GOP Rep. Massie Calls On Republicans To Break With Trump On Epstein Files: 'Will Last Longer Than Trump's Presidency'

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie called on fellow Republicans to break with President Donald Trump on the Epstein files, saying their decision will have an impact that will last longer than his presidency.

"I would remind my Republican colleagues who are deciding how to vote, Donald Trump can protect you in red districts right now by giving you an endorsement, but by 2030, he's not going to be the president and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don't vote to release those files. The record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump's presidency," Massie said during an interview with ABC News.

Massie is spearheading the "discharge petition," which will force a floor vote the compel the Department of Justice to release the files despite opposition from the leadership. He is one of four Republicans joining all Democrats in supporting the initiative, the others being Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has opposed the measure, said he will bring the measure to a vote next week. Even if it passes, the move will have to pass the Senate and be signed into law by Trump, which is unlikely given his opposition.

Massie has also called on Trump to release all the files, recently saying "there's still time for him to be the hero." However, even though he added that Trump "could release all the files himself," it "seems like they were all scrambling over there to stop this."

The initiative got enough support on Wednesday after the swearing in of Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva. It came on the same day as Democrats released a new tranche of Epstein documents mentioning Donald Trump by name.

They include a 2011 message in which Epstein told his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell that a victim had "spent hours at my house" with Trump, describing him as "the dog that hasn't barked." Maxwell responded: "I have been thinking about that ..." The names of alleged victims were redacted.

In a separate exchange from December 2015, author Michael Wolff told Epstein he heard CNN might question Trump about his relationship with him. Epstein replied: "If we were to craft an answer for him, what do you think it should be?" Wolff said Trump should answer publicly and risk "hanging himself," noting it could create "PR and political currency" for Epstein.

Another email from January 2019 shows Epstein appeared to dispute reports that Trump had barred him from Mar-a-Lago, writing: "Trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. Of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop." The full context of the exchange is unclear.

None of the newly released documents contain allegations of criminal conduct by Trump.

The White House has slammed Democrats, calling the effort a "tired CON JOB to smear the President."