Epstein accusations fly in Senate after César Chávez Monument row

Jeffrey Epstein allegations, Sens. It was floated during a debate between Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) over the fate of the César Chávez National Monument.

Heinrich, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, objected to a bill Tuesday to cut funding and shutter the monument after multiple women accused Chavez, an icon of the farm worker movement, of sexual assault. Heinrich objected to the bill, citing concerns that deleting the monument would diminish the work of other leaders in the agricultural labor movement.

“I absolutely agree that there should no longer be a monument named after Cesar Chavez,” he said on the Senate floor after objecting. “But we should certainly not erase monuments that tell the story of the farm labor movement. It is a story that belongs to many people, including survivors of Chavez’s violence.”

Chavez, who died in 1993, was accused by many women he worked with of abusing them at a young age in a recently published report. New York Times.

Heinrich proposed amending the bill to require the monument to be temporarily closed and the government to consider a new monument to honor the farm labor movement.

Lee, the committee chairman, lashed out at Heinrich for objecting to the bill put forward by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

“The César Chavez National Monument is the very place where Chavez sexually abused women and children,” Lee said. “Senate Democrats fought to preserve this crime scene as a national monument.

The monument is a National Park Service site in Keene, California.

Cornyn’s bill would immediately shutter the site and require the federal government to sell the land, which includes Chavez’s home, cemetery, memorial garden and the entire contents of his personal office, where The New York Times reported that he molested a minor.

The proposal comes amid a reckoning over sexual misconduct in Congress and Washington, where two members of the House of Representatives resigned over sexual harassment allegations and were shaken by the release of the Epstein files earlier this year.

“I find this incomprehensible, given that two members of Congress resigned today due to sexual misconduct allegations. [Heinrich] “He proposed an amendment that would preserve the legacy of César Chavez, who sexually abused minors.” Cornyn said in an X post: on Tuesday.

Heinrich replied Lee And Cornyn by publishing headlines about the couple voting against releasing the Epstein files.

Lee then sent a copy of a 2012 email he sent to Epstein, asking the disgraced financier if he would like to meet Heinrich, a member of the House of Representatives who is running for Senate, for lunch in New York.

“Congressman Martin Heinrich will be in New York tomorrow and would be happy to have lunch with you around 12:30 p.m. if you are free,” reads the email, sent by a representative of fundraising firm Dynamic SRG. “If you would like to meet him and learn more about the Senate race in New Mexico, please let me know.”

Heinrich’s office told CNBC that “this has already been reported” when asked for comment on the controversy.

Albuquerque Magazine In February, it was reported that the letter was part of the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice.

In a statement to the Journal, Heinrich’s spokesman said he “has never met Jeffrey Epstein.”

“Heinrich also never accepted campaign contributions from Epstein,” the spokesperson said.