Mike Johnson looks like an idiot after the Epstein vote

Despite House Speaker Mike Johnson’s best efforts to run interference for President Donald Trump, the bill to force his Dear Leader to release the Epstein files easily passed both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, and now heads to Trump’s desk for a signature.

The Epstein files saga is a total and complete loss for Johnson, who spent months trying to convince the public that there was no need for them to see the documents related to now-deceased convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while at the same time attempting to block the legislation that would force Trump to release the documents from ever getting a vote in the first place.

In the end, both efforts failed.

Polls show that Americans overwhelmingly wanted the files made public, and disapproved of Trump’s effort to hide them. For example, an Economist/YouGov poll conducted Nov. 15-17 found that 80% think the government should release the Epstein files, with a plurality (45%) believing that Trump knew something about Epstein’s crimes.

And Johnson’s effort to block the bill from passing failed spectacularly, with the House voting 427-1 to force Trump to release the files the government has on Epstein, and the Senate unanimously passing the bill shortly after the House vote succeeded.

The fact that the Senate passed the bill without making any changes to the legislation was yet another loss for Johnson, who on Tuesday said he was only voting for the bill because he had “some comfort” that Senate Majority Leader John Thune was going to amend the legislation to protect the victims—which was really code for giving Trump leeway to redact and hide documents related to Epstein.

“If and when it’s processed in the Senate … they’ll be able to correct some of those concerns that we have, the protection of victims and whistleblowers, etc,” Johnson said.

Even after the bill passed, Johnson was confident Thune would change the bill text before the Senate voted on it.

“I talked to John Thune over the weekend. I just texted him. We’re going to get together. We’ll talk about this,” Johnson told reporters after the vote wrapped, according to Politico. “There’s an easy way to amend the legislation to make sure that we don’t do permanent damage to the justice system. And I’m going to insist upon that.”

Yet the Senate quickly passed the bill after the House vote—without a single change.

“I talked with the speaker a bit, and we’ve been in consultation obviously with the White House on this for some time,” Thune said on Tuesday. “The conclusion was when it came out of the House 427-1 that, you know, it was going to pass in the Senate.”

After the Senate passed the bill as is, Johnson told reporters that he was “deeply disappointed,” and even suggested that Trump may not sign the bill.

“I was just told that [Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer rushed it to the floor and put it out there preemptively. It needed amendments. I just spoke to the president about that. We’ll see what happens,” Johnson said.

Ultimately, Johnson’s efforts to protect Trump—who doesn’t want to release the documents that his name appears in multiple times—were an abject failure.

Trump is now in a serious bind.

If he signs the bill, he will be legally compelled to release the unclassified materials the government possesses on Epstein.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)—who cosponsored the Epstein files bill—told reporters on Tuesday after the legislation passed that he will release documents himself if Trump tries to block them.

“This is not a subpoena, this is a law,” Massie said, adding that if Trump doesn’t release the files, he could go to the House floor and read the names of Epstein’s alleged clients himself. “Marjorie [Taylor Greene] would do that, I would do that, there are Democrats that would do that.”

If Trump vetoes the legislation, it will create a firestorm that could cause further rifts in his MAGA coalition—which is splintering over disagreements about making the Epstein files public.

Ultimately, however, it’s unclear when we will ever see the Epstein files.

The Department of Justice has not said when it would release the documents. And it’s possible the DOJ would try to use a loophole in the bill—which says the DOJ can withhold documents if they would “jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution”—to delay their release indefinitely.

Given that Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Democrats tied to Epstein, it’s possible she uses that sham excuse to justify withholding the files.

But any of those outcomes would be politically damaging for Trump, whose approval rating has taken a beating and currently stands at an abysmal 40%. Ouch!