Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) on Thursday blocked a second Democratic resolution in eight days seeking the release of all Department of Justice files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) urged the Senate again to press Attorney General Pam Bondi for full disclosure of Epstein’s case files. However, Mullin dismissed the resolution as “political theater,” saying Congress cannot dictate what DOJ must release.
“We want to know what happened. What this resolution does is it’s actually a blurred line between the separation of powers,” Mullin said. “We’re the legislative branch. We make laws. We can’t dictate to other branches on how they must do their job.”
Mullin instead proposed a resolution urging a Florida judge to unseal grand jury documents. Judge Robin Rosenberg had previously rejected DOJ’s request, citing the lack of an active judicial proceeding.
Gallego proposed merging both resolutions, warning that blocking the move could be seen as an attempt to “protect the powerful elites.” Mullin rejected the proposal, criticizing Democrats for not pushing earlier for the files’ release.