Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Nick Begich are voting in lockstep with Washington D.C. congressional leadership to conceal the Epstein files. Why? They have given zero explanation to Alaskans. Here’s what we know: Numerous women who were sexually assaulted by Epstein have traveled to Washington to urge Congress to release the files.
Congress, at the behest of Donald Trump, instead is hiding the files.
Murkowski, Sullivan, and Begich have voted to keep details of Epstein’s crimes a secret, and that is outrageous considering how many Alaskans have been victimized by sex crimes.
By now, most Alaskans are familiar with the background of the Epstein case. Jeffrey Epstein abused hundreds of women, many just girls, and flew elites from the U.S. government and business down to commit sex crimes in the Caribbean.
He appears to have cultivated connections in government, notably with Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, to avoid prosecution for perhaps the most extensive sex crime coverup in U.S. history. Americans from across the political spectrum have demanded that the Epstein files be released, and almost daily more women abused by Epstein urge Congress to act.
Why is congressional action even necessary? Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice appear to be covering up whatever Donald Trump’s record is of traveling and corresponding with Epstein.
Leaks of letters from Trump to Epstein seem to make it clear the men had a fairly close relationship, though the extent and details of the relationship have not been fully established.
If there isn’t incriminating evidence, it is difficult to understand why Trump is going to such extreme lengths to hide the Epstein files.
To give cover to themselves, Republican congressional leaders have put up a meaningless motion for a committee of theirs to “investigate” the Epstein case. As victims of Epstein have stated, this is insulting and meaningless, because the Epstein files exist.
Another action that recently occurred was that our two senators, Murkowski and Sullivan, both voted in favor with the Republican-led Senate to narrowly defeat an amendment introduced by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to compel the Justice Department to release all of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
[Related news coverage: Murkowski, Sullivan vote with GOP colleagues against measure seeking release of Epstein files]
The vote was 51-49 in favor of tabling the amendment. Two Republicans — Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri — joined all 47 Democrats in voting against tabling the amendment.
The truth is there, and Washington’s Republican leadership wants to hide it.
Are there other congressmen implicated in the files, or is it just Trump? How exactly did Epstein get away with his crimes for so long? Jeffrey Epstein is dead, but understanding who was complicit in his crimes and how they ever happened has profound implications for preventing such atrocities in the future.
Murkowski, Sullivan and Begich are supposed to be representing Alaska, a state where women endure the highest rate of sexual assault in the United States. Instead, they are voting the party line with zero justification and zero defensible rationale. Their record on this issue is an abomination.
Kevin McGee is a resident of East Anchorage, a Vietnam veteran and past president of the Anchorage NAACP, Branch 1000. The views expressed here are his own.