When the House votes this week on a bill to compel the release of the full Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein, Washington D.C. may witness something exceedingly rare in this Trump era: a sizable bloc of Republican lawmakers openly breaking with President Donald Trump.During this administration, House Republicans rarely buck Trump.A vote in favor to release the files would represent a significant public rebuke -- especially as Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have gone to great lengths to prevent the vote from happening. Rep.
Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the lead Republican co-sponsor of the bill to release the files, told ABC News' "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl that he expects a "deluge" of GOP support on the measure.Massie: '100 or more' House Republicans could vote to release Epstein filesMassie framed the dilemma starkly: lawmakers must choose between the political protection of the president and the expectations of their constituents: how would they justify a vote against transparency?Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks alongside then-former President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, 2024.Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images"I would remind my Republican colleagues who are deciding how to vote," Massie said.
"Donald Trump can protect you in red districts right now by giving you an endorsement. But in 2030, he's not going to be the president, and you will have voted to protect pedophiles if you don't vote to release these files.And the president can't protect you then, this vote -- the record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump's presidency."White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week that emails related to convicted sex offender Epstein released by House Democrats "prove absolutely nothing, other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong."None of the documents previously made public as part of civil lawsuits or Maxwell's trial cont...