Outgoing Trump foe Massie forces new Epstein files showdown
Summary
Rep. Thomas Massie secured 218 House signatures for a petition to force a vote on a bill concerning the Justice Department’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein records. The proposal would let survivors, state prosecutors and lawmakers sue over records they believe the department unlawfully withheld.Key Facts
- Rep. John Garamendi provided the petition’s 218th signature on Wednesday.
- Four Republicans signed the petition: Massie, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and Brian Fitzpatrick; Democrats supplied the other 214 signatures.
- The proposed bill would give Epstein survivors, state prosecutors and lawmakers the power to sue the Justice Department over withheld records.
- Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna led the original push for the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed the House 427-1 in November 2025 and was signed into law by President Trump.
- The law set a Dec. 19, 2025, deadline for the Justice Department to release Epstein-related investigative records, with limited exceptions.
- The Justice Department missed the deadline and announced in January that it had released nearly 3.5 million pages.
- A House Oversight Committee report released Tuesday criticized the administration’s disclosures, citing victim-protection failures and excessive redactions; it said the investigation found no evidence implicating Trump in Epstein’s crimes.
- The petition could become eligible for a House floor vote by early December, but passage is uncertain and Senate Republican leaders could decline to consider the bill.
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