The House is expected to once again vote on releasing the Epstein files — but action won’t take place until after the midterm elections.
A discharge petition that would force House Republican leaders to schedule a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II is nearing the minimum amount of required signatures, teeing up a possible vote when lawmakers return to Washington in November. The proposal builds on efforts from last year that resulted in the release of thousands of Justice Department files, but lawmakers say there are still materials that are being withheld.
“The Department of Justice continues to unlawfully withhold over 3 million Epstein files that should be released to the public,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who is leading the discharge petition, said in a statement. “In addition, the DOJ is unlawfully maintaining heavy redactions on the files it is releasing.”
Congress approved a resolution last year compelling the DOJ to release its full investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, marking a major defeat for President Donald Trump who spent months denouncing the effort as a “hoax.”
Despite the victory, the bill’s top sponsors say the government has continued to withhold some documents from the public — resulting in this sequel legislation that provides tougher enforcement.
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, it provides pathways for state attorneys general, prosecutors, and victims to sue the federal government for not releasing certain records. It would also require the U.S. attorney general to provide unredacted documents to victims upon request.
It would also provide for certain punishments for any federal employee or official who explicitly withholds or redacts information, based upon penalties already written into federal law.
Massie filed what is known as a discharge petition in August that allows rank-and-file lawmakers to force a vote on legislation even without leadership approval so long as they get a majority of the chamber to sign on. To be successful, a majority of members — 218 — must sign on to force the vote.
Under current House margins, that would require four Republicans to side with all Democrats — which Massie accomplished after getting Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania to join his effort.
The petition currently sits at 216 signatures due to some Democratic absences, but Massie and co-sponsor Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said the final signatures would be obtained in November. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would then be forced to schedule a vote within seven legislative days.
The resolution comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a report earlier this year alleging the DOJ withheld dozens of pages of witness notes and reports about an alleged victim who accused Trump of assaulting her when she was a minor, according to committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif.
The House Oversight Committee previously voted to subpoena former Attorney General Pam Bondi over the missing files, but she was removed from the position before she could testify.
Her replacement, Attorney General Todd Blanche, has since been warned about potential contempt charges related to the Epstein case. A judge last week said Blanche could be charged if he does not comply with a previous order compelling him to release the documents that have thus far been withheld.
The DOJ has previously defended its decision not to publish some handwritten notes, claiming they were “properly withheld because they are ‘substantially similar to’ and therefore duplicative of the typewritten reports.”
“Courts have the inherent power to enforce compliance with their lawful orders through civil contempt,” U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan wrote in an order last week. “A contempt finding is proper where ‘the putative contemnor has violated an order that is clear and unambiguous’ and the violation of an order is ‘proved by clear and convincing evidence.’”