(The Center Square) – By the end of October, we could see all U.S. Department of Justice files related to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein out in the open, if a new bill passes through the Senate after it clears the House. This bill is currently gaining traction in Congress.
The House of Representatives will be back from its break next week, and things are getting intense. They not only need to worry about a potential government shutdown, but also have to vote on a bill from Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky. His proposal aims to force the DOJ to “publicly disclose all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” tied to Epstein and his affiliate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Massie’s bill got enough support to go straight to the House floor, skipping the usual committee process, thanks to signatures collected on a discharge petition. Right now, Massie has 217 lawmakers ready to back him, and he just needs one more supporter—newly elected Rep. Adelita Grijalva from Arizona—to start the next chapter.
So far, the only Republic senators also supporting Massie are Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Nancy Mace, alongside Massie himself. If they stick together, the bill looks likely to pass in the House and head to the Senate, where things get a bit foggy.
What was once dismissed as a wild Republican “conspiracy theory” about the existence of the “Epstein files,” which allegedly contain juicy information on various political personalities, is now being taken seriously by some Democrats.
We saw this shift after the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the list of Epstein’s associated individuals was “sitting on [her] desk,” only for the administration to later retreat and claim that no such information exists. President Trump labeled it all a “Democratic hoax,” and that pushed many Republican lawmakers to distance themselves from the discussions, while Democrats grew increasingly accusatory toward him, saying he was hiding crucial details.
With the demand for transparency growing louder, the DOJ proposed unsealing grand jury materials related to Epstein and Maxwell’s trials. Unfortunately, three federal judges turned down that request, keeping much of the information locked up.
Add to this the House Oversight Committee, which has started digging deeper into Epstein’s connections, issuing subpoenas to both the DOJ and several prominent Democrats who have drawn lines back to him.
Despite these efforts, the committee’s recent release of a stack of previously classified Epstein documents didn’t share much new knowledge, due to heavy redactions. Massie and fellow lawmakers are left feeling frustrated over the slow movement and lack of clarity from the administration.
Massie expressed his discontent on X with, “Americans are tired of this! Billionaires and politically connected individuals tied to Epstein have avoided accountability. The documents provided to Oversight are far from complete. They’re redacted like crazy!”
His new bill will ensure the DOJ can limit redacting or holding back sensitive materials only in specific cases. Those include protecting victims’ private information, child sexual abuse media, graphic images, or anything that could put an active investigation at risk. This aims to push for more transparency and accountability.
