CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju joined anchor Boris Sanchez on Tuesday to discuss the state of play surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein case on Capitol Hill when they interviewed GOP Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, this is through a procedural vote, Democrats moving to force this vote to put Republicans on the record. If this were to succeed, it would have required that all documents related to Epstein be on a publicly accessible database within 30 days. That did not happen,\u201d Raju explained, adding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThis came after the Senate and bipartisan Senate vote did succeed last week calling for the release of those Epstein files. But that separate bill has been stalled in the Senate committee. So it\u2019s unclear exactly whether Congress will assert itself and force this issue. But the Republicans are divided about this. Republican leaders want absolutely nothing to do with this matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, told me yesterday that he is going to defer to the White House on this. John Thune, the Senate majority leader, has not taken really any position on this at all. But members on the right flank<\/a> of the House GOP and Senate GOP are the ones in particular who are raising the most concerns, including Congressman Tim Burchett, who just told me moments ago, he does not believe what the Justice Department is saying.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
An amendment demanding that President Donald Trump\u2019s administration release all files<\/a> related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was shot down by Republicans on the House Rules Committee on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendment, which was introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), was rejected by every Republican present during the vote except Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), who voted with Democrats in favor of demanding that the Trump administration release the Epstein files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khanna\u2019s amendment would have required U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to \u201cretain, preserve, and compile any records or evidence related to any investigation, prosecution, or incarceration of Jeffrey Epstein,\u201d and to \u201crelease and publish any records or evidence\u201d on a \u201cpublicly accessible website\u201d within 30 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raju then played a clip of his exchange with Burchett, beginning with him asking, \u201cShould there be investigation or special counsel investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not an attorney. Find them guilty and hang them publicly. I mean, that\u2019s not over the top either. I\u2019m ready. I\u2019m over it. It disgusts me. I\u2019m big on clarity and transparency, and that\u2019s a good reason people don\u2019t trust government, either party,\u201d Burchett replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut you don\u2019t believe what the Justice Department is saying?\u201d pressed Raju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know. No, I don\u2019t. I think I don\u2019t. I don\u2019t trust them,\u201d Burchett concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd that reference to the Justice Department memo that said that Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> was indeed murdered and that there was no client list here, or that he was not murdered and that there was no client list, as some of those on the folks on the far right have suggested here. But there\u2019s also no indication, Boris, that there will be an investigation into this on Capitol Hill. The Senate, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Jim Jordan, told reporters earlier today that he has confidence in President Trump and his handling of this matter,\u201d concluded Raju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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