Republican Congressman Tim Burchett theorised that some of his GOP colleagues were the victims of "honey pot" operations, and that nefarious entities had recorded their indiscretions to use as blackmail leverage.
Mr Burchett made the comments while chatting with far right-wing content creator Benny Johnson on a podcast, according to Mediaite.
The topic of conversation turned to convicted child abuser and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and the recent ruling by a conservative judge to unseal the names of individuals mentioned in court records related to his trial.
The redacted names will include sex abuse victims, Epstein's former employees, and witnesses who helped to build the case against the now-dead financier. Many of the names — and Epstein's flight log — were already public.
Johnson noted that Mr Burchett had called for the names to be revealed in the House, and intimated that lawmakers were trying to hide their complicity by opposing the release of the information.
“It seems like now you are fighting with her in the House. Why the protection mechanism? And more importantly, you mentioned recently in an interview that there may be some members of Congress who are personally compromised by this and they don’t want the truth to get out. Can you expand on that?” Johnson asked Mr Burchett.
Mr Burchett then proceeded to weave a tale of enticement, deceit and blackmail that he believes secretly controls the votes of lawmakers. He claimed that elite power brokers in Washington DC use "the old honey pot" to gain leverage over lawmakers and force them to vote for "crazy stuff."
"Why in the world would good conservatives vote for crazy stuff like what we’ve been seeing out of Congress?" he asked.
He then attributed the "honey pot" to the Russians and explained how it worked in his estimation.
"Here’s how it works. You’re visiting, you’re out of the country or out of town or you’re in a motel or at a bar in DC and, whatever you’re into – women, men, whatever — comes up and they’re very attractive and they’re laughing at your jokes. And you’re buying them a drink," he said. "Next thing you know, you’re in the motel room with them naked.
"And next thing you know, you know, you’re about to make a key vote. And what happens? Some well-dressed person comes out and whispers in your ear, 'Hey, man, there’s tapes out on you.' Or, 'Were you in a motel room or whatever with whoever?' And then you’re like, 'Oh,' and [they] said, 'you really ought not to be voting for this thing'.
"You know? And what do they do? It’s human nature. And, you know, no man or no woman actually is an island. And they know what to get at. You know, if it’s women, drugs, booze, it’ll find you. And they say, and in most elected offices, and that’s what people of power and influence do. And it’s just, you know, I’ve been in this game my whole life. I spent 16 years in the state legislature in Tennessee and eight years as county mayor. And now I’m in my fifth year Congress. But it’s just — the stakes are higher. But the game is still the same."
He later said that Kevin Spacey's portrayal of murderous manipulator Frank Underwood on the Netflix show "House of Cards" was like a documentary on life in Washington DC.
This isn't the first time Mr Burchett has accused the government of hiding secret knowledge; he was a major supporter of the whistleblower and former government intelligence analyst David Grusch, who told Congress that the Pentagon allegedly had a secret program reverse-engineering vehicles piloted by "non-human biologics." Mr Burchett has been pushing for the Pentagon to make all of its information relating to unidentified aerial phenomena available to the public.
He also isn't the first lawmaker to insinuate the nation's movers and shakers spend their weekends partying; former Congressman Madison Cawthorn claimed he had been invited to orgies in Washington DC and that he'd seen his colleagues using cocaine.
Disgraced former Congressman George Santos has also promised to "spill the tea" on lawmakers, but only if you pay him $7 for a “Cameo” video.
