Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) knows his and Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) resolution on files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein would pass, claiming that is why the House adjourned earlier than scheduled.
“He knows that the resolution would pass. I mean, the reality is, we have 11 Republicans: Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, Tim Burchett, of course, Thomas Massie, who’s been courageously leading this,” Khanna told CNN’s John Berman on “Anderson Cooper 360.”
“I don’t think they’ve ever, in my entire nine years in Congress, sponsored any legislation that I’ve introduced,” Khanna added. “So, this is something that he knows his base wants. It would overwhelmingly pass, and so he’s literally closing Congress because he doesn’t want to vote on our bill, or any bill or any amendment related to Epstein — the release of the Epstein files.”
The Epstein saga caused chaos in the House for the second week in a row, prompting House GOP leadership to scrap many of their plans for the week due to threats from Democrats forcing politically tough votes.
Johnson announced on Monday that the lower chamber would not vote on a resolution calling for the release of some documents related to Epstein before the August recess. Members were also sent early for a month-long break from Washington after the legislative agenda was upended by those clamoring for a vote.
Republican support has recently rolled in for a new legislative push in the House to direct the Justice Department to release more files on Epstein.
Massie, who has been leading the push with Khanna, announced on social media last week that Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Eric Burlison (Mo.) and Tim Burchett (Tenn.) had signed on to co-sponsor the measure.
“We all deserve to know what’s in the Epstein files, who’s implicated, and how deep this corruption goes. Americans were promised justice and transparency,” Massie said last week in a post on the social platform X.
“We’re introducing a discharge petition to force a vote in the US House of Representatives on releasing the COMPLETE files,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to Johnson’s office for comment.
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