The uproar over
disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein could
undermine public trust in the Trump administration, as well as
Republican hopes of retaining control of Congress in the 2026
midterm elections, two U.S. lawmakers said on Sunday.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic
Representative Ro Khanna, who want the House of Representatives
to vote on their bipartisan resolution requiring full release of
the government’s Epstein files, said the lack of transparency is
reinforcing public perceptions that the rich and powerful live
beyond the reach of the judicial system.
“This is going to hurt Republicans in the midterms. The
voters will be apathetic if we don’t hold the rich and powerful
accountable,” Massie, a hardline conservative from Kentucky,
told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.
Republicans hope to add to their current 219-212 House
majority — with four seats currently vacant — and 53-47 Senate
majority in November 2026, although the U.S. political cycle
traditionally punishes the party of the sitting president during
midterm elections.
Khanna said Attorney General Pam Bondi triggered “a crisis
of trust” by saying there was no list of Epstein clients after
previously implying that one existed. The change in position
unleashed a tsunami of calls for her resignation from Trump’s
MAGA base.
“This is about trust in government,” the California Democrat
told “Meet the Press.” “This is about being a reform agent of
transparency.”
President Donald Trump, who is playing golf and holding
bilateral trade talks in Scotland, has been frustrated by
continued questions about his administration’s handling of
investigative files related to Epstein’s criminal charges and
2019 death by suicide in prison.
Massie and Khanna believe they can win enough support from
fellow lawmakers to force a vote on their resolution when
Congress returns from its summer recess in September. But they
face opposition from Republican leaders including House Speaker
Mike Johnson, who sent lawmakers home a day early to stymie
Democratic efforts to force a vote before the break.
Johnson, who also appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said
he favors a non-binding alternative resolution that calls for
release of “credible” evidence, but which he said would better
protect victims including minors.
“The Massie and Khanna discharge petition is reckless in the
way that it is drafted and presented,” Johnson said. “It does
not adequately include those protections.”
Massie dismissed Johnson’s claim as “a straw man” excuse.
“Ro and I carefully crafted this legislation so that the
victims’ names will be redacted,” he said. “They’re hiding
behind that.”
Trump, who weathered two impeachments and a federal probe
into contacts between his 2016 campaign and Russia during his
first presidential term, has tried and failed so far to distract
attention from the Epstein controversy six months into his
second term.
On Saturday, Trump repeated his claims without evidence that
2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and other
Democrats should be prosecuted over payment for endorsements
from celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce and the
Reverend Al Sharpton.
“Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money,
BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted!” Trump said on
social media.
Last week he accused former President Barack Obama of
“treason” over how the Obama administration treated intelligence
about Russian interference in U.S. elections nine years ago,
drawing a rebuke from an Obama spokesperson.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally,
said on Sunday that Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national
intelligence, had found new information that investigators
initially discovered no evidence of Russian election
interference but changed their position after Obama told them to
keep looking.
“I’m not alleging he committed treason, but I am saying it
bothers me,” Graham told “Meet the Press.”
“The best way to handle this is if there is evidence of a
crime being committed, or suspected evidence of a crime being
committed, create a special counsel to look at it,” Graham
added.
Democratic Representative Jason Crow dismissed Gabbard’s
claims, telling the “Fox News Sunday” program that the national
intelligence director had turned herself into “a weapon of mass
distraction.”
The Department of Justice has said it is forming a strike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The uproar overdisgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein couldundermine public trust in the Trump administration, as well asRepublican hopes of retaining control of Congress in the 2026midterm elections, two U.S. lawmakers said on Sunday.Republican Representative Thomas Massie and DemocraticRepresentative Ro Khanna, who want the House of Representativesto vote on their bipartisan resolution requiring full […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n