Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) filed a discharge petition Tuesday to force a House vote on compelling the release of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced a bill July that would require the Justice Department to release the Epstein files, per The Hill.
Massie announced his intention on X before filing the petition.
“I am in DC and I will file the discharge petition today, Sept 2nd, at approximately 2pm when Congress officially returns from the August recess,” Massie wrote. “At that point we can begin collecting the 218 signatures necessary to force a vote on binding legislation to release the Epstein files.”
A few Republicans would need to be on board in order for the petition to reach that threshold.
The congressman said he is confident he will reach the magic number even though there is a pressure from GOP leadership and the White House telling Republicans to not sign.
Khanna told NPR News on Tuesday he agreed with Massie’s assessment that all 212 Democrats will support the petition, as well as more than the six Republicans needed to force a vote in the House.
The bill proposed by Massie and Khanna followed the outrage that came when the Justice Department released a memo stating there would be no further disclosures in the Epstein case.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has opened an investigation into the matter.
“The Oversight Committee is well underway, the administration is complying. The Department of Justice complied with all the subpoenas they received and are processing 34,000 documents already,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. “And we’re going to move that along as quickly as possible so that all of this is pushed out to the public so the American people can make their own decisions.”
Johnson also criticized Massie’s approach on the matter.
“I would describe virtually everything Thomas Massie says as related to this issue as meaningless,” Johnson said.
Massie called the investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee a “placebo” resolution.
“Using that Oversight investigation as a placebo for the full release of these files, you run into the same situation that [Attorney General] Pam Bondi did when she gave everybody a binder. They go home, they read the binder, and they’re like, ‘We already had all this. This is all still already on the internet.’ And then they get more upset because somebody insulted their intelligence by giving them things they already knew,” Massie said.
“I think that’s the danger that the Speaker and the Oversight Committee are running right now, is that when people find out it’s a nothingburger, they’re going to be even more mad,” Massie said.
House Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) was the first to sign his petition after he filed, Massie said.
