By McKenna Horsley
Kentucky Lantern
After Kentucky Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie led the charge for months to release federal investigation files about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, U.S. House members overwhelmingly voted to release them Tuesday afternoon.
The Senate quickly followed suit, approving the measure unanimously just hours after the House vote and sending it to Republican President Donald Trump for his signature.
The House vote, 427-1, came after months of Republican opposition to a discharge petition sponsored by Massie directing the U.S. Department of Justice to release all of its investigation files into Epstein.
Speaking during debate on the resolution, Massie argued releasing the documents would bring justice for survivors who experienced abuse because of Epstein.
“All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing,” Massie said on the U.S. House floor. “And we’ve had a lot of good men doing a lot of nothing on the other side of the aisle until we did something — three brave women and myself and the Democrat caucus. We did something, and then what did they do? They’ve opposed us every step of the way.”
Massie has been joined by a few Republican allies in pursuit of the full release of the files — U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina. All have faced pressure from the White House to back off the discharge petition.
Earlier Tuesday morning, Massie joined survivors of Epstein along with California Democratic U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Greene for a press conference.
“We fought the president, the attorney general, the FBI director, the speaker of the House and the vice president, to get this win,” Massie said before the House vote. “But they’re on our side today, though, so let’s give them some credit as well. They’re finally on the side of justice.”
Trump, who has blasted Massie and even recruited a Republican opponent to run against him, abruptly reversed his opposition to releasing the Epstein files as it became clear the Republican-controlled House would vote for releasing the investigation records.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said that House Republicans “should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown.’”
Massie filed the discharge petition to release the files in September, much to Trump’s ire. The president went so far as to endorse a primary challenger against Massie in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.
Massie was poised to gain the 218th signature needed to bring the petition forward after the election of Democratic U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva. However, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson delayed her swearing-in amid the government shutdown until last week.
Ahead of the expected vote, Massie joined survivors of Epstein along with California Democratic U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna and Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for a Tuesday morning press conference in Washington, D.C. Massie thanked the survivors for sharing their stories and encouraged senators to vote in favor of releasing the files once they receive the discharge petition.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse publicly told their stories in September aiming to encourage members of Congress to vote in favor of releasing the federal investigation files. They described emotional manipulation and physical coercion, beginning as early as age 14 in some cases, at the hands of Epstein and convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein died in 2019 in jail while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking minors. His death was ruled a sucicide.
While Massie has gained support for his discharge petition, Republicans and House leadership backed an investigation led by the House Oversight committee. U.S. Rep. James Comer, another Kentucky Republican, chairs that committee, which has released a trove of files related to Epstein in recent months.
During Tuesday’s floor debate, Comer said his committee’s investigation “goes far beyond the legislation before us today” but accused Democrats of mischaracterizing the contents of the released files to politically attack Trump.
“I support full transparency,” Comer said. “The Oversight committee will continue to work to get the truth to the American people and to get justice for the victims. That’s our goal of this investigation.”
Several Republicans, including Johnson, encouraged the U.S. Senate to amend the resolution to avoid releasing information that could jeopardize survivors or whistleblowers. However, Massie refuted that by pointing to survivors’ support for lawmakers to release the files.
Trump had campaigned on releasing the Epstein files, but backed off releasing the records after he became president earlier this year.
In his criticism of Massie and the discharge petition, the president has issued personal attacks against the congressman. On Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social about Massie’s announcement of his second marriage to Carolyn Grace Moffa, a former staffer for Kentucky Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. Massie’s late wife, Rhonda Massie, died unexpectedly last year.
“Anyway, have a great life Thomas and (?),” the president wrote. “His wife will soon find out that she’s stuck with a LOSER!”
The primary opponent Trump endorsed against Massie, Gallrein, said online Saturday in response to one of the congressman’s posts on X: “You’ve voted so often with radical Dems that all you’ve got left is howling ‘Epstein.’”
Gallrein’s campaign did not immediately return an emailed request for comment Tuesday after Trump’s position on the files changed.
The U.S. Senate will now have the chance to consider releasing the full investigation files into Epstein. Paul is co-sponsoring the Senate legislation.
This story has been updated with information about the U.S. House debate and vote.
Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.