The GOP’s Epstein Problem Didn’t Go Away
In fact, it has dominated the House’s first week back in session.
HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON knew this day was coming. With the beginning of the fall session comes the return of efforts to force the Trump administration to finally make good on its promise to release all information about Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. These efforts had caused major political headaches for the GOP before Congress broke for the August recess. But virtually nothing was done during the weeks-long break to mollify a handful of Republicans who have linked arms with the Democratic caucus in advocating for Epstein transparency. So when the House reconvened on Wednesday for its first full day back in Washington, the circus resumed like it had never left town.
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) announced weeks ago their intention to hold a press conference featuring survivors of the human-trafficking enterprise facilitated by Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell. The event dominated headlines as it went ahead on Wednesday, and the lawmakers used the attention to press for more Republicans to break ranks and join their effort to gain the release of the files.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), one of the four Republicans willing to buck the party line and support the Epstein files discharge petition—a procedural mechanism to force votes against the speaker’s will—remarked that it was the largest press conference she’d seen in her years in Congress.
There were attempts to disrupt the event. In containment mode, Johnson proposed to offer a symbolic resolution expressing support for the House Oversight Committee’s continued probing of the Epstein case. (It passed, with some Republicans parroting the talking points for cover.) The night before the press conference, the Oversight Committee released more than 30,000 pages of Epstein-related documents, but most of them appear to be duplicates of already-public materials. And during the event, there was even a conveniently timed flyover of fighter jets to honor a fallen Polish pilot; the roar of the engines briefly deafened the cameras and speakers.1
According to sponsors, the discharge petition’s count stands at 212 Democrats—their full caucus—and four Republicans.2 Just two more Republicans are needed to meet the threshold of 218 members.