The House of Representatives is weighing a bipartisan effort to force a vote on the full release of documents pertaining to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but President Donald Trump is actively discouraging Republicans from backing it.
That's according to a statement the White House released Tuesday evening, which was tweeted by NOTUS reporter Daniella Diaz. An unnamed administration spokesperson cautioned House Republicans against signing on in support of a discharge petition by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that Massie announced Tuesday.
"Helping Thomas Massie and Liberal Democrats with their attention-seeking, while the DOJ is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the oversight committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration," the spokesperson said.
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The threat from the White House comes as Massie and Khanna are planning a Wednesday morning press conference in which several Epstein victims — including some speaking out for the first time — are planning to share their stories with Capitol reporters. And should Congress and the Trump administration continue to stymie efforts to release the files, some victims have indicated they plan to possibly name additional accomplices who allegedly helped Epstein exploit young girls.
Massie told MSNBC on Tuesday that Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) have already signed the petition. This means that, assuming all Democrats sign the petition, the full House could vote on releasing the Epstein files if just two more Republicans add their names.
If the bipartisan petition gets 218 votes, it would circumvent House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and bring a vote directly to the floor on whether to compel the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all of the remaining Epstein-related files that have yet to be seen by the public. The New York Times reported in July that the DOJ is sitting on an estimated 100,000 pages of unreleased materials.
According to ABC News, the unreleased Epstein evidence categorized by the FBI includes several notable items, including a logbook of visitors to Epstein's "Little Saint James Island," which housed his private compound. The FBI also reportedly indexed "a document with names," which may be the rumored "client list" that Attorney General Pam Bondi has insisted doesn't exist.
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