Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) named more than a dozen individuals on the House floor Monday whom he identified as coconspirators of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. During his remarks, Massie also announced he is seeking 218 signatures for a discharge petition to compel a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II. A discharge petition is a legislative maneuver used to bring a bill out of committee and to the floor without a report from the committee.
The move follows the passage of the original Epstein Files Transparency Act last year, which Massie co-sponsored with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). Massie stated that while the previous legislation resulted in the release of some records, the federal government continues to withhold more than 3 million files related to Epstein. Massie said the new legislation is intended to facilitate the release of these documents to state investigators and survivors.
Among those named by Massie were Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and retail businessman Les Wexner. Mountbatten-Windsor was previously accused of sexual abuse by Virginia Giuffre; he has denied ever meeting her. Wexner, who employed Epstein as a financial manager in the 1990s and early 2000s, denied having firsthand knowledge of Epstein's criminal activities during a February deposition with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The scale of the disclosure involves more than 3 million files currently being withheld by the federal government. While the specific number of individuals who would be eligible to file suits or the number of state investigations that would be launched is not reported, the legislation targets records gathered over several decades of Epstein's activity. For survivors, the change would be a shift in their legal rights regarding personal data access, potentially occurring once the bill is passed and enacted.
The knock-on effects of this legislation could set a precedent for how federal investigative files are shared with state-level authorities in high-profile criminal cases. It could also lead to new civil litigation in state courts against the individuals named in the files. The next step in this process is the signature drive for the discharge petition. Massie requires 218 signatures from House members to bypass committee leadership and force a floor vote; the specific deadline for this drive was not reported.