NBC News Congressional Correspondent Julie Tsirkin, who has been covering Congress’s treatment of the Epstein Files, reported Monday: “Speaker Johnson doesn’t reply when I ask him whether HE plans to vote for the bill to force DOJ to release Epstein files.” (Note: The measure subsequently passed 427-1 in the House, with Johnson in the affirmative.)
Tsirkin also reported, “Rep Thomas MASSIE suggests POTUS will sign the Epstein files release (if Congress passes it) but is ‘afraid’ Trump is launching Epstein probes to ‘try to use a provision of the law that allows you not to release these materials if they’re subject to an ongoing investigation.’”
The Senate joined the House in passing the bill, which will be sent to Trump’s desk for signing. Still, the level of transparency achieved by the bill remains in doubt, as the DOJ — under Trump’s control — retains latitude to withhold information that could jeopardize a federal investigation, as Massie fears. (Notably, Trump did not need a congressional vote to release the files, which the executive branch controls.)
Rep Thomas MASSIE suggests POTUS will sign the Epstein files release (if Congress passes it) but is “afraid” Trump is launching Epstein probes to “try to use a provision of the law that allows you not to release these materials if they’re subject to an ongoing investigation”
— Julie Tsirkin (@news_jul) November 17, 2025
Despite these revelations, the Tsirkin post that received the most feedback this week was when the reporter, 28, wrote: “Asked Rep Troy Nehls, who called the Epstein files a hoax and said he’d never vote to release the files, why he’s voting to release them now: ‘Because everybody is voting for them,’ he tells me. ‘My vote won’t matter.’ (He adds: ‘Young lady… you’re sick, you need counseling’).”
Asked Rep Troy Nehls, who called the Epstein files a hoax and said he’d never vote to release the files, why he’s voting to release them now:
“Because everybody is voting for them,” he tells me. “My vote won’t matter.”
(He adds: “Young lady… you’re sick, you need counseling”)
— Julie Tsirkin (@news_jul) November 18, 2025
Influencer Matthew VanDyke replied with criticism of Nehls: “What a weird flex, clarifying that you’re -not- taking a principled stand.”
Note: A Trump loyalist, Nehls (R-TX) said after Trump won the 2024 presidential election: “He’s the leader of our party so now he’s got a mission statement. His mission and his goals and objectives…whatever that is, we need to embrace it. All of it. Every single word. If Donald Trump says jump three feet high and scratch your head, we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads. And that’s it.”
Nehls’s comment to the “young lady” reporter stirred a few commenters to assert that the Congressman is also following the President’s lead in how he addresses female journalists who inquire about Epstein-related issues. This week Trump replied to one such reporter by snapping: “Quiet, piggy.”