A growing number of Republicans are breaking ranks with Donald Trump to back the release of the long-suppressed Epstein files — a move that’s rattling the president and fracturing GOP unity.
Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio, Eli Crane of Arizona, Don Bacon of Nebraska, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, and Rob Bresnahan of Pennsylvania have all signaled they’ll vote in favor of releasing federal investigation documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein, according to CNN and Politico.
Speaker Mike Johnson said the House could vote as soon as next week after 218 lawmakers signed a discharge petition forcing leadership to bring the measure forward. The final signature came Wednesday after Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn in, sealing the deal.
The latest wave of Republican defections landed on the same day Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a new batch of Epstein-related materials — this time a cache of internal emails between Epstein and his longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
One email in particular sent shockwaves through Washington. In 2011, Epstein wrote to Maxwell that Donald Trump “knew about the girls.”
“I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,” Epstein wrote. “[Redacted victim name] spent hours at my house with him. He has never once been mentioned.”
Maxwell replied: “I have been thinking about that.”
The revelation triggered a full-blown meltdown from Trump on Truth Social.
“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump wrote. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”
Despite Trump’s warning, Republicans are continuing to sign on.
All 214 House Democrats supported the discharge petition, joined by four Republicans — Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who led the effort with Democrat Ro Khanna, as well as Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Trump personally reached out to the holdouts, according to The New York Times. He called Boebert on Tuesday and met with her at the White House the following day. He also reportedly tried to reach Mace, but neither backed down.
“The deal for Republicans on this vote is that Trump will protect you if you vote the wrong way,” Massie told CNN. “In other words, if you vote to cover up for pedophiles, you’ve got cover in a Republican primary. But I would remind my colleagues that this vote is going to be on your record for longer than Trump is going to be president.”
Rep. Don Bacon cautioned that the fight isn’t over yet.
“I get it, people want to see this discharge petition,” he told MSNBC. “I think it’s a little bit of a false hope that it’s going to provide these great results. It’s still got to work its way through the Senate and the president, but we’re already getting a lot of results.”
Bacon also called the controversy “a self-inflicted wound by the White House.”
“I think they’ve dug themselves a hole,” he said. “But in the end, I’m for transparency.”
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
Massie on Epstein vote: “The deal for Republicans on this vote is that trump will protect you if you vote the wrong way. In other words, if you vote to cover up for pedophiles, you've got cover in Republican primary.” pic.twitter.com/w5HumcX4Ob
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 13, 2025
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