Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) appeared to take several jabs at Republican Party leaders in a recent interview about the latest batch of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents.
In a Friday interview with Reason magazine's Nick Gillespie, Massie argued that most of his party was falling short in calling for transparency of Epstein's crimes and accountability for his victims. The Kentucky Republican didn't name names, but suggested elected officials vying to lead the party in the future would be viewed as cowards for their failure to lead on the Epstein issue.
"The question a few years from now will be, 'where were you on the Epstein issue?'" Massie said. "... Were you for releasing the files, or were you calling it a hoax, or were you just too chicken to come out and say anything?"
"And I think unfortunately, a lot of the politicians right now who are being considered the future of the GOP are either in the category of agreeing that it's a hoax, or just keeping their mouth shut, because they don't have the courage and the political will to do the right thing," he continued. "And so I don't think you should trust those people later."
The co-author of the Epstein Files Transparency Act also heaped criticism on "news sources and the influencers on the internet" who downplayed the revelations in the Epstein files. Without mentioning any specific sources or personalities, Massie asserted they were "part of the problem."
If, a year ago, they were for releasing the files, and now they don't even want to talk about it, that the files are released, then you know they're part of the problem, and they're not going to part of any solution going forward," he said.
In a post to his official X account, Massie emphasized that standing up for victims of people like Jeffrey Epstein should be the bare minimum for the GOP.
"If you can’t take up for children who were sex trafficked, who can you take up for? The answer: no one," he wrote. "You’ll defend no one if your political capital is at stake, and you need to be purged from our party."