Overview
- Senate chairmen Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson released about 150 pages of DOJ and FBI records Monday that include 2018–19 text excerpts about payments, travel and wire transfers tied to women.
- The newly posted files show messages referencing Boston, price quotes like “3600,” a note saying “I can only pay through cash app,” and a claim of paying “5000 for first eight hours.”
- The senators say the Trump-era Justice Department provided the documents to them after Garland’s DOJ did not turn them over during 2022 congressional inquiries.
- The Mann Act bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution or other illegal sexual activity, and prosecutors have not brought Mann Act or prostitution-related charges based on these records.
- IRS whistleblowers previously told Congress they saw deductions for prostitutes and travel across state lines during the tax probe, and Republicans now argue the handling of such evidence shows a DOJ double standard against the backdrop of Hunter Biden’s 2024 gun conviction, later tax plea, and a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden.