House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing backlash from within his own party after accusing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) of trying to “inflict political pain” on Republicans by pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The comment sparked immediate blowback from Massie, who slammed Johnson for delaying a vote to release grand jury materials that could expose powerful figures connected to Epstein’s sex trafficking network.
Johnson had called for an early House recess, effectively delaying the vote until September. He then turned around and accused Massie of trying to damage the GOP by demanding transparency.
Massie hit back hard during an appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press.
“I don’t know why it should be politically painful to be transparent,” Massie said. “Is the pain he’s talking about that somebody in our party will be embarrassed by those files? Then that’s not a good excuse.”
He continued: “Is the pain he’s talking about that the legislators, when they vote, have to pick between protecting embarrassment of the rich and powerful versus getting justice for victims? I don’t really understand what he means by that.”
“Why is it painful for Mike Johnson to call a vote on this?” Massie asked. “The American people deserve this, regardless of what the political ramifications are for the speaker.”
The Epstein case has long raised serious questions—about who enabled him, who protected him, and who else may have been involved in his crimes. Calls to release the full list of names and evidence tied to Epstein’s network have only grown louder.
Massie made it clear that truth and justice should come before party loyalty. Johnson’s reluctance to move forward has only fueled suspicion about who might be shielded by keeping those files locked away.
Watch the full clip from NBC’s Meet The Press below.
