Republican Rep. Thomas Massie is on the verge of unleashing another Epstein Files showdown on Trump’s Department of Justice.
Massie, who lost a GOP primary in May, is just two signatures short of the 218 needed for his latest Epstein discharge petition. He has 216 signatures, according to ABC News, and he’s backed by Reps. Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and Brian Fitzpatrick, who are also on their way out.
Massie only needs two Democrats to sign on for the Epstein Transparency Act II bill to reach the floor. The bill “empowers state attorneys general, victims and members of Congress to sue the U.S. Attorney General in federal court for unlawfully withholding or redacting Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell investigative records,” per the report.
Attorney General Todd Blanche has conceded “mistakes” were made in not adequately redacting the names of some victims when millions of files from the Justice Department’s old investigations into the late convicted sex offender Epstein were put out, an action Blanche and other department officials are accused of having done on purpose. In testimony, Blanche said the department immediately set about fixing the situation.
“Whenever we learned that any victim’s name had been improperly non-redacted, we immediately took the document down and fixed it as soon as we could,” said Blanche before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 15. “That doesn’t excuse the mistakes of which I take full responsibility, but it does mean that we tried to fix them. We — we complied with the act.”
As for Massie, he is making the most of his remaining weeks in Congress by also mounting another impeachment bid against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The resolution Massie has put forward contains eight articles of impeachment. Hegseth has reason to be concerned with his own party following Tuesday’s Democratic wipeout.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump made it known he wants to keep Hegseth in post even though some Republicans, Vice President JD Vance among them, have said that the Iran war was responsible for the party’s midterm beating.
It should be noted that Trump also denied in October that he planned to fire his former Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, before he let her go.
Hegseth came out swinging with a defiant message in response to what seems like an inevitable impeachment attempt. “This is not about me, but of course the other side, they’re obsessed,” he said.
“A disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democratic allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly. Just like they tried against President Trump twice.” He is standing firm on the Iran war and his cultural agenda at the Pentagon in a similar manner.
Massie may make a move as soon as Monday for a midweek confrontation over Hegseth’s impeachment.
