ANKARA

US Representative Ilhan Omar decried the Republican Party for dodging a vote that would call for the release of files related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“The pedophile protection party is shutting down Congress just to avoid voting on the release of the Epstein files,” Omar said on X on Tuesday.

However, House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed that the decision was not meant to shield Republicans from difficult votes related to Epstein or to spare Trump from possible damaging revelations, but rather to put a stop to what he called the Democrats’ “political games,” the Hill newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Epstein killed himself in his New York jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. While his death was ruled a suicide, a wave of conspiracy theories emerged due to his well-documented connections to famous and powerful public figures.

A federal judge on Tuesday gave Justice Department officials one week to produce more information on why grand jury testimony in the case of Epstein should be unsealed.

Separately, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that he will shut down the chamber early for the August recess, blocking Democratic efforts to force votes on releasing investigation files on Epstein.