The stage is set…
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he will vote in favor of the House’s forthcoming vote on forcing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its files on late convicted child traficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Johnson told reporters at his weekly press conference that he would vote in favor of the bill, despite concerns about what he saw as lackluster protections for victims and other innocent people whose names may be released against their own wishes.
“I’m going to I’m going to vote to move this forward,” Johnson said.
“I think it could be close to a unanimous vote, because everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on record to show their from maximum transparency.”
The Epstein Files Transparency Act is expected to receive a vote in the House on Tuesday. The bill would require the DOJ to declassify and release Epstein-related records while protecting victim-identifying and other sensitive information.
The measure appears likely to pass the House, but its fate in the Senate is unclear.
The legislation is a bipartisan product by Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky) Massie has been known to be a frequent critic of both Johnson and President Donald Trump.
Despite that, however, Trump gave House Republicans his blessing to vote for the bill on Sunday night. (RELATED: Trump Flips On Epstein Files Vote – But His Administration Still Won’t Release Them)
President Donald Trump on Sunday night begrudgingly called on House Republicans to advance legislation that would force the Department of Justice to disclose all remaining files tied to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The reversal came even as his administration has yet to release the full set of documents.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that House Republicans “should vote to release the Epstein files because we have nothing to hide.”
He argued that Democrats have used the issue to “deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party.”
He then broadened his point, insisting that the matter had already been thoroughly examined. “The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on ‘Epstein,’ are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE! All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”
While the president has the authority to direct the Justice Department to release the Epstein files without congressional authorization, he has never ordered the full file to be made public.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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