Supporters of a discharge petition aimed at releasing all government files related to Jeffrey Epstein expressed confidence on Tuesday that they will gather enough signatures to prompt a vote on their bill.
“I’m not really focused on a huge lobbying effort. I think we’ll secure the vote,” Rep. Thomas Massey (R-KY) shared with reporters at the Capitol.
Earlier in the day, Massey had initiated a discharge petition to compel a vote concerning legislation that would mandate the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release nearly all documents linked to the Epstein case. By Tuesday night, four Republicans had signed the petition: Massey, Nancy Mace (SC), Lauren Boebert (CO), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA).
To meet the necessary threshold of 218 signatures, two additional Republicans are needed, assuming all 212 Democrats are supportive.
Massey’s optimistic outlook contrasts with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other GOP leaders, who seem intent on dampening Republican dissent relating to the Epstein matter and discouraging support for Massey’s initiative.
In light of this, GOP members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released various documents and videos from the DOJ under a subpoena. However, Democrats on the committee have dismissed these efforts, asserting that most of the released materials had already been made public. Massey echoed this sentiment, noting that the documents reviewed seemed like “fully edited pages.”
“The DOJ controls what is released, and it often feels like it’s just a binder for the Attorney General. People go through it and think, ‘Wait a minute, there’s nothing here that’s new. This is stuff we already knew.’ It just frustrates people further regarding the transparency issue,” he remarked.
Republican co-sponsors of Massey’s underlying bill include Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who is advocating for more DOJ disclosures. Yet, it’s uncertain how many GOP members could take a bolder step like supporting the discharge petition, especially against President Trump.
For example, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) co-sponsored the Massey-Khanna Bill but chose not to support the discharge petition. “There are good people at stake, and we must protect the victims, so we need to handle this committee process with more caution,” he stated. “I won’t be signing the petition, but I back the bill from the start.”
To advance their cause, Massey and Khanna will hold a press conference on Wednesday morning at the Capitol with some of Epstein’s victims. Meanwhile, Johnson and members of the Oversight Committee met with Epstein survivors on Tuesday, but their discussions were private. In contrast, Wednesday’s event will be open to the public.
Massey emphasized the significance of these events in countering the notion that Epstein’s narrative is a “hoax.”
“The real impact will come from the survivors speaking out tomorrow. It’s a different situation compared to the oversight committee meeting, which was quite emotional,” he noted. “When they express their truths publicly, it becomes impossible to dismiss their experiences.”
