Kentucky Representative Thomas Massey is leading the charge on *** bipartisan effort to force *** vote on the floor, on the House floor here to release all files related to the death of Jeffrey Epstein. It comes as House leaders refuse to take action before the August recess. Speaker Mike Johnson says the president is already taking steps toward transparency and that Congress should wait, but Massey, alongside Democrat Rohana. is using *** rare procedural move called *** discharge petition to circumvent leadership. President Donald Trump taking aim at Massey once again overnight, posting *** very long note on his Truth Social platform. Thomas Massie, the worst Republican congressman and an almost guaranteed no vote each and every time, is an embarrassment to Kentucky. He ends this post stating, quote, Looking for someone good to run against this guy, someone I. Endorse and vigorously campaign for to succeed, Massey would need 218 signatures while Democratic support is expected. Only 10 Republicans have signed on so far. Still, the process can’t start until after the House returns from its five week summer recess, meaning *** vote wouldn’t come until after Labor Day. Now if this passes, the administration would get 30 days to release those records.

Advertisement AG Pam Bondi briefed Trump that his name was in Epstein files Editorial Standards ⓘ

When Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed President Donald Trump in May on the Justice Department’s review of the documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, she told him that his name appeared in the files, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN.The conversation, which also included Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, was characterized by two White House officials as a “routine briefing” that covered the scope of the Justice Department’s findings. Trump’s name appearing in the files, they said, was not the sole focus of the discussions.Bondi also raised in the meeting that several names of high-profile figures were also mentioned, and that investigators did not find evidence of a so-called client list or evidence refuting that Epstein died by suicide, the officials said.The sources familiar with the department’s review said the files appeared to include several unsubstantiated claims that the Justice Department found not to be credible, including those relating to Trump.It wasn’t clear in what context Trump’s name appeared in the files. Like many high-powered people in 1990s New York, Trump was an associate of Epstein’s, who worked to cultivate celebrities to burnish his business. The revelation that his name appears in the documents does little to advance previous knowledge about his ties to the late sex offender.“The White House is not surprised by this – Trump’s name was present in the binders that Bondi produced and handed out,” one of the White House officials said, adding that many of the materials already released by the Justice Department had included mention of the president’s name.“The White House does not view this as groundbreaking or new or surprising at all,” the official said, adding that there is no evidence that Trump was involved in any wrongdoing.“The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN, referring to Epstein. “This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about.”The Wall Street Journal first reported that Bondi informed Trump in May about his name appearing in the documents.The revelations about the meeting contradict Trump’s more recent denials that he was told he was in the files.Pressed last week on whether Bondi had told him he was named in the documents, he said, “No, no. She’s given us just a very quick briefing.”Trump has struggled to tamp down weeks of backlash over the administration’s decision not to release more documents related to the Epstein investigation — a move that infuriated a vocal segment of the MAGA base and put the president at odds with some of his most ardent supporters.Inside the White House, officials were outraged that Bondi did not redact Trump’s name from publicly available materials contained in Epstein binders distributed to influencers in February, sources said. Her failure to protect the president during the episode has been a longstanding point of contention between the DOJ and the White House.“The DOJ and FBI reviewed the Epstein Files and reached the conclusion set out in the July 6 memo,” Bondi and Blanche said in a statement on Wednesday. “Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution, and we have filed a motion in court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts. As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings.”The White House has dismissed the ongoing focus on the Epstein files, arguing that it’s distracting from the administration’s accomplishments and aiding Democrats’ efforts to damage the president.But a growing and bipartisan chorus of lawmakers have since called for a full release of the documents, forcing Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to cut short their legislative session to avoid taking a series of votes on the matter. But before leaving town, a House Oversight subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the Department of Justice to release files related to Epstein. CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Paula Reid and Kit Maher contributed to this report.

A House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on Wednesday approved several subpoenas, including one directing the Department of Justice to turn over materials relating to the Epstein files.

The federal law enforcement subcommittee also approved a motion to subpoena several high-profile Democratic officials, including former President Clinton, for their testimony.

The panel approved the Epstein motion, offered by Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), in an 8-2 vote, with Republican Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.), Scott Perry (Pa.) and Brian Jack (Ga.) joining Democrats in favor.

Lee’s motion called for the “full, complete, unredacted Epstein files to be delivered concurrently to the majority and minority.”

“Today, Oversight Democrats fought for transparency and accountability on the Epstein files and won. House Republicans didn’t make it easy, but the motion was finally passed to force the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in a statement.

“Let’s be clear: this is a huge win for the American people. The public deserves to know who was complicit in Epstein’s heinous crimes, including people with immense power in our government. Today’s vote was just the first step toward accountability, and we will continue pushing for the truth.”

An amendment to Lee’s motion from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) to include the release of all communications between President Biden or Biden administration officials and the Department of Justice related to Jeffrey Epstein was adopted by voice vote. And an amendment from Mace to redact the names of victims and any personally identifiable information of victims, as well as any possible material depicting child abuse, was also adopted by voice vote.

The committee also approved by voice vote a motion from Perry to “expand the full committee’s investigation” into the Epstein matter by also issuing subpoenas to a number of high-profile former Democratic officials: Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director and special counsel Robert Mueller.

Perry’s motion also called to subpoena three former GOP officials: Attorney General Bill Barr and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who served under President Trump; and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush.

The motions for subpoenas come after the full Oversight Committee on Tuesday approved a subpoena for Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is in prison for aiding Epstein in child sex trafficking. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) officially issued that subpoena on Wednesday.

The flurry of subpoenas comes as House GOP leaders moved to send members home for August recess a day early after disputes about the Epstein matter — and an unwillingness to face Democratic votes trying to squeeze Republicans on the Epstein issue in the House Rules Committee — stymied the House.

But Democrats are seeing success in getting Republican support for their Epstein-related amendments in the Oversight panel.

Kentucky Representative Thomas Massey is leading the charge on *** bipartisan effort to force *** vote on the floor, on the House floor here to release all files related to the death of Jeffrey Epstein. It comes as House leaders refuse to take action before the August recess. Speaker Mike Johnson says the president is already taking steps toward transparency and that Congress should wait, but Massey, alongside Democrat Rohana. is using *** rare procedural move called *** discharge petition to circumvent leadership. President Donald Trump taking aim at Massey once again overnight, posting *** very long note on his Truth Social platform. Thomas Massie, the worst Republican congressman and an almost guaranteed no vote each and every time, is an embarrassment to Kentucky. He ends this post stating, quote, Looking for someone good to run against this guy, someone I. Endorse and vigorously campaign for to succeed, Massey would need 218 signatures while Democratic support is expected. Only 10 Republicans have signed on so far. Still, the process can’t start until after the House returns from its five week summer recess, meaning *** vote wouldn’t come until after Labor Day. Now if this passes, the administration would get 30 days to release those records.

Advertisement House subcommittee votes to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein files Editorial Standards ⓘ

A House subcommittee on Wednesday voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein after Democrats successfully goaded GOP lawmakers to defy Trump and Republican leadership to support the action.Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Committee on Oversight made a motion for the subpoena Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the House was scheduled to end its July work session and depart Washington for a monthlong break.Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally.The Republican subcommittee chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, said that work was beginning to draft the subpoena but that it would take some time for both sides to work out the final language.”If the Republican Party, if our colleagues on this committee don’t join us in this vote, then what they’re essentially doing is joining President Donald Trump in complicity,” Rep. Summer Lee, the Pennsylvania Democrat who made the motion for the subpoena, told reporters outside the hearing room.The move by Democrats showed how they were doing practically everything in their power to force Republicans to act on the Epstein files. House Speaker Mike Johnson — caught between demands from Trump and clamoring from his own members for the House to act — has resisted calls for action and prepared to send the House home a day early.Johnson told reporters earlier Wednesday there was no need to vote on legislation calling for the release of the Epstein files this week because the Trump administration is “already doing everything within their power to release them.”Yet Democrats have delighted this week in pressing Republicans to support the release of the files. Their efforts halted the GOP’s legislative agenda for the week and turned attention to an issue that Trump has unsuccessfully implored his supporters to forget about.”They’re fleeing our work, our job and sending us back home because they don’t want to vote to release these files. This is something that they ran on. This is something that they talked about: the importance of transparency, holding pedophiles accountable,” Lee said.Democratic leaders are hoping to make the issue about much more than just Epstein, who died in his New York jail cell six years ago while he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.”Why haven’t Republicans released the Epstein files to the American people? It’s reasonable to conclude that Republicans are continuing to protect the lifestyles of the rich and the shameless, even if that includes pedophiles,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries at a news conference. “So it’s all connected.”It comes as both parties are gearing up to take their messaging to voters on Trump’s big multitrillion-dollar tax breaks and spending cuts bill. For Republicans, it’s “beautiful” legislation that will spark economic growth; for Democrats, it’s an “ugly” gift mostly to the richest Americans that undermines health care for low-income people.Yet as furor has grown on the right over the Trump administration’s reversal on promises related to Epstein, several Democrats have seized on the opportunity to divide Republicans on the issue.”This goes to a fundamental sense of, ‘Is our government co-opted by rich and powerful people that isn’t looking out for ordinary Americans? Or can we have a government that looks out for ordinary Americans?'” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who has put forward a bipartisan bill meant to force release of the files.Republican leaders accuse Democrats of caring about the issue purely for political gain. They point out that the Department of Justice held on to the Epstein investigation through the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden.Trump’s Justice Department is also seeking the release of testimony from secret grand jury proceedings in the Epstein case, though that effort is unlikely to produce new revelations.The House Oversight Committee, with support from Republicans, also advanced Tuesday a subpoena for Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a deposition.However, those lawmakers who want Congress to take a stronger role in the Epstein files have cautioned that Maxwell, who is serving a prison sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls, may be an unreliable witness.”It’s a good idea, but it’s not enough. It’s not nearly enough,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who has pushed the bipartisan bill to pry the records from the Justice Department.