Kentucky Republican and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has been trying to quiet the furor over the Epstein Files with his own investigation, an effort that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) says makes other Epstein-related initiatives — like releasing the files — “superfluous.”
Comey, who as Committee Chair has sole discretion over which materials he shares with the public, has periodically released Epstein-related info to the public when demand surges — but so far little of the information he has seen fit to release has added to what is already known about the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, his long friendship with President Donald Trump, or his wide circle of wealthy friends and potential “clients.”
One of the so-called “superfluous” efforts to release the Epstein files is the discharge petition from Thomas Massie, Comer’s fellow Republican Congressman from Kentucky.
Massie’s effort is one signature away from forcing a vote to release the Epstein files in full, though even a successful petition presumably leaves ample discretion to those who control the materials. Administration critics wonder could the files be altered or partly destroyed before being released, if Massie’s petition goes through? In such a case, who is to say what’s missing?
[NOTE: Critics fear that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, who control the files and who have prevaricated about their content — Bondi said there was a “client list”, then said there was not — could ultimately fail to deliver unredacted files in full and hinder the total transparency that Massie’s efforts seek to compel.]
In any case, congressional Republicans in addition to Massie — including MAGA adherents Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) — don’t buy Mike Johnson’s assertion that Comer’s investigation is sufficient — and the rest “superfluous.” The three congresswomen have signed Massie’s petition.
Yet Comer, below, continues to report that his investigation clears Trump of significant participation in Epstein’s crimes, saying that the President is not “implicated” by the “public reporting, survivor testimony, and official documents.”
Cool. RELEASE. THE. FILES. https://t.co/e2Wvb4nOs4
— celia (@_celia_bedelia_) October 21, 2025
It is, of course, known that “public reporting” has not implicated Trump in any crimes nor has it revealed any of Epstein’s clients, though as a convicted sex trafficker he — by definition — had to have trafficked the victims to someone.
A full report on “survivor testimony,” which is closely protected in cases of this nature in part to protect victims from further trauma, has also not been made public — so that Comer’s assertion of Trump’s distance from Epstein’s crimes is the testimony of Comer alone.
As for his third cited source, it is not clear what Comer means by “official documents” — but that could refer to those materials released by the government so far, which haven’t implicated any prominent person in Epstein’s crimes — crimes that took place over more than a decade.
Epstein’s most well-known victim, Virginia Giuffre, died by suicide in Australia in April of 2025. Giuffre did name powerful people whom she alleged were part of Epstein’s enablers and/or clients. She accused Prince Andrew and French modeling mogul Jean-Luc Brunel who, like Epstein, died by suicide in a jail cell. (Prince Andrew has not been charged with any crime and has consistently denied all of the allegations made against him.)
The Comey press conference scanned as more of the same to those who have grown impatient with the concealment of the Epstein files. One X influencer replied simply: “Cool. RELEASE. THE. FILES.”
Critics contend that Comer’s claim — “the evidence we gathered does not implicate President Trump in any way” — may be the result of selectively choosing the evidence gathered.
It’s not just Democrats, who Comer takes direct aim at in the video, who are impatient with the Kentucky Congressman. Comer’s credibility took a pounding from MAGA figures as prominent as Steve Bannon during the Biden administration, when his years-long investigation into the sitting President — and repeated promises, with fellow Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), of having prosecutable receipts on the “Biden crime family” came to nothing despite an abundance time and money spent in pursuit.
That same impatience is now hitting Comer from both sides, as the public overwhelmingly supports — Democrats and Republicans — the release of the Epstein files, an act of transparency President Trump promised on the campaign trail.
As one X user wrote commenting on Comer’s latest Epstein files statement: “We don’t care who is in them release every last page as well as the undoctored prison videos stop telling us what’s in them and just release them You know there’s always an issue when someone has to tell you how you should interpret something.”