{"id":1870,"date":"2025-11-17T09:14:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T09:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmgiveawayfinder.com\/?p=1870"},"modified":"2025-11-17T09:14:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T09:14:49","slug":"how-many-republicans-will-defy-trump-and-vote-to-release-the-epstein-files-mother-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmgiveawayfinder.com\/?p=1870","title":{"rendered":"How Many Republicans Will Defy Trump and Vote to Release the Epstein Files? \u2013 Mother Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"


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President Donald Trump has done everything he can to try to tank the vote on releasing the Epstein files and discourage Republicans from voting for it.<\/span>Manuel Balce Ceneta\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Get your news from a source that\u2019s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily<\/em>.<\/a><\/div>\n

On Tuesday, the<\/span> Republican-controlled House of Representatives will finally<\/em> vote on the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act<\/a>. If passed, the bill would force the Department of Justice to release all unclassified records related to Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s sex trafficking of minors, including flight logs, names of people and entities with ties to Epstein, sealed settlements, and internal DOJ communications related to the case.<\/p>\n

The Tuesday vote\u2014which was first reported<\/a> by Politico<\/em> on Friday, citing three anonymous sources\u2014has been a long time coming. The bill was first introduced<\/a> in the House by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) in July; in early September, he and co-sponsor Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) put forth<\/a> a discharge petition to force the legislation out of the Rules Committee for a floor vote. Last week, when House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) finally swore in<\/a> Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), they secured the last signature needed to make the legislation eligible for a vote.<\/p>\n

Now, the question is whether enough House Republicans will turn on President Donald Trump\u2014who has been doing everything he can to tank the vote\u2014to move the bill forward. Only four Republicans\u2014Massie, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)\u2014signed onto the discharge petition, and CNN reported<\/a> that the White House held a meeting with Boebert in the Situation Room to pressure her to take her name off of it. (She declined.) Trump has called<\/a> the effort to release the files \u201ca Democrat hoax\u201d but, confusingly, also ordered the DOJ<\/a> on Friday to investigate Epstein\u2019s ties to prominent Democrats. <\/p>\n

But at least some on the right appear undeterred. On ABC\u2019s This Week <\/em>on Sunday morning, Massie said<\/a> he expects \u201ca deluge of Republicans\u201d to vote for the bill, adding, \u201cThere could be 100 or more.\u201d (On NBC\u2019s Meet the Press<\/em> on Sunday, Khanna offered<\/a> a more conservative estimate, of at least 40 Republicans he expects to vote in support of the bill.)<\/p>\n

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Rep. Massie says that he expects a \u201cdeluge\u201d of House Republicans will vote to compel the release of the Epstein files: \u201cI\u2019ve never said these documents will implicate Donald Trump. I think he\u2019s trying to protect a bunch of rich and powerful friends.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/DVClWBcAj0<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/fPhMYOYabf<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Massie said he is hoping to secure a veto-proof majority in the House\u2014which would require two-thirds of present members to vote to pass the bill\u2014to ensure Trump could not tank it if it gets to his desk. But that would also require a veto-proof majority in the Republican-controlled Senate, which appears unlikely given that Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has refused to even commit to holding the vote. A handful of Senate Republicans, including Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Thom Tillis (R-Fla.), have called<\/a> for the files\u2019 release.<\/p>\n

Still, Massie is hopeful. Senators, he said, could \u201cforce the vote in spite of the leadership\u2019s effort\u201d by inserting the language as an amendment to a larger bill to ensure it passes. \u201cI just hope John Thune will do the right thing,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cthe pressure\u2019s going to be there if we get a big vote in the House.\u201d (If the bill did<\/em> pass the Senate, but without the two-thirds vote, Trump could still veto it.) <\/p>\n

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Massie added that the investigations Trump ordered the DOJ to conduct on Friday against high-profile Democrats could be \u201ca big smokescreen\u2026as a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never said these documents will implicate Donald Trump,\u201d he said. \u201cI think he\u2019s trying to protect a bunch of rich and powerful friends, billionaires, donors to his campaign, friends in his social circles.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had a scandal like this in this country, and what we\u2019re asking for is justice for those survivors. So it\u2019s not about Donald Trump\u2014I don\u2019t even know how involved Trump was.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Massie added that, through conversations with the victims\u2019 lawyers, he has learned that \u201cthere are at least 20 people in those files\u2014there are politicians, billionaires, movie producers\u2014who are implicated criminally who haven\u2019t been investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I see Donald Trump announce a bunch of investigations,\u201d Massie continued, \u201cI don\u2019t see him going after these rich elites that are implicated in these files, according to the survivors.\u201d <\/p>\n

Khanna, on Meet the Press<\/em>, offered a similar assessment: \u201cThere is a group of rich and powerful men who abused young girls. It\u2019s the one thing this country agrees was horrible. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had a scandal like this in this country, and what we\u2019re asking for is justice for those survivors. So it\u2019s not about Donald Trump\u2014I don\u2019t even know how involved Trump was.\u201d <\/p>\n

Spokespeople for Khanna and Thune did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Mother Jones<\/em> on Sunday; a spokesperson for Massie referred questions to his appearance on ABC.<\/p>\n

Survivors of Epstein\u2019s sex trafficking and abuse are also hoping enough Republicans vote to pass the bill. In a letter Friday, a handful of them wrote<\/a>: \u201cDear Esteemed Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, You have the ability to vote to release the Epstein files, and with it, deliver a promise the American people have awaited far too long. We implore you to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n