As the House returns from a monthlong recess, Rep. Thomas Massie is applying renewed pressure on the government to release records related to the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He lost no time Tuesday, sounding off on the so-called Epstein files and taking a procedural step that could cause headaches for Speaker Mike Johnson during the busy month ahead.
The effort by the Kentucky Republican sets up an intraparty clash right as the speaker has other matters on his mind, like averting a partial government shutdown as the fiscal year ends. On Tuesday, leaders added a different Epstein resolution to the House floor schedule this week, seemingly in a bid to tamp down dissent. And the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by James R. Comer, R-Ky., moved to post some Epstein-related documents online.
Massie’s plans were temporarily interrupted when Johnson sent the House home ahead of schedule in July — in part due to attempts by lawmakers to dislodge Epstein documents over the objections of the Trump administration.
But in his first move back after the recess, Massie formally filed a discharge petition in an effort to circumvent leadership and force a vote. If the petition receives 218 signatures, it could be used to bring legislation to the floor that would call for the disclosure of records, documents, and investigative materials related to Epstein that are currently in the possession of the Department of Justice.
“I pray [Johnson] will listen to the pleas of these victims for justice and quit trying to block a vote on our legislation to release the Epstein files,” Massie posted to X on Tuesday.
Interest in the issue had seemed to wane in August, as President Donald Trump, a former friend of Epstein’s, launched a federal takeover of Washington’s local police, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and launched attacks on the Federal Reserve.
But Massie is part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers vowing not to let the issue fade. He filed the discharge petition a day before he and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., plan to hold a much-anticipated press conference outside the Capitol with Epstein survivors.
Khanna told NPR on Tuesday that he is “very confident” all House Democrats would support Massie’s discharge petition, though Republican support is likely to be limited. At least six Republicans would have to join every Democrat to hit the 218 threshold and force a vote.
Khanna is also a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has subpoenaed the Justice Department and others formerly associated with the Epstein case as part of a broader investigation. Epstein victims met privately with committee members on Tuesday.
“What we really want to know is who engaged in the abuse of young girls. Why has this been hidden? Was there any financial fraud? Who all was involved? We just need transparency,” Khanna said in an appearance on CNN last week.
High-ranking members of the Trump administration — including Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino — had at one time supported releasing the files.
But rhetoric from the White House shifted over the course of the year. Bondi in February said that a client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review” and released “phase one” of the files to a group of conservative influencers, but got blowback for largely rehashing material that was already publicly available.
In May, Bondi and her deputy reportedly told Trump that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, though merely being mentioned isn’t a sign of wrongdoing, according to the Wall Street Journal. And in July, the Justice Department released a memo claiming there was no “client list” and no evidence of foul play in Epstein’s death.
As Democrats and some Republicans members of the House clamored for the release of the files in late July, Johnson sent the chamber home early for its August recess, claiming he wanted to give the administration “space” to release information on its own.
Oversight investigation
Whether renewed attention will produce more clarity on Epstein and his dealings remains to be seen.
The House Oversight panel has issued deposition subpoenas to former President Bill Clinton and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, along with a string of former high-ranking Justice Department officials, including former U.S. attorneys generals.
The committee also subpoenaed the Justice Department for a wide range of files tied to Epstein, including case file documents regarding the sex trafficking case against him, and case file documents in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend who is serving a federal prison sentence.
Last month, Comer announced the Justice Department would start providing his panel with records.
On Tuesday evening, the committee announced it was releasing approximately 33,300 pages of “Epstein-related records” it received from the department. “The committee is working at an unprecedented pace and doing the work as it is supposed to be done,” Comer said at a House Rules meeting Tuesday night, adding that survivors are supportive of transparency.
Johnson briefly addressed the media after meeting with victims of Epstein on Tuesday, arguing that the Oversight Committee’s work goes further than the discharge petition effort and stressing the need to release information “in the right way.”
“The vast majority of ladies and women and young women who were subjected to these unspeakable crimes … have chosen not to come forward for obvious reasons,” Johnson said. “We have to very carefully guard their identities. We cannot be haphazard about this … if there’s any delay at all — that’s what the intention is.”
Legal experts say the Justice Department is likely to push back against the full release of case file documents.
Robert Driscoll, an attorney who has represented clients in congressional investigations, said the department has an institutional interest to keep much of the file confidential.
“It’s been historically DOJ practice — and required by criminal rules — to keep investigative material secret,” he said, particularly when it comes to people who are not charged or indicted by the department.
David Rybicki, a partner at K&L Gates, said in a statement the Justice Department guards institutional prerogatives, such as maintaining the confidentiality of criminal investigative files.
“I think we can expect that it will resist producing much if not all of the material being demanded,” Rybicki wrote. “Politically, the issue is toxic because a refusal to disclose risks alienating the MAGA base, but important institutional interests like protecting executive privilege and grand jury secrecy are likely to win out.”
Meanwhile, Democrats have claimed the Trump administration is stalling and releasing only small chunks of information.
House leadership on Tuesday added a resolution to its floor schedule for the week that would direct the committee to continue its investigation into Epstein and Maxwell.
“Any action that promotes transparency, we’re going to support,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight panel at Tuesday night’s Rules meeting. But he added that supporting the resolution would not “supplant” Massie’s discharge petition.
Massie, for his part, was skeptical of the move. “[Johnson] just scheduled this meaningless vote to provide political cover for those members who don’t support our bipartisan legislation to force the release of the Epstein files,” Massie wrote on X.
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