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WASHINGTON — Libertarian Rep. Thomas Massie on Sunday warned his Republican colleagues that President Trump can’t protect them for very long if they oppose the complete release of the Epstein files.
Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) have garnered enough support to force the House to vote on their proposed legislation this week to compel the Justice Department to release all of its files regarding late powerful pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, with carve-outs to protect his victims’ identities.
“I would remind my Republican colleagues who are deciding how to vote: Donald Trump can protect you in red districts right now by giving you an endorsement, but by 2030, he’s not gonna be the president, and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don’t vote to release those files,” Massie warned on ABC’s “This Week.”
“The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency.”
Trump faced a MAGA-world revolt during the summer over Epstein, after a controversial July FBI and DOJ memo concluded the heinous financier committed suicide and had not maintained an incriminating “client list,” contrary to speculation.
Massie, who has been in Trump’s crosshairs, particularly for his opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, joined with Khanna in seeking to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.
That effort, which was delayed by a government shutdown and August recess, has finally come to fruition.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has called the Massie and Khanna proposal a “moot” point because the GOP-led House Oversight Committee has been investigating the Epstein ordeal while releasing tens of thousands of pages worth of the documents.
But Massie said there must be a full accounting — and that the time is ripe to push for it.
“I think we could have a deluge of Republicans. There could be 100 or more. I’m hoping to get a veto-proof majority on this legislation when it comes up for a vote,” he said.
“This president’s been saying this is a hoax. He’s been saying that for months. Well, he’s just now decided to investigate a hoax, if it’s a hoax,” Massie said of the controversy surrounding the information in the files.
Last week, Trump announced that he asked the DOJ to investigate former President Bill Clinton, JP Morgan and Chase, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman in relation to the files.
Massie fretted that those probes could function as a “big smokescreen” to hamper the release of all of the Epstein files.
On Friday, the president got particularly personal with Massie, attacking him for getting remarried in the wake of the passing of his first wife last year.
“Boy, that was quick!” Trump, who is on his third marriage, wrote on Truth Social. “No wonder the Polls have him at less than an 8% chance of winning the Election. Anyway, have a great life Thomas and (?). His wife will soon find out that she’s stuck with a LOSER!”
The Kentucky Republican shrugged off the president as a “bully” and revealed that his new wife joked they should have invited the president to their wedding to prevent his ire. Despite Trump’s attacks, Massie stressed that he doesn’t believe the Epstein files will implicate the president.
Instead, he believes Trump is “trying to protect a bunch of rich and powerful friends, billionaires, donors to his campaign.”
Should the House pass Massie and Khanna’s effort to release the Epstein files, there’s no guarantee the Senate will even take up that legislation.
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