Well, here's something weird. If you've been paying attention lately, you have probably noticed that Donald Trump and his base are at odds over the Epstein Files. Jeffrey Epstein, the well-connected sex offender, supposedly died by suicide while awaiting trial in 2019. For years, Trump and his allies have been talking about an in-depth discussion into Epstein and his inner circle, which included many powerful figures. Last week, Trump's Justice Department announced that they were closing the investigation into Epstein and that there was nothing to see there. In an instantly-famous Truth Social post, Trump insisted that the Epstein Files are actually a Democratic creation and that people need to stop talking about them. This did not have the intended effect.
Unsurprisingly, the Democrats have struggled on the question of how to address this Epstein situation and its attendant backlash, since former president Bill Clinton was close with Epstein. (So was Trump, at least at one point.) It seems like most of the powerful people in America want this to go away. But now some Congressional Democrats are starting to agitate for those files to be made public. As Rolling Stone reports, House Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to unseal the Epstein Files late last night. Now, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) is taking the Republicans to task with a Jason Isbell parody.
Last night, Hank Johnson posted a video of himself playing a solo-acoustic parody of Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit's 2020 song "Dreamsicle," changing the lyrics into something more topical. After a self-deprecating preamble, Johnson sang, "Epstein died by suicide/ Believe that and you must be blind/ You've been telling us you'd release the files, but where are they?/ We've gone along with what's been told/ You've had plenty of time, you're in control/ But now you say you will withhold the Epstein Files."
The 70-year-old Hank Johnson is evidently an amateur musician, and I don't think I'd ever heard of him until this minute. Wikipedia tells me that he's one of only four practicing Buddhists in Congress, and he represents some of Atlanta's suburbs. I'm not sure this kind of cutesy meme-bait is a great way to address the Epstein situation, which is one of many reasons that plenty of Americans are pissed off at leaders of both parties, but that's what he's doing. Check out Johnson's video and Isbell's original song below.
Release the Epstein Files. pic.twitter.com/I3ERwzLsIS
— Rep. Hank Johnson (@RepHankJohnson) July 15, 2025
This has only the barest connection to this post, but Jason Isbell's ex-wife Amanda Shires just announced her album Nobody's Girl and dropped lead single "A Way It Goes" this morning.
