WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has resisted a bipartisan push to publish investigatory files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, claiming it would be reckless to release uncorroborated material.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are promoting a “discharge petition” to force the House to vote on a resolution requiring the Department of Justice to hand over the Epstein files.
Johnson, who sent lawmakers home early for their August recess to escape the Epstein drama, claimed the resolution would improperly disclose the identities of Epstein’s victims and otherwise unleash bogus information.
“The Massie and Khanna discharge petition would require the release, they would require the DOJ and FBI to release information that they know is false, that is based on lies and rumors and was not even credible enough to be entered into the court proceedings,” Johnson said on “Meet the Press” Sunday. “And that would be a dangerous thing.”
It sounds like a principled objection, but just two years ago Republicans took the opposite position when they clamored for the Justice Department to release information that officials warned was based on unvetted rumors and potential lies. In 2023, Republicans led by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) sent a subpoena for a document containing an FBI informant’s unverified claim a Ukrainian businessman said he’d previously paid a $5 million bribe to Joe Biden.
