Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Tuesday said he would try to use a long-shot procedural gambit to force a vote on requiring the Department of Justice to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The move comes as President Trump and his administration face blowback from many within the GOP base over their handling of information about the disgraced financier, and as Trump attempts to tamp down the amount of attention the issue is receiving.
“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 Tuesday 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.
Massie’s resolution, co-sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices” that have links with Epstein within 30 days of the measure becoming law.
It also says the files cannot “be withheld, delayed, or redacted” should they cause “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”
A discharge petition requires 218 signatures to bypass House leadership and force a vote on a measure. Such petitions are rarely successful, with members of the majority often hesitant to buck their own leaders, and it is rare to see a member of the majority lead the charge on such an effort.
Massie, however, hasn’t been shy about bucking both Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Trump. He has most recently opposed the White House’s strikes on Iran and voted against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” leading Trump to threaten an effort to oust him in the midterms.
Khanna, meanwhile, has led the charge on the Democratic side in calling for a House vote to release the Epstein files.
Right-wing influencers who have long pushed conspiracy theories about Epstein recently turned their fury toward the Trump administration, especially Bondi, due to a recent Justice Department memo seeking to dispel those theories.
The memo from last week said no evidence existed that Epstein had a “client list” or that he tried to blackmail powerful figures implicated in his crimes. It also concluded Epstein’s death was due to suicide, pushing back against theories that he was killed in his jail cell.
The Hill has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
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