(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Was Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., blocked when she attempted to subpoena Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs, or was it all just a misunderstanding?
After Blackburn failed to introduce an amendment last week that would have added an Epstein’s flight logs to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s list of forthcoming subpoenas, Blackburn accused the committee’s chair, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., of stonewalling her.
Last Thursday, Durbin’s office denied Blackburn’s accusation in response to a Headline USA media inquiry. And on Tuesday, Durbin further said he wasn’t aware that Blackburn wanted to include a subpoena of the flight logs—which include the names of numerous politicians, national security officials, businessmen and other power brokers who flew on Epstein’s private plane.
“There were 177 amendments filed. I confess I didn’t know about your amendment,” he said at an FBI oversight hearing.
“I have not spoken to you one time about this issue. I didn’t even know this was a subject of your amendment.”
Blackburn pushed back against Durbin, noting that she announced in early November that she planned to subpoena Epstein’s flight logs. But Durbin maintained he didn’t know about her efforts.
Headline USA understands that Senate congressional staffers are blaming Republicans for “filibustering” throughout last week’s hearing. Since there was a two-hour time limit on the hearing, that filibustering prevented Blackburn from amending the subpoena resolution to include Epstein, according to the Democrats.
Durbin did signal that he’s willing to consider Blackburn’s subpoena.
“I’ll be happy to discuss your request with you,” he said.
Blackburn also raised the Epstein issue with FBI Director Chris Wray during Tuesday’s oversight hearing. The senator cited Epstein’s victims, who said that the FBI refused to investigate the multimillionaire sex trafficker for years.
Indeed, the FBI received a complaint about Epstein as early as 1996.
“What we need from you is a complete investigation as to why the FBI didn’t take this up,” Blackburn told Wray.
Wray pled ignorance about the Epstein case, saying that “it’s been a while since I looked at that case.”
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and was purportedly found dead in prison a month later.
Wray said he’d take Blackburn’s concerns back to his “team.”
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
