WASHINGTON — The four House Republicans who helped force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files called themselves “The Bravehearts” — an acknowledgment that their risky stand would require a stiff spine, especially given President Donald Trump’s fierce opposition to the move.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.As they later learned, the gambit would also upend their political futures.Seven months after the House voted to release the Epstein files, sparking a Trump-led crusade against the rebellious quartet behind the effort, one of those four lawmakers is now an ex-member.Two of them won’t be returning to Congress next year.
And another is facing the threat of a primary challenge next cycle.“Everybody’s paying a price for it,” Rep.Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who spearheaded the Epstein resolution and lost his May primary to a Trump-backed challenger, told NBC News in an interview.
“Trump became irrationally opposed to that more than [defections on] the ‘big, beautiful bill.’ It struck a nerve with him.”Massie co-sponsored with a Democrat the bill that required Trump’s administration to release the Epstein files, Justice Department documents related to investigations of the deceased sex offender.Survivors and many Trump supporters had pushed for the files to be made public.Initially only three other Republicans signed on: Rep.
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who resigned from Congress late last year in part because of her feud with Trump over Epstein; Rep.Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who failed this week to make the runoff in her state’s gubernatorial primary race, where Trump endorsed a rival; and Rep.
Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who publicly faced Trump’s wrath after she recently campaigned for Massie.Sources close to the White House note Epstein wasn’t the only issue that soured the relationship between Trump and those four members.Massie has long been a thorn...