House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., predicted Thursday that the bipartisan discharge petition on the Jeffrey Epstein files legislation spearheaded by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., will fall short, Politico reported.
Four House Republicans, including Massie, have signed on to the petition, but two more GOP signatures are needed to force a floor vote on requiring the Justice Department to release all Epstein files within 30 days.
However, the White House is “running an intense pressure campaign” to dissuade GOP members from signing onto the effort and persuading those who have to remove their names from the discharge petition, Politico reported Wednesday.
“I don’t expect he will,” Johnson said Thursday when asked if Massie will succeed with the initiative.
Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina have signed the petition so far. Democrats are expected to support the campaign en masse, backing the effort of co-sponsor Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, introduced by Massie and Khanna, would require the DOJ to release nearly all Epstein-related records within 30 days. Redactions would be limited strictly to identifiable victim information or material that could compromise active legal proceedings. The bill explicitly prohibits withholding information to spare embarrassment to wealthy or politically connected individuals.
Johnson on Thursday called Massie’s measure “superfluous” given that the House Oversight Committee is engaged in a broader Epstein investigation.
However, Massie told Newsmax on Wednesday that his effort and those of Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., are not redundant.
“I support what the Oversight Committee is doing. The more eyeballs we have on this, the better,” Massie said. “But what’s not true is that Comer’s effort and my effort are redundant.”
He added, “My bill has exceptions for victims’ identifiable information, but it doesn’t allow [DOJ] to redact things that they think might be embarrassing to billionaire donors,” Massie told Newsmax. “But that’s exactly what the DOJ is doing right now.”
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