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3d ago

Epstein Files Petition Hits 216 Signatures, With Special-Election Pledges Poised to Trigger House Vote

Private pressure from the White House tests Republicans who have campaigned on disclosure.

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President Trump and Speaker Johnson speak to reporters at the U.S. Capitol on May 20. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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Overview

  • The discharge petition stands at 216 signatures, with 211 Democrats and four Republicans — Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace — backing a vote to release Epstein-related records.
  • Democrats James Walkinshaw in Virginia’s 11th District and Adelita Grijalva in Arizona’s 7th say they will sign if they win this month’s special elections, a scenario that would reach the 218 threshold.
  • Speaker Mike Johnson opposes the effort, and options floated to blunt it include pressuring one of the four GOP signers to withdraw or using procedural language to stall a floor vote, Axios reports.
  • President Trump has publicly attacked Massie over the push, and several right-wing Republicans who highlight the Epstein issue have declined to sign, casting it as a personal dispute.
  • The proposal would require the attorney general to publish unclassified DOJ and FBI records within 30 days and provide unclassified summaries of classified material, with redactions for victim identities, child sexual abuse content, ongoing investigations and national security; House Oversight recently posted 33,295 DOJ pages.