Trump tears into GOP over Epstein files push

Donald Trump has put out a casting call for someone - perhaps anyone - to primary Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie - the Republican lawmaker working overtime to release the Epstein files. 'Thomas Massie, the worst Republican Congressman, and an almost guaranteed NO VOTE each and every time, is an embarrassment to Kentucky ,' Trump wrote late Monday evening on Truth Social.

'He's lazy, slow moving, and totally disingenuous - A real loser! Never has anything positive to add.' It's the president's latest salvo aimed at Massie, a libertarian-minded Republican who regularly bucks Speaker Mike Johnson and leadership to vote however he pleases - much to the chagrin of White House . Trump has vowed to campaign against the congressman as a result of his maverick tendencies, but Elon Musk has similarly promised to support the Kentuckian's re-election in 2026.

The showdown between the world's richest and world's most powerful men could ignite political fireworks. Massie is generally liked among his colleagues, and Johnson has repeatedly defended him. Johnson needs to, given his slim GOP majority. Trump has a different approach - one seemingly inspired by 'The Apprentice'.

'Looking for someone good to run against this guy, someone I can endorse and vigorously campaign for!' the president wrote, soliciting a candidate to primary Massie. Trump and Massie's beef has lasted years. In 2019, the congressman opposed Trump's use of an emergency declaration to build a border wall. And in 2020 the president called for Republicans to 'throw Massie out' after the lawmaker opposed COVID relief funding.

Massie went on to cruise to victory winning a whopping 81 percent of the GOP primary vote in 2020, 75 percent in 2022 and 76 percent in 2024. The president doubling-down on Massie's ouster comes at the same time the libertarian-minded rabble-rouser is leading Capitol Hill's efforts to declassify the Department of Justice's files on Epstein and his potential associates.

The Republican's bill, the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), already has bipartisan support. Even Speaker Johnson wants them released. 'When the Epstein records are turned over to the public, which we must do as quickly as possible,' Speaker Mike Johnson said on Tuesday. 'Everyone was involved in that,' he later said, adding 'we must protect the innocent.'

In an effort to gain more support for his measure Massie is handing out pocket-sized memos detailing exactly what it does. 'The bill directed the attorney general to publicly release all covered documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates,' the memo said, according to pictures. 'No record may be withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment or political sensitivity for U.S. or foreign officials.'

The only material in the files that would be withheld are portions relating to abuse or death, personal identifiable information of victims and content that would jeopardize active federal investigations or compromise national security. If the bill secures passage, the DOJ would have 30 days to post the documents online for Americans to see. 'We all deserve to know what's in the Epstein files, who's implicated, and how deep this corruption goes,' Massie said in a statement, who promised to force a vote in the U.S. House. 'If your representative won't sign the discharge petition, ask why.'

Trump, meanwhile, has also moved to have Attorney General Pam Bondi unseal files relating to Epstein who, according to authorities, committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trail on federal child [sexual] trafficking charges . Bondi announced on Tuesday that the DOJ would look to interview Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Massie's measure cannot be blocked by Speaker Mike Johnson and will likely come to the House floor for a vote in September, following the August recess when lawmakers return to their districts and hear from their constituents. It already has enough GOP support to pass with over half a dozen co-sponsors and all Democratic members on board. If it does become law, it is expected to trigger the release of many more Epstein files than what Trump has ordered Bondi to make public.