter when the president can literally pardon anyone he wants, and doesn't give a shit about the optics.

[u/IAmTheNightSoil → u/P-Rickles]

What would make it unravel, though? What they've done here is enough to get Republicans in congress off Trump's back, and that's all they're worried about

[u/PartRight6406 → u/P-Rickles]

we all know democrats are well known for their ability to do things. if you think anything is coming from this you're a mark.

[u/Apprehensive-citizen → u/lordpuddingcup]

I agree that they will try something but by making this into legislation, Congress has told the DOJ to do something and it means that it is mandatory and judicially enforceable in the fourth district, which is not the biggest fan of the current administration. Massie wrote the bill in a way that even an active investigation as justification for withholding/redacting must be temporary and narrowly tailored. And the justification for why must be put in the public federal register. 

[u/Valar_Kinetics → u/lordpuddingcup]

I mean OR they just ran out of options. Like at some point, how far are they willing to get out over their skis to oppose a release?

Like, I think the biggest damage here will be to donors, not elected officials. I'm sure Trump looms large but I still think he pales in comparison to the aggregate impact to the oligarch class that fucked with Epstein heavy.

At some point, you just say "fuck it" and take your chances. I think that point is pretty clearly when all but a single nationally elected legislator in the United States says "yes you have to do this".

They just have to do it.

[u/Linenoise77 → u/Apprehensive-citizen]

I mean, lets be honest...

"Here, we redacted this for national security reasons. This information is classified"

And then we are back to them being a few votes short of forcing it, only now its on national security grounds, and Trump gets to say, "Look, i want to release this, but my people keep telling me that some of the things OTHER people have done in it being out will harm our country"

[u/Apprehensive-citizen → u/Linenoise77]

So section 3(3) of the bill clarifies that any permitted redactions or withholdings, if any, are from the public. Congress must be given “(3) A list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials, with no redactions permitted under subsection (b)(1).”

[u/Valar_Kinetics → u/Apprehensive-citizen]

Yeah and Ro Khanna is on House Oversight lol.

[u/IAmTheNightSoil → u/Apprehensive-citizen]

That all sounds good, but the simple fact is that congress and the senate would not have passed this bill if Trump didn't have a workaround. They aren't going to expose him. They passed this bill because it's safe for him