Republicans Are Still In Disarray Over The Epstein Files

These divides don't seem poised to dissipate over the August recess.

Republicans are continuing to go at it over the Jeffrey Epstein files despite House leadership’s attempts to flee D.C. and avoid votes on the issue.

In dueling NBC News interviews on Sunday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pushed for his bipartisan resolution calling for the release of the files, while House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) argued that the measure doesn’t do enough to protect victims. (Massie and his co-sponsor, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, both disputed this claim and say there are privacy safeguards.)

Massie also slammed Johnson for adjourning the House early for recess, while Johnson defended his decision and said he wanted to bar Democrats from continuing to force votes in the Rules Committee and using the Epstein issue for political messaging.

“I don’t know why it should be politically painful to be transparent,” Massie said in his interview.

Last week, Johnson wouldn’t commit to holding a vote on another nonbinding Republican resolution that urges the Justice Department to release certain Epstein files, either. Instead, he called for “the administration to have the space to do what it is doing” and said he’d consider further congressional action if it was “necessary or appropriate.” Johnson also emphasized that there was no “daylight” between his position and the White House’s, and that both were interested in releasing “credible” information from the Epstein files.