Massie’s Epstein Files Resolution Garners Enough Signatures, Ensuring Vote To Force Disclosure by DOJ Within Days

The vote on the bill to force a disclosure of the Epstein files will happen in the next few weeks.

New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP
This photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry shows Jeffrey Epstein, March 28, 2017. New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP

A bipartisan bill authored by Congressman Thomas Massie to force a disclosure of the Epstein files will receive a vote on the House floor after a new Democratic lawmaker was sworn in and gave her support to the measure. Mr. Massie first introduced the bill in July. 

The legislation would force the Justice Department to turn over all records related to Epstein within 30 days. He has used what is known as a discharge petition to force the vote over the objections of GOP leadership. 

After Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was sworn in Wednesday, there was finally a majority of lawmakers signed on to the bill, which allows Mr. Massie to force a vote within seven legislative days — likely before Thanksgiving. 

When Ms. Grijalva walked onto the House floor for her swearing in on Wednesday, she was greeted by Mr. Massie, who was seen smiling at his new colleague.

Including Mr. Massie, there are for GOP signatures on the discharge petition. The three other lawmakers are Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, and Lauren Boebert. 

President Trump made a last-minute push to block Mr. Massie’s discharge petition from receiving the requisite number of votes on Wednesday. 

“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects. Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. 

“There should be no deflections to Epstein or anything else, and any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our Country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!” he added. 

He went so far as to summon Ms. Boebert to the White House Situation Room on Wednesday, where the congresswoman met with senior leaders at the Justice Department and FBI, according to the New York Times. Ms. Boebert left the meeting unconvinced that she should remove her name from the discharge petition. 

Mr. Massie’s bill, however, could end up in a kind of political game of ping-pong between the House, Senate, and White House. Once the House passes the bill, the Senate will have to take it up in the coming weeks, where Mr. Trump could try to exert influence over his allies to stall or kill the bill altogether. 

Mr. Trump himself would then either have to sign the resolution forcing his own Justice Department to release the files, or veto it, which would allow Mr. Massie to call up a second discharge petition in order to override the president’s veto. It takes two-thirds of both chambers of Congress to override a presidential veto. 

While it seems like the president could be in a strong position for now, the polling on the Epstein files has been abysmal for the president, which in turn could create political headaches for his party less than one year out from the midterm elections. 

In July — immediately following Attorney General Pam Bondi’s assertion that she would not release any more of the Epstein files — a Quinnipiac survey found that 63 percent of voters disapproved of the Trump administration keeping the documents under seal. 


The New York Sun

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