Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin is under fire for his claims that no one has ever raised the issue of the flight logs from the late Jeffrey Epstein’s private plane.
Media accounts have dubbed the jet that the convicted sex offender used the “Lolita Express” in reference to the young girls allegedly trafficked by Epstein.
Some information on who has flown with Epstein has been released. During the 2021 trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges, pilot Larry Visoski said that during the years he flew Epstein’s private jet, Bill Clinton was a passenger, according to The Associated Press.
At a Nov. 9 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said the Senate panel should subpoena the flight logs.
A statement on Blackburn’s website posted that day said “Chairman Durbin abruptly adjourned the meeting without calling up any subpoenas.”
Should the Epstein logs be released to the public?
On Tuesday, Blackburn ignited a furor by using a statement published on her website to publicly accuse Durbin of lying.
“Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) falsely claimed he was not aware of Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-Tenn.) amendment to subpoena Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs during today’s hearing with FBI Director Christopher Wray,” Blackburn said in the statement posted Tuesday.
“Senator Blackburn pushed for her amendment in numerous judiciary hearings that Durbin presided over on November 9 and November 30,” she wrote.
But Durbin is sticking to his story, as demonstrated in a video posted to X that shows an interaction between Durbin and a Fox News reporter on Tuesday.
Reporter: “Why won’t you subpoena Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs?”@SenatorDurbin: “I don’t know anything about his flight logs.”
Reporter: “So why won’t you subpoena them if you can?”@SenatorDurbin: “It’s the first time anyone has raised it.”
Is Senator Durbin lying when he… pic.twitter.com/jaSkSRXgMa
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) December 8, 2023
“Senator Durbin, can I ask you a quick question?” Fox reporter Hillary Vaughn asked. “Why won’t you subpoena Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs?”
“I don’t know anything about his flight logs,” Durbin said after first demanding to know which media outlet the reporter represented.
Durbin said he knew who Epstein was “but I certainly don’t know anything about the issue.”
“He’s been charged with sex trafficking so why don’t you want to know who was utilizing his private plane?” Vaughn asked.
“That’s never been raised by anyone,” Durbin replied.
Durbin went on to deny Blackburn ever spoke to him about the subject.
“She hasn’t said a word to me. Not a word,” he said.
After Durbin said he was concerned about the predators who may have flown with Epstein, Vaughn asked, “So why won’t you subpoena them if you can?”
“It’s the first time anyone has raised it,” Durbin said, leaving the reporter in his wake.
I’m not saying tricky Dick Durbin is listed on Epstein’s flight logs. But we know for a fact some friends of his are.pic.twitter.com/gHTCJ4kikn
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) December 9, 2023
Later on Tuesday, Fox News host Jesse Watters said on “Jesse Watters Primetime” that the reluctance to make the logs public was troubling, according to Fox News.
“[W]hen Sen. Marsha Blackburn, from the great state of Tennessee, tried to subpoena the flight logs of Jeffrey Epstein, we were surprised that Sen. Dick Durbin, from the great state of Illinois, was making it difficult. And why hadn’t Dick Durbin subpoenaed the flight logs himself?” Watters said.
“Why hasn’t any politician until Marsha Blackburn tried to find out who flew on the world’s most notorious child sex traffickers plane? Perhaps they have a good explanation for flying on Jeffrey’s jet. Like Bill Clinton, who was on humanitarian missions, we’re told. Are these flight logs being used as blackmail?” he asked.
“What powerful people were on the plane and what kind of intelligence operation was Epstein running? And why would Sen. Dick Durbin be running interference for a dead pedophile?”
