Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pushed back against Speaker Mike Johnson urging Republicans not to sign on an effort to circumvent Republican leadership and force a vote on a bill to compel the release of additional files from the Jeffrey Epstein case. Massie also slammed the White House for calling that effort to force a vote “a hostile act.”
“I do find it interesting that the three co-sponsors are women. Maybe they have, immunity from the threats from the White House,” Massie told reporters. “I do think it's disgusting that the White House has called their co-sponsorship a hostile act. So, you have the White House telling women — who are trying to help women — who've been sexually exploited that that's somehow a hostile act now.”
The three Republican women signing onto to Massie’s bill so far include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Green (Ga.) Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Nancy Mace (S.C.).
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CNN reporter Manu Raju reports an escalating clash within the House Republican conference about how to proceed in the aftermath of the release by the House Oversight Committee of roughly 33,000 pages from the Justice Department — which the House had to subpoena.
Massie claims this is simply public information that doesn't initially reveal much, and he believes there is much more information to be released, which is why he is urging Republicans to side with the effort to force a vote to compel the release of additional files.
“The question is going to be, ultimately, … will that change the dynamic here on Capitol Hill or will it simply lead to what we're seeing now, this stalemate, this internal battle that's happening within the GOP that the White House hopes will end sometime soon?”
Massie later defended his bill, arguing that “They’re withholding who is on [Epstein’s] plane. … They are redacting things to prevent embarrassment. They’re not redacting things to protect victims. And in the process, they’re hiding some criminals.”
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When asked if he believes Republicans are protecting Trump, Massie said they were likely trying to prevent “the embarrassment to rich and powerful individuals who are connected to the president.”
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