House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) yesterday decided to shut down Congress early to avoid a vote on Thursday on a bill (H. Res. 581) that calls for the release of the Epstein Files.
In what’s widely viewed as an attempt to divert media attention away from President Donald Trump’s problematic past relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Johnson lashed out at Democrats for demanding transparency on the Epstein Files, implying their demands are invalid because they — not MAGA Republicans — are guilty, he says, of orchestrating “one of the most shameless and dangerous cover-ups in history.” (Johnson is referring to accusations about Joe Biden’s “mental and physical decline.”)
U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of many Republicans who co-sponsored the bill (11 of the 19 co-sponsors are Republican), addressed Johnson on social media: “@SpeakerJohnson, why are you running cover for an underage sex trafficking ring and pretending this is a partisan issue? MAGA voted for this.”
.@SpeakerJohnson, why are you running cover for an underage sex trafficking ring and pretending this is a partisan issue? MAGA voted for this. pic.twitter.com/P5Q9RZLYYn
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) July 23, 2025
Massie’s colleague, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a co-sponsor of the bill, has also released a warning on social media about the hold-up of the Epstein Files and dissent among the MAGA movement.
If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People.
If not.
The base will turn and there’s no going back.
Dangling bits of…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(@RepMTG) July 21, 2025
Greene wrote: “If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People. If not. The base will turn and there’s no going back. Dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies. They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else.”