A newly leaked report on Jeffrey Epstein’s dealings has sent shockwaves through Capitol Hill, and one lawmaker says the fallout could be so serious it keeps the House “out of session throughout next year.”
According to a Friday report from Drop Site News, Epstein wasn’t just operating in social and financial circles — he was brokering international defense deals. The outlet claims newly leaked emails from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak reveal that Epstein helped broker a defense agreement between Israel and the West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire.
That revelation alone was enough to send shockwaves through Washington. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to X on Saturday to react, writing, “This might keep the House out of session throughout next year.”
The House has already been in recess since September 19 after passing a funding bill that remains stalled in the Senate over health care policy disputes. But Greene’s post hinted at something deeper — the possibility that House leadership might be intentionally keeping members away from Washington as the Epstein story continues to unfold.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) technically has the power to bring members back to work at any time, even during the ongoing government shutdown. But he hasn’t — and that silence is starting to raise eyebrows. Critics say Johnson’s reluctance may have less to do with spending fights and more to do with avoiding a politically explosive Epstein-related vote.
That vote centers on a discharge petition introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). The measure would force the Justice Department to release all of its files on Epstein. It needs 218 signatures to be brought to the floor — and currently sits at 217. One more would trigger a full vote.
But there’s a twist: an Arizona Democrat elected in September has publicly pledged to sign the petition, yet Speaker Johnson has still not sworn the lawmaker in. The delay has sparked a lawsuit accusing Johnson of intentionally stalling to block the petition from crossing the finish line.
The Epstein web, it seems, runs far deeper than many realized. Drop Site News has previously reported that Epstein was involved in brokering a security cooperation agreement between Mongolia and Israel and even helped establish a backchannel between Israel and Russia during the height of the Syrian Civil War.
Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, had long been tied to powerful figures across politics, business, and entertainment — among them President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Woody Allen, and Bill Gates.
Trump himself has faced renewed scrutiny in recent months over those connections, especially after resurfaced comments in which Epstein called him “Donald’s closest friend for 10 years.”
Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson has found himself tangled in the same web of suspicion. Critics accuse him of shielding the president from fallout related to Epstein. Johnson even once claimed Trump had served as an “FBI informant” helping to gather evidence against Epstein — a claim he later walked back.
The question is whether this Congress will finally confront the Epstein file — or keep the lights off and hope the story burns itself out.
