These 11 Republicans are backing the Khana-Massie Epstein measure

Yahoo

2 days ago

A bipartisan effort to force a binding House vote on releasing the 'Epstein files' has picked up Republican support, though just how many in the GOP ultimately support the measure won't be seen at least until the lower chamber returns from its August recess.
The bipartisan bill from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is one of two measures related to the Epstein files, which have effectively stymied the entire chamber and prompted Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to send members home early.
It has the 11 Republican and nine Democratic co-sponsors as of Wednesday.
Massie and Khanna have vowed to file a discharge petition to bypass House leadership and force their bill to the floor with 218 signatures. Discharge petitions are rarely successful, and seldom used by members of the majority. But Massie and Khanna's could be successful if all 11 GOP co-sponsors sign on with all Democrats.
It would not be ready for a vote until September due to procedural rules.
The measure would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to make public 'in a searchable and downloadable format' all 'unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials in the possession' of the Justice Department (DOJ) related to the late sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Massie has led the charge from the GOP side and taken heat from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who on Tuesday said he was baffled about Massie's motivations.
The House will now leave town Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled, for its recess. Democrats have hammered Johnson for avoiding any summer votes on the Epstein bills.
Here are the Republicans who are backing the measure.
Lauren Boebert
Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), a fierce ally of President Trump, was one of the first lawmakers to call for a special counsel to investigate the government's handling of the files.
'People are frustrated. We want to know if there's more information,' the Colorado lawmaker said on NewsNation last week.
Boebert was among the lawmakers who celebrated the Trump administration's move in February to reveal what it claimed were the Epstein files — a move that ended up disappointing many observers who hoped for new revelations.
In 2020, while Boebert was running for her first term in Congress, she appeared to indulge a conspiracy theory that Epstein did not die by suicide.
'Is 2020 a set up so we all forget Epstein didn't kill himself?' she wrote then on X, adding a chin-scratching emoji.
The medical examiner ruled that Epstein, who was in New York City jail awaiting trial, died by suicide in 2019. The DOJ and the FBI reaffirmed the cause of his death in an unnamed memo earlier this month, where officials also said that the disgraced financier did not keep the so-called 'client list.'
Jeff Van Drew
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (N.J.) switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP in 2020 over Trump's first impeachment.
The New Jersey Republican, who represents a South Jersey district that includes Atlantic City, has not commented extensively on the Epstein files.
'The American people deserve full transparency,' Van Drew said in a post on X announcing his support.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Epstein is one of the rare issues on which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), one of the most prominent MAGA Republicans in Congress, has not been in lock-step with the president. The Georgia lawmaker has warned that voters could turn on Trump over the controversy.
'If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People,' she wrote on X Monday. If not, 'The base will turn and there's no going back.'
Greene celebrated Trump's move to ask to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein last week, and derided Democratic outrage on the issue as 'fake.'
Eric Burlison
Rep. Eric Burlison (Mo.), a two-term congressman, has blamed both the DOJ and the 'deep state' for hiding files related to Epstein.
He expressed skepticism early on about the DOJ-FBI memo, as well as their release of hours of surveillance footage from outside Epstein's cell. The footage is missing about one minute around midnight, which Bondi has said was due to standard resetting of the prison's security cameras every night.
'What is a reasonable person supposed to conclude when they're first told the footage doesn't exist, only to see it later released, showing a different cell and missing a full minute?' Burlison wrote on X the day the footage was released.
Tim Burchett
Rep. Tim Burchett (Tenn.) successfully pushed Tuesday for a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee to subpoena Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate who is serving a lengthy prison sentence.
'It's about to get real. I just did this,' he wrote on X after moving to issue the subpoena.
Burchett has also criticized the Democrats, who celebrated the subpoena, for not caring about Epstein until Trump had been encircled in the controversy.
'If Democrats were serious about this issue, they wouldn't have waited four years to bring it up,' he said on CNN last week.
Cory Mills
Rep. Cory Mills (Fla.) has not yet publicly commented on his decision to co-sponsor the resolution.
He garnered headlines for a different reason last week after news broke of court filings alleging that he owed $85,000 in back rent at his D.C. apartment. Mills blamed an online processing error and has since said the debt is settled.
Mills was previously a Trump appointee on the Defense Business Board. He represents a coastal district in north-central Florida, centered on the town of New Smyrna Beach.
Max Miller
Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said last week he signed on the petition because he believes in 'transparency and delivering the truth' to the American people.
Miller previously was Trump's senior advisor during his first White House term and was in the Marine Corps Reserves for six years.
Also in recent but unrelated news, Miller said last month he was run off the road by a 'deranged man' who was waving a Palestinian flag and hurled death threats before driving off.
Eli Crane
Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), a staunch Trump defender and member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, announced he would co-sign Massie's measure last week, writing 'Add me. Transparency matters.'
The former Navy SEAL, who sits on the subcommittee on border security enforcement, told Axios 'that's been something that I've supported from day one … I think there needs to be transparency, and I'm glad to see that this is bipartisan because it should be.'
Nancy Mace
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) has linked her support for Epstein transparency to her own alleged experience with sexual violence. In February, she accused four men, including her former fiancé, of a range of sex crimes. All four men have denied accusations.
'I've always been an advocate for women and children. The Jeffrey Epstein case is no different. I want to see arrests. I want to see any one who raped underage girls in handcuffs and behind bars,' Mace, who is mulling a run for South Carolina governor, said in a X post last week.
'No more passes for predators,' she added. 'May God bless President Trump – he's never let us down before!'
Mace said in an interview that she was in favor of appointing a special counsel to probe who might be involved in trafficking girls and young women, along with investigating if anyone destroyed evidence.
'If the Justice Department can be more transparent on this, it would be best for the country. People don't trust the government, and we haven't given them much reason to over the past few years,' Mace told The New York Times last week.
Keith Self
Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas), a military veteran, said during an interview on Wednesday that the bipartisan Massie-Khanna measure will 'easily pass' the lower chamber if it comes to a full vote.
'We want to expose the criminals, we want to protect the victims. Recent reports said there were 1000 victims, we need to figure out who perpetrated the crimes against those victims and this seems to be the only way that we're going to get to do it,' Self told Newsmax.
Self noted that the release of the Epstein files has widespread support among the American public and predicted that the petition will secure 218 votes in the House.
'But again, this is an issue of justice. It's an issue of transparency and frankly, accountability of the government. The American people want to see a government that is accountable to our employers, who are the citizens, the voters of the United States,' the Texas Republican said. 'It is as simple as that.'
Tom Barrett
Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) said last week there are too many 'questions and not enough answers' about the Epstein files.
'I agree that it's time to release them, which is why I put my name on a resolution to force their release and give the American people the transparency they deserve,' Barrett wrote on X.
Democrats
At least nine Democrats have signed onto the measure, as the party looks to fuel GOP angst over the Epstein files and force tough votes on the issue.
The co-sponsors are: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Jamie Raskin (Md.), Ryan Patrick (N.Y.), Debbie Dingell (Mich.), Joe Neguse (Colo.), Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.).
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