Massie-led effort to release Epstein files passes House after Trump about-face
Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District Rep. Thomas Massie notched another win Tuesday in his effort to release the full files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Massie’s push on a discharge petition to force the release of the documents had long faced opposition from President Donald Trump and House GOP leaders, but those power brokers changed their tune in recent days given the slim majority of the U.S. House that signed onto the petition.
The resolution passed easily, 427-1.
Only Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins voted no.
Popular support for the petition, cosponsored by California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, got a second wind with new developments and increased public interest. New tranches of records have been released by both Democrats and Republicans in the House detailing Epstein’s relationship with many powerful people, including Trump.
Epstein and Trump’s friendship, and later fallout, is well-documented.
The new emails shed light on how Epstein saw Trump, and some argue they raise questions about what Trump knew about Epstein’s conduct and if he was involved. Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor and has been accused of more crimes. “I am the one able to take him down,” Epstein told an acquaintance of Trump in a 2018 text.
Epstein died by suicide in prison awaiting trial in August 2019.
The resolution now goes to the Senate, where Republicans control 53 of the 100 seats, and 60 votes are required for passage.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, has long been an opponent of the discharge petition, citing alleged insufficient lack of protections for victims and the possibility that the files could ruin the lives of people unaware of Epstein’s crimes.
On the House floor Tuesday, Johnson called the discharge petition a “show vote” led by Democrats to score political points.
But Johnson reversed course and encouraged his caucus to support Massie’s petition. He urged the Senate to make changes to the resolution when it’s in their possession, including adding a provision to protect “innocent persons” who are not proven to have aided Epstein in the documents, potentially adding “new victims.”
Massie excoriated Johnson in a post on X for that idea.
“This is how (Johnson) plans to protect perverts who went to the rape island from embarrassment. Do not let the Senate add an amendment to avoid disclosing those rich and powerful men who have evaded justice for so many years,” Massie wrote.
How did everyone else vote?
Kentucky’s lone Democrat in Congress, 3rd Congressional District Rep. Morgan McGarvey, was one of the first members to sign onto Massie’s effort. He voted yes on the resolution on the floor.
“Despite the President’s desperate efforts to conceal the Epstein files from the American people and Republican leadership’s attempts to cover for him, we finally got to vote today to release them, expose the powerful individuals who protected Jeffrey Epstein’s reprehensible crimes, and most importantly get some long-overdue justice for the victims,” McGarvey said in a statement.
Kentucky 1st Congressional District Rep. James Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, has for some time signaled support for the resolution even as his own committee’s work to release documents has been used by Massie’s opponents to contrast with Massie’s efforts. He voted yes.
Comer spokesperson Austin Hacker offered a statement alongside the vote that emphasized Comer’s committee work.
“Congressman Comer remains fully committed to transparency, and his oversight committee Epstein investigation has already produced more than 65,000 pages of documents obtained from the Epstein Estate and the DOJ,” Hacker wrote.
Perhaps the most politically relevant vote was that of 6th Congressional District Rep. Andy Barr.
Barr is currently seeking to replace outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2026. If Trump and Johnson’s opposition to the resolution had held, he’d have faced a difficult decision of either breaking with a president who holds great sway in Kentucky or providing fuel for his political opponents. Barr logged a yes vote on the floor, and praised Trump in a statement.
“I pray for all the victims to receive justice for the crimes committed by Epstein and his criminal enterprise. For years, Biden kept these files from the public. President Trump’s DOJ prosecuted Epstein and is now providing maximum transparency about his horrific crimes,” Barr wrote. 5th Congressional District Rep. Hal Rogers struck a similar tone in a statement provided by his office.
“Washington Democrats failed to release the Epstein files under the Biden Administration for four years, but I’m grateful that we are moving forward in a bipartisan manner. I am hopeful that additional protections will be added to the bill for victim privacy, undercover law enforcement and whistleblowers,” Rogers said.
Joining the others in the near-unanimous yes vote was 2nd Congressional District Rep. Brett Guthrie.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM.
