MAGA Rep. Mike Lawler has clearly had his head in the sand.
On CNN Monday, Lawler told host Jim Berman he doesn’t get the fuss over disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“I don’t even understand, frankly, why we’re spending a lot of time on Jeffrey Epstein,” Lawler said. “The fact is he was a pedophile who was arrested, he committed suicide, and his fixer [Ghislaine Maxwell], if you will, is being prosecuted.
“So at the end of the day, if there are people who were part of any crimes, then they should be prosecuted. But in the absence of that, what exactly are we looking to do?”
Ghislaine Maxwell has not only been prosecuted but has been locked up since 2020 and is serving 20 years in prison.
Berman tried to fill Lawler in.
“Just so you know, it’s being covered because the deputy director of the FBI is said to have taken off work on Friday to protest the Justice Department’s own handling of this, and there have been shouting matches reported inside the White House,” Berman said. “So, whether or not you think it’s important, apparently there are people who are quite agitated about it.”
MAGA has been in a tailspin since the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation acknowledged July 6 that Epstein kept no “client list” and died by suicide, rather than being murdered, in his cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges—both the subject of widespread conspiracy theories among the president’s supporters.
Trump’s supporters have since called on Attorney General Pam Bondi—who said in February that the “client list” was “on my desk right now” awaiting review—to resign for her handlng of the case. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino took Bondi to task during a tense White House exchange Wednesday for overpromising and failing ot deliver on the Epstein files. He failed to show up to work on Friday and has threatened to resign over the row.
Trump waded into the fray on Truth Social Saturday.
“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB,” Trump wrote. “One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”
Bongino, a former MAGA podcaster, is one of those who pushed the conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered and did not take his own life while awaiting sex trafficking charges.
Despite the MAGA civil war raging over the Epstein files—a fight Trump may not be able to escape anytime soon—Lawler still believes the whole saga has been blown out of proportion.
“There are a lot of issues facing this country right now. A dead pedophile ain’t one of them,” Lawler said.
Lawler’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
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