If you’ve read my column for a while now, you know I’ve taken U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to task on occasion. OK, on multiple occasions.
But this week, Greene took a stand in Washington I have to applaud and, in fact, that all people should applaud. Because while nearly every Republican member of Congress has circled the wagons to stuff the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal back under the rug, Greene has defied her party — and, most importantly, her president — to demand transparency in a case where there has been almost none.
The Epstein case dates back more than 20 years to a time when the high-flying financier was convicted of solicitation of prostitution. In 2019, he was also charged with running a massive sex trafficking ring when he allegedly preyed on young women and girls, who were in turn sent to Epstein’s wealthy and famous friends to be accosted and abused.
Who were the friends? Epstein died in prison before he ever revealed their names. But the mystery became the root of heated conspiracies among supporters of President Donald Trump, who promised that he would make the government investigation into Epstein public if he was reelected, including the names of anyone involved. But now back in office, and with details of his own relationship with Epstein trickling out, the president has said he has more important things to do.
Asked by a reporter at a July cabinet meeting about releasing the Epstein files, Trump snapped that the question was inappropriate for a time like that. “Are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable.”
Asked about the case again this week, Trump called the increasing calls to make the Epstein files public a “Democrat hoax.”
“They’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve beenpresident,” Trump said.
But this is where the congresswoman from Rome, Georgia, comes in. Because standing front and center at a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday, surrounded by dozens of women who said they were among Epstein’s victims years ago, was Greene, calling for justice and demanding answers.
“This is a boiling point in American history where there’s become two Americas,” she said. One America is “the rich and the powerful and the elite” that never face challenges or consequences. “And then there’s forgotten America that faces all the problems and deals with all the issues and never gets justice.”
Greene is among just four Republicans who joined all House Democrats this week in an effort to compel the Justice Department to make the full Epstein investigation public. They did it over the objections of DOJ, the speaker of the House, and now over the objections of Trump himself.
Without those four Republicans, Trump’s contention that the Epstein scandal is a Democratic smear job might seem plausible, at least to his closest supporters. But with Greene on board, after being an ally to Trump at nearly every opportunity, the president’s claims of a Democratic cabal just don’t stand up. And it looks like they won’t be enough to stop the congresswoman from pushing to make the files public or possibly even make the names of the alleged abusers public herself.
“It’s a scary thing to name names. But I’m not afraid,” she said. “And if (the women) want to give me a list, I will walk in that Capitol on the House floor and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women. I can do that for them, and I’d be proud to do it.”
Greene’s willingness to speak out on an issue that the president is trying to bury sets her apart, not just among Republicans in Congress but among leaders in business, law, academia, and nearly every other center of power in America right now, where they would rather stay silent in a disagreement with Trump than risk facing his anger against their companies, their universities or their campaigns.
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican leading the effort to disclose the Epstein files, said Trump had been personally calling other Republican members this week to pressure them not to sign on to his measure. Massie also called Greene “the bravest woman in Congress” for speaking out as she has.
Likewise, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California who has also joined the effort, thanked Greene publicly for standing with him after years of heated disagreements. “She has shown so much courage on this issue,” Khanna said. “I saw people calling her names on the way over here. We’ve got to stop that.”
The bill forcing the Justice Department to make the Epstein files public could get a vote early next week. It needs just two more Republican votes in the House to move it forward, which any of Greene’s fellow Republicans from Georgia could join her on, but don’t hold your breath.
Asked about the chances of Massie’s bill passing, GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted it would fail.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
