Trump Calls Bipartisan Petition To Release the Epstein Files a “Hostile Act”

The White House is urging Republicans to choose party over country

Photo by Victoria Pickering on Flickr (modified by author)

The Trump White House warned Congress on Wednesday that any Republican-supported effort to release the Epstein files would be viewed as a “hostile act,” further debunking the myth that the president stands with victims and survivors.

The threat came shortly after Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Ca.) introduced a discharge petition to force the full release of the files. Once they reach 218 signatures — which requires swaying at least five other Republicans — they will be able to circumvent GOP leadership and force a vote on the House floor.

After she became emotionally distraught in a closed-door testimony with several of Epstein’s victims on Tuesday, Nancy Mace and two other defecting MAGA representatives, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, have already signed on.

Now, for the petition to succeed, Massie and Khanna only need to convince two other Republican holdouts. Both have expressed confidence in finding the extra signatures.

Unfortunately, albeit predictably, the Trump administration has already responded by whipping House leadership to shut down the insurgency. Likewise, a White House official clarified that any GOP support for the discharge petition would be considered a “hostile act” against the president.

“Helping Thomas Massie and Liberal Democrats with their attention-seeking, while the DOJ is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the Oversight Committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration,” a White House spokesperson told CNN.

The administration insists that the Department of Justice has been fully transparent in its handling of the Epstein files, but Americans know better. Since Congress reconvened in September, over 97% of “new” documents released to the House Oversight Committee have largely consisted of recycled information that does not sufficiently expose the names of the late sex traffickers’ clients or accomplices.

They are hiding something; the only question is what.

Realistically, the “more comprehensive file release” teased by the Justice Department will never come unless Congress forces it.

“The President of the United States ran on releasing the files, and the Attorney General said that there’s a client list and the files need to be released,” Ro Khanna told Chris Hayes on MSNBC. “This is not partisan; this is not anti-Trump. This is about standing with survivors. This is about protecting kids. It’s something that unites progressives, independents, moderates, and MAGA supporters.”

Indeed, the White House can only consider this a hostile act if it somehow exposes incriminating details about the president. Otherwise, bringing sex criminals to justice should never be such a divisive partisan issue.

Make no mistake, if Donald Trump was not implicated in the Epstein files — as he insists — this administration should have nothing to hide. In fact, providing a full release would otherwise be a major victory for the MAGA base, which has led the rallying cry on this issue for many years.

By asking his sycophants in Congress to choose party over country and block the bipartisan discharge petition, the president is siding with sex traffickers and child predators over the American people. Trump would rather protect his public image than give Epstein’s faultless victims the closure they desperately need.

These survivors deserve honest answers and full transparency, so no matter what the administration says, Congress has a duty to release the full list of Epstein’s clients and accomplices, even if that means exposing the president’s presumed complicity.

By labeling Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie’s good-faith effort to administer justice as a “hostile act,” Trump is only cementing his place in history as the most corrupt president to have ever held office.

As always, Donald Trump does not care about victims or survivors, only himself.

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