WASHINGTON, D.C. – The US House is just three signatures short of forcing a floor vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. The discharge petition, led by House Republican Representative Thomas Massie (R- KY), is a procedural tool to get members on the record.
Right now, there are four vacant House seats. Three of them are in deep blue districts where Democrats are expected to keep those seats in special elections this year. It’s very likely that when those new members get elected, there will be enough votes to reach the required 218 signatures needed to get this on the floor for a vote.
This legislation would require the Attorney General to make records, investigative materials and other items related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, available to the public.
The Epstein case has consumed congress. The public has been pressing members to release more information on Epstein, who ran with an elite crowd.
Some of the Republican members who have signed onto this discharge petition said they’ve received several calls from the White House encouraging them to remove their name off the list.
Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), who sits on the House Oversight Committee and has not signed the discharge petition, sent us this statement:
“I wholeheartedly support justice and complete transparency for the Epstein victims, which is why, in addition to co-sponsoring and voting for the full release of grand jury testimony, I am working with my House Oversight Committee colleagues to conduct the most comprehensive investigation to date. Our efforts have already produced the release of 34,000 pages of documents, and with the Committee’s subpoena power, we are the proper vehicle to uncover the full truth and deliver real justice. The Massie resolution puts minor victims’ identities at risk and distracts from the serious and substantive work already underway—work that will actually hold the perpetrators of these atrocities accountable.”
Some Republicans argue there’s another route for the Epstein case: a House committee recently subpoenaed the DOJ and the Epstein estate for documents. They released 30-thousand files turned over by the DOJ, but most of that was already made public.
