The fix was in on the Epstein files bill. What was supposed to happen was that President Mike Johnson would pass the bill requiring its release in the House, and then Majority Leader John Thune would supposedly bog down the bill in the Senate by claiming the legislation needed fixes and rewrites.
The bill was apparently supposed to get stuck in an endless loop of the Senate process and the records would not be released.
What ultimately happened was that Chuck Schumer immediately decided to pass the consent legislation. For some reason, no Republicans opposed it, so the bill passed the Senate and went to Trump’s desk.
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According to Politico, this development left Trump and the White House frustrated and vowing revenge:
The administration’s offensive comes amid intense frustration from the president and his top aides, who say a few wayward Republicans worked with Democrats to bring the “distraction” to the forefront. Furthermore, White House officials fear that no disclosure will be enough to satisfy a significant portion of their base.
…
The plan of attack – a well-known tactic of the president’s – will test whether Trump still has the political strength to subjugate people and make those who challenge him pay a political price. It comes as questions swirl around whether the president has lost his iron grip on the GOP and is entering his lame duck period.
President Mike Johnson convinced himself that the Senate was going to kill this bill, but he was wrong.
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