House Oversight Committee meets Jeffrey Epstein victims, Republican lawmaker to force vote on releasing Epstein files | World News

Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, along with a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House Oversight Committee, met with victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.
The Epstein survivors met the lawmakers in an effort to put pressure on Congress to take action to force more disclosure of the evidence in the case. The committee has been conducting an inquiry into how the Justice Department handled Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 as he faced sex trafficking charges.
Epstein survivors to speak up
Several survivors are also expected to join a rally on Wednesday, as well as a news conference with lawmakers who are pushing for legislation that would force the Trump adminration to release the case files.
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Johnson had earlier scheduled a vote this week that would allow Republicans to order the Oversight Committee to “continue its ongoing investigation.”
Petition to release Epstein files
On Tuesday, Thomas Massie, the Republican Congressman from Kentucky’s 4th congressional drict, moved ahead with his plan to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

It’s filed. Your congressman can now sign the discharge petition to force a vote on binding legislation to release the Epstein files. pic.twitter.com/dXVgrAzS0Y
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 2, 2025
Massie filed a discharge petition to force a floor vote compelling the Justice Department to release all of the files from the Jeffrey Epstein case.
His bill, titled the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is co-sponsored California Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna, directs the Justice Department, FBI and several U. attorneys’ offices to hand over files in a downloadable form if the records mention individuals, “corporate, nonprofit, academic, or governmental” entities, or travel records related to Epstein and Maxwell
“At that point, we can begin collecting the 218 signatures necessary to force a vote on binding legislation to release the Epstein files,” Massie posted Tuesday on X.Story continues below this ad
Those committed horrific crimes should be held accountable
Earlier on Sunday, Khanna told “Meet the Press” that they had every Democrat and 12 Republicans committed to signing the petition, and only six Republicans are needed to meet the 218 required to bring the bill to the House floor.
“The people who committed these horrific crimes need to be held accountable, and the Democratic Party needs to be the party that fights for transparency, that fights to say rich and powerful people should have the same rules as you or I have in this country,” Khanna had said.
The Trump adminration has faced severe criticism, including from many high-profile MAGA supporters, over the handling of the Epstein files, amid lingering allegations of the US president’s once close ties with the disgraced financier.