Sixth District Congressman Ben Cline is now trying to make it look like he supported the release of the Epstein files all along, by pointing to his vote in September for a non-binding resolution on the Epstein matter that Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie said did “absolutely nothing.”
“Today’s vote represents continued progress toward the transparency the American people rightly expect. As with my support for H. Res. 668 back in September, I have remained firmly committed to ensuring full accountability surrounding the Epstein files. My vote today for H.R. 4405 again reflects that commitment and my belief that openness and accountability are essential to ensuring justice for victims of Epstein’s criminal enterprise and restoring trust in the federal government,” Cline said in a statement released Tuesday, after he had joined all but literally one member of the MAGA caucus in voting to advance legislation mandating the release of the DOJ’s trove of investigatory files into the sex-trafficking ring led by Donald Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein.
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That bill is now on Trump’s desk in the Oval Office, waiting for his signature – after weeks of delay directed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who kept the House on vacation for two months to try to prevent the Epstein files legislation from even getting a vote.
As that process played out, the House was one vote away from having a majority of its members signed on to a discharge petition that would have forced a vote.
Cline did not sign on to that discharge petition, and did not comment publicly on the extended vacay, or the motivation behind it.
But now, he wants you to believe that he was with the Epstein victims all along, with his support of H. Res. 668 as evidence.
The press release from his office touting his support for the Epstein files legislation touted how H. Res. 668 “formalized the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and also requires the Committee to make all relevant documents available to the public, while ensuring that the personal information of victims remains protected,” and noted that the Oversight Committee “has released over 50,000 pages of documents related to the Epstein files.”
Massie revealed the lie there, noting that committee members allowed the Justice Department “to curate all of the information” that it released, adding that “if you’ve looked at the pages they’ve released so far, they’re heavily redacted, some pages are entirely redacted, and 97 percent of this is already in the public domain.”
That’s what led Massie to conclude that H. Res. 668 did “absolutely nothing.”
Which is to say, Ben Cline wants you to believe that he was on the release the Epstein files train from the get-go, but what he was really doing was running interference – and what he’s doing now is, CYA.
Now let’s see what Republicans do to continue the long, slow walk toward not releasing the Epstein files – and what Cline has to say as that process continues to play out about “the transparency the American people rightly expect,” and are yet denied.
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Chris Graham
