At a Turning Point event this week, Vice President JD Vance spoke about U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has more than once voted against the consensus of his Republican Party and has been unrelenting in his pursuit of the final 218th signature needed for his discharge petition to vote on the complete release of the Epstein Files.
Note: Massie has repeatedly chastised House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for delaying the swearing-in on elected Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ), who has vowed to provide the 218th signature on the petition. (Along with his own, Massie has secured signatures from three Republican House members, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Nancy Mace (R-SC), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).)
I know youre upset @JDVance that @RepThomasMassie is fighting to release the Epstein files while you broke your word about doing so. It’s petty now to attack him. https://t.co/fmmvlomAe0
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) October 31, 2025
Vance said of Massie: “Having your own opinions is one thing, voting against the party on every single issue, you’re eventually going to make enemies. And that is the problem that Thomas has had. It’s not one issue, it’s not three or four issues, it’s at very time we’ve needed Thomas for a vote, he’s been completely unwilling to provide it.” Vance added, “I wish that wasn’t the case.”
Note: Massie was one of only two Republicans to vote against the initial House version of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). He also voted against the final Senate version. Massie explained, “I voted No on final passage because it will significantly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates.”
U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA), who has been working with Massie to have the Epstein Files released, replied to Vance: “I know you’re upset @JDVance that @RepThomasMassie is fighting to release the Epstein files while you broke your word about doing so. It’s petty now to attack him.”
Massie himself seemed to reply to Vance also, though without naming his target, when he wrote on X: “When leaders of my own party protect sex traffickers, spend our grandkids into oblivion, fund endless wars, lockdown our citizens, bailout corporations, bow to other countries, and hurt small farmers, I oppose them…I won’t be their yes man.”