Prairie State Wire

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee has said that she repeatedly sought subpoenas for Jeffrey Epstein's flight logs, alleging that Senator Dick Durbin misrepresented her efforts and halted committee action.

"Senator Durbin knows I repeatedly asked for those flight logs. I brought up the subpoena," said Blackburn. "You even shut down the committee because you didn't want that. And you know I submitted that in writing, and you continue to misrepresent that. I am not going to let that record stand."

According to a press release from Blackburn, in late 2023, as the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced subpoenas related to Supreme Court ethics, she moved to authorize a subpoena for the complete, unredacted Epstein flight logs. She documented that Durbin initially resisted these requests but later indicated in early 2024 that he would work to obtain and release the records. Blackburn pressed him to confirm this commitment in writing.

C-Span reports that on November 30, 2023, the Democratic-led Judiciary Committee voted to authorize subpoenas for Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo. Republicans had walked out; the vote was recorded on video and reported as 11–0. During this markup session, Blackburn said that Durbin blocked her effort to subpoena the Epstein flight logs, a point she reiterated afterward.

Blackburn continued her efforts into 2024 and 2025, publicly challenging Durbin during committee proceedings for not releasing the Epstein flight logs. Coverage of a 2025 Judiciary hearing noted Blackburn and her allies highlighting Democrats’ resistance to making the logs public, underscoring her claim of repeated written requests to the chair.

Blackburn is noted as the first woman elected to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Senate, winning in 2018 and securing reelection in 2024. A conservative leader, she previously served eight terms in the U.S. House and now champions transparency, victims’ rights, and accountability efforts on Capitol Hill.