Last Thursday, Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett was the guest on the "Benny Show" podcast hosted by Benny Johnson. The topic of why conservative members of Congress vote for really un-conservative stuff came up, and Burchett's answer caused jaws to drop all over the country.

"Here's how it works," he said. 

“You’re visiting—you’re out of the country or out of town or you’re in a motel or at a bar in D.C.—and whatever you’re into—women or men or whatever—comes up and they’re very attractive, and they’re laughing at your jokes. And you’re buying them a drink. Next thing you know, you’re in the motel room with them naked,”

And the next thing, you're about to make a key vote an 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, ‘Uh-oh.’ And they say, ‘You really ought not be voting for this thing.’”

Burchett also gave his views on why all the flight logs of Jeffrey Epstein's "Lolita Express" haven't been made public.

Tim Burchett says that Congress is blocking the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s flight logs because “too many of my colleagues are compromised” and are being blackmailed. pic.twitter.com/k3KQslTel9

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 19, 2023

Too many of my colleagues, I’m afraid, are compromised in this area for whatever reason,” Mr. Burchett told Newsmax this week. “Somebody whispered in their ear saying, "Hey, you don’t want something to come out on something else, you better keep your mouth shut on this." That’s exactly what they’ve done. And it continues to go whether it's the "honey pot" the Russians used or something worse, I don't known. But it's clearly, you see that up and down the line. You see good conservatives vote for liberal policies.

Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna agreed:

I travel with my husband at all times. If he cannot come with me, I have a female staffer as an alibi. I don’t even touch alcohol in DC. DC can be a nasty place. Keep your circle tight and just anticipate you’re always being watched. That is how this game operates. https://t.co/pOpI7FIVXf

— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) December 22, 2023

I don't know how much Burchett knows, but I don't think he's the kind of guy to beclown himself by making a statement like this if it's false, because the chances of contradiction are just too high.

What we do know is that conservative Congressmen seem to be uniquely at risk for allegations of sexual impropriety. The case of Madison Cawthorn, for instance, resonates strongly with Burchett's story. Matt Gaetz was hit with what looks like spurious allegations of sex trafficking. And yes, there are enough very strange votes by conservatives that make you scratch your head, and Burchett provides a very easy-to-believe "unified field theory" to explain their actions. It also reminds us of the "Pence Rule." This rule, made famous by former vice president Mike Pence but used by sane men from time immemorial, says you don't have private dinners or meetings with members of the opposite sex...or the same sex, if you bat for that team. The outcry was so loud and vociferous — Vox.com (naturally) found an employment lawyer to claim that it was illegal behavior — that is, it was nearly suspicious-sounding.

I hope that, if Burchett has proof of this, he leaks more details to someone not afraid to run with the story, because it makes no sense to spend your time and money working for conservative senators and congressmen if they lose control of their libidos and allow themselves to be sexually compromised.