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In a rare show of bipartisanship, Republican House members have joined forces with Democrats in support of a discharge petition that would force a vote on a bill to release all of the government’s files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
In a news conference Wednesday, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., publicly endorsed the discharge petition he introduced with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. “We’re here not as partisans, we’re here as patriots,” Khanna said. “We begin the work of bringing this country together — progressives, independents, moderates and, yes, MAGA supporters — to demand truth and justice. A nation that allows rich and powerful men to traffic and abuse young girls without consequence is a nation that has lost its moral and spiritual core.”
Khanna and Massie were joined by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters, who called on her Republican colleagues to join them.
“This is an issue that doesn’t have political boundaries,” Greene said. “It’s an issue that Republicans and Democrats should never fight about.”
Abuse survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislane Maxwell, also spoke at the news conference. One of several survivors calling for the files to be released, Marina Lascera, said that she was only 14 when she met Epstein and that she worked as a masseuse in hopes he’d offer her a real job. “It went from a dream job to the worst nightmare,” she said.
Family members of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was among the most outspoken survivors calling for accountability for Epstein, read out a statement: “Look your young ones in the face. Look them in the eye and tell them you didn’t stand against the very people who raped, molested and preyed upon children and young women. ... If you vote no, your stance will be clear. You will be choosing to stand on the side of the rich and powerful, allowing money to buy your way out of the consequence.”
On Tuesday night the House Oversight Committee released more material related to Epstein, the majority of which was already public. Notably, the release included the so-called missing minute from footage of Epstein’s cell on the night of his death, which Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously said did not exist. The footage only shows corrections employees working near Epstein’s cell.
Even if all Democrats sign Khanna and Massie’s discharge petition, it will need the signatures of two more Republicans to force a House vote. And even if the petition gets 218 signatures, there is a seven-day waiting period before Massie can force a floor vote. It’s also not guaranteed the Senate will bring the bill to a vote in the event it passes the House.
After the news conference at the Capitol, Trump again called the Epstein files “a Democrat hoax,” and GOP leaders like House Speaker Mike Johnson, of Louisiana, urged others in his party to ignore the petition.