Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., say they would be willing to use the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution to expose names of clients affiliated with the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Survivors at our press conference announced they are privately compiling their own Epstein list,” Massie wrote Wednesday in a post on X. He was referring to those abused by Epstein who had spoken on Capitol Hill earlier in the day. One revealed that victims have been discussing confidentially compiling “the names we all know who were regularly in the Epstein world.”
“They would be sued into homelessness for naming names, but @RepMTG and I are willing to name names in the House of Representatives under constitutional ‘speech or debate’ immunity,” Massie wrote.
The Speech or Debate clause grants absolute immunity to members of Congress for actions integral to the legislative process, including speeches, votes, and committee work. It shields them from civil or criminal liability and would allow Massie and Greene to read names or make allegations on the House floor without legal consequences.
“I’m not afraid to say the names,” Greene wrote Wednesday in a post on X. “Jeffrey Epstein’s cabal of politicians, bureaucrats, and elites who turned a blind eye must be held accountable. This is the product of past administrations, Republican and Democrat, trying to silence victims. They deserve justice. And America deserves the TRUTH.”
Massie this week introduced a discharge petition in support of the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act. The petition is a procedural tool that requires 218 votes to advance legislation out of committee onto the House floor. Massie wrote in another post Wednesday night on X that the petition had 214 votes.
“I’m 99% certain we’ll get 218,” Massie wrote. “At that point @SpeakerJohnson may try to change the rules of the House, but chair of Rules Committee says she won’t!”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reportedly predicted Thursday that the discharge petition will fall short. Four Republicans have signed it so far — Massie, Greene, and Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina — more than enough for passage if all Democrats join.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, introduced by Ro Khanna, D-Calif., would require the Department of Justice to release nearly all Epstein-related records within 30 days.
Redactions would be limited strictly to identifiable victim information or material that could compromise active legal proceedings. The bill explicitly prohibits withholding information to spare embarrassment to wealthy or politically connected people.
Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in August 2019 while in federal custody. He was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Tuesday released about 34,000 documents it received from DOJ, but critics said they contained little that was new and reiterated calls for the release of all documents related to Epstein.
“I’d like to thank the more than 2,000 people who have flooded my office in the last 24 hours with calls of support and gratitude for signing the Massie-Khanna Epstein Discharge Petition,” Greene wrote Thursday in a post on X.
She added survivors of Epstein’s abuse “deserve transparency” and vowed to back all efforts to release the files while protecting victims.
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