Some Republicans now say privately that it’s inevitable that Congress will pass legislation directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all files the Department of Justice (DOJ) has related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
President Trump has repeatedly tried to wave aside calls from Republicans and MAGA activists to make all the Epstein files public, but GOP lawmakers say privately that Trump is losing the battle to move on from the controversy that has been a White House annoyance since earlier this summer.
One Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on the sensitive topic told The Hill that Congress will sooner or later pass legislation directing Bondi to release all unclassified files related to Epstein.
The senator pointed out that many Republican lawmakers who followed Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) instructions and declined to sign a discharge petition to bring the Epstein matter to the House floor for a vote have nevertheless been “very vocal” in demanding that the Justice Department release all Epstein-related materials.
“Whole bunches of them have been very vocal about this, most of the Freedom Caucus has been,” the senator said. “The problem for some of these folks is that this has been an issue for years.”
The senator observed that when Bondi said in February that a list of Epstein’s clients “is sitting on” her “desk right now to review,” she created a huge expectation that the administration would reveal the names of the well-connected and wealthy men who participated in Epstein’s sexual exploitation of girls and teenagers.
“That was really unwise,” the lawmaker said.
Republican lawmakers say it now appears certain that a discharge petition that’s being circulated in the House by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) will get enough signatures by the end of the month to force a vote on a bill directing Bondi to release the Epstein files.
Massie and Khanna are only one vote short of getting 218 signatures to force a vote on their bill.
Once Arizona holds a special election Sept. 23 to fill the vacant seat of Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who died earlier this year, they’re likely to reach the threshold.
Grijalva’s daughter, Adelita, won the Democratic primary and is a heavy favorite to win the special election. She’s expected to provide the final signature.
So far, only four House Republicans have signed the petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files — Massie and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.).
But more Republicans are likely to vote for the measure when it comes to the floor.
Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), for example, hasn’t signed the discharge petition but called for the Trump administration to prioritize the release of the Epstein files.
“Yeah, I think that the American people are sick and tired of being lied to by their government or … the government holding these secrets that they deserve to know the truth on,” Burlison told Missourinet in July.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) also said he wants the Justice Department to release the Epstein files and told ABC News in July that he was “ticked off” when Trump claimed the Epstein files were a hoax concocted by Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) declined to comment Tuesday when asked whether he would bring any legislation passed by the House directing the release of all the Epstein files up for a vote in the Senate, calling it a “hypothetical” scenario.
But Thune acknowledged the loud calls within his party for more transparency from Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.
“I can’t comment on that at this point. I guess the House is having a conversation about that. What I can tell you is … I believe that transparency is always best and you should get as much information out there as you possibly can in a way that protects the rights of the victims,” he told reporters.
“I’m all for transparency, disclosure,” he said.
Thune was caught off guard last week when Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) ambushed him by offering an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill directing the Justice Department to release the files.
Thune hadn’t filled the amendment tree immediately after bringing the defense bill to the floor — an action that would have prevented Democrats from offering amendments — and Schumer pounced by offering his Epstein amendment and putting GOP senators in a tough situation.
Thune and his leadership team urged the Senate GOP conference to stick together and vote down the amendment, calling it a “political stunt,” but they suffered two big defections when Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) joined the Democrats’ call for more transparency.
Hawley said he couldn’t vote against a proposal directing the Justice Department to provide more transparency into its investigations into Epstein after previously staking out a position that the American public is entitled to the truth, even if it might expose some powerful people.
“My position has long been I think we ought to release those files and trust the American people, just like we did with the MLK files and the JFK files. I think this is a similar deal,” he said, referring to files about Martin Luther King Jr. and former President John F. Kennedy.
Paul, a prominent libertarian-leaning conservative, hasn’t been vocal on the Epstein controversy but explained to The Hill that when the issue came up for a vote, he felt he had to support the amendment directing the Justice Department to release its files as a matter of principle.
“People are losing faith in government and people have this idea that rich people get treated differently,” he said, pointing to the widespread view that the Justice Department is trying to protect Epstein’s wealthy clients from being exposed.
“I feel this sense from the public that they think something untoward happened, that there was some kind of secret deal to let really wealthy people off the hook,” he explained. “It’s difficult to have a legal system if people think they’re treated differently by Justice.”
“I think it’s worth opening up [the Justice Department’s Epstein files] to reassure people,” he added. “I don’t know, maybe nothing happened.
“Reveal the information so that people can feel more comfortable that justice is equal, impartial and blind.”
Paul said there’s more support among House Republicans for requiring Bondi to release all the Epstein files than it appears from the fact that only four GOP lawmakers have signed the Massie-Khanna discharge petition.
“Because they’re lobbying so hard against it, they only have a few Republicans” on the discharge the petition, he said.
“They’re trying whatever they can to squelch dissent with brute force,” Paul said of the GOP leadership.
There are signs of broader support among Republican senators for requiring the Justice Department to release the files.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) voted against Schumer’s amendment because he said it was a “procedural vote” and that Republican leaders were certain to strip it from the final version of the defense bill, even if it received enough votes to be adopted.
But he said if the matter comes to the floor again in a more legitimate way, he would vote “in a heartbeat” to make all the Epstein files public.
“If there was an amendment on the floor that would have the force of law, I’d vote for it in a heartbeat,” he said.
In another sign of growing momentum to compel the administration to release the files, Republicans on the Appropriations Committee agreed this summer to adopt an amendment sponsored by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) to the commerce, justice and state appropriations bill directing the Justice Department to provide a detailed report to Congress on all of its Epstein-related materials.
The amendment directs the attorney general to retain, preserve and compile any records related to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein and to submit to the Senate a report on victims, testimony, the investigation of co-conspirators and an intelligence assessment of Epstein’s financial ties, clients and connections to the U.S. or foreign governments.
