In a close vote, Senate Republicans defeated an effort Wednesday by Democrats to insert language into Congress’ annual defense authorization bill that would have forced the public release of case files on the sex trafficking investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein.
The Senate voted 51-49 to dismiss the changes to the bill, with Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky joining with all Democrats in opposition.
For months, Democrats have clamored for the release of what’s become known as the Epstein files, looking for practically every opportunity to force Republicans to either join their push for disclosure or publicly oppose a cause that many in the Republican base support. President Donald Trump signaled as he was running for president that he was open to releasing a full accounting of the case, but is now trying to dismiss the push as a “Democrat hoax.”
So far, Democrats have been successful in forcing Republican leadership to grapple with the issue, yet it was unclear whether they would actually be able to crack Trump’s hold on congressional Republicans to force legislation through Congress.
Hellbound and Down 