Massie gets enough signatures to force vote on Epstein files petition

Rep. Thomas Massie says his discharge petition for Epstein Files Transparency Act II has reached the 218 signatures needed to force a vote.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) says he has secured enough signatures to force a vote on his discharge petition related to files on disgraced financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, The Hill reported. “This morning we reached the required 218 signatures on my discharge petition for Epstein Files Transparency Act II,” Massie wrote on social media. Democratic Reps. Adam Smith (Wash.) and John Garamendi (Calif.) were the final signatories. Massie said he was working with Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to “get this to the floor for a vote soon.”

The first Epstein Files Transparency Act forced the Justice Department (DOJ) to release millions of files, but survivors and backers called for transparency and prosecutions. Massie said the act would allow the DOJ to be taken “to court for keeping critical files hidden.” Massie lost his primary this year to Trump-backed Rep.-elect Ed Gallerein (R-Ky.) and is racing the clock in the lame-duck session.