Republicans Suddenly Say They’ve Always Supported Voting to Release the Epstein Files

The monthslong battle over whether to release the Epstein files is poised to end not with bitter Republican infighting, but with a lot of Republican unity.

The House is set to vote this week on a bill that would force the Department of Justice to release all documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Four Republicans, led by Rep. Thomas Massie, joined Democrats in the monthslong effort to compel a vote — as the rest of the GOP conference blasted their crusade as “moot,” a waste of time and a Democrat-manufactured “hoax.”

But as of Monday evening, it was a foregone conclusion that the vast majority — if not all — of the House GOP would back the legislation.

In fact, most Republican lawmakers insisted to NOTUS that they had planned to vote “yes” all along.

“The overwhelming majority of my constituents in Nebraska District 1 are interested in the outcome of that,” Rep. Mike Flood told NOTUS. “They want to see it released.”

“I was a yes two months ago,” Flood added.

President Donald Trump spent months opposing the petition that compelled a vote, and White House officials tried to pressure some of the Republican backers in the Situation Room last week to withdraw their support. His opposition presented an awkward predicament for House Republicans: appear complicit in a cover-up or defy the president.

As of last week, dozens of House Republicans were preparing to make the latter choice and buck Trump. Whether the president read the writing on the wall spelling “This Bill Will Pass” or experienced a genuine change of heart, Trump flip-flopped on the Epstein matter this weekend, freeing Republicans from their dilemma.

Now, unencumbered by Trump’s fervent opposition, Republicans spent Monday breathlessly asserting their support for the bill.

“I was planning to vote for the release for a while now,” Rep. Byron Donalds, who serves on the House Oversight Committee, said. “People are making a false assumption that because members didn’t sign the discharge they were going to vote ‘no.’ We just did not agree with the procedure.”

White House officials likewise claim that Trump has been consistent in position, telling NOTUS he had “long been calling for transparency related to the Epstein files.”

The four Republicans who initially supported the measure were critiqued by the rest of the party for doing so, including Massie, as well as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace. The usually chatty Greene, who has faced an onslaught of criticism from the president over the weekend in the wake of her recent criticism of the Trump administration and her support for releasing the files, did not take questions from reporters Monday night.

Lawmakers have had plenty of opportunities to formally declare support for the legislation. For weeks, the petition that forces the vote needed one just one more signatory to advance. Instead of a fifth, or sixth, or seventh Republican adding their name, they waited weeks for Speaker Mike Johnson to swear in a Democratic congresswoman.

Nearly every Republican elected not to sign the petition. Not after constituents questioned the Republican lawmakers at town halls over August recess. Not after survivors of Epstein’s abuse met with members of Congress on Capitol Hill. Not after a subpoena of the Epstein estate produced a tawdry birthday letter seemingly signed by Trump to Epstein that depicted a naked woman. And not after another House Oversight document dump revealed that Epstein said Trump spent “hours” at his house.

But the refrain from most Republicans on Monday was consistent: They always supported the bill.

“Nobody approached me about signing on to the discharge petition,” Rep. Jimmy Patronis told Scripps News on Monday. “My attitude was: this thing came up, I was going to vote for it, I’ve said that for the last several months.”

Twelve Republicans — including Rep. Eric Burlison — co-sponsored the legislation that the House will vote on this week, but declined to sign onto the petition itself.

“To sign a discharge petition is a step of hostility towards your own leadership that I felt was unnecessary at that point,” Burlison told NOTUS on Monday.

But Burlison said he will vote ‘yes’ when the bill hits the floor this week.

“I was always supportive,” he said.

Plenty more Republicans have supported efforts to release files relating to Epstein. The Oversight Committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer, oversaw a subpoena of the Justice Department that yielded 30,000 pages of documents. The Oversight panel later questioned former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta and subpoenaed the Epstein estate, an effort that has also produced thousands of documents, which Republicans published last week.

Although Comer has called the legislation to force the Justice Department Epstein files duplicative to his committee’s investigation, he declined last week to rule out a vote for the bill.

The House Judiciary Committee’s chair, Rep. Jim Jordan — who said he will support the bill — suggested Trump’s endorsement of the vote means that Congress can move on from this news cycle.

“I think it’s just clear. Instead of having the Democrats shut down the government, instead of talking about this Epstein file stuff, let’s get back to helping the American people and the president,” Jordan said Monday evening. “That was the thrust of his message. I think that makes sense. So I think you’re going to see everyone vote for it.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said Trump’s flip was because he was “panicked” about the news cycle.

“There’s no question that he did everything he can to stop the release,” Garcia told NOTUS in a brief interview. “Now, when he knew he was gonna lose the vote by huge numbers, he flip-flopped. But let’s also be really clear that he has the power to release the files right now. So I think that’s the most important thing.”

Although it now appears that nearly every Republican will support the bill, some lawmakers are owning that their support is newfound.

Rep. Mike Simpson told reporters Monday that he was undecided on the resolution until Trump weighed in Sunday night. He now plans to vote in favor.

“I was actually in favor of letting committees do their job and work on it, which is what they were doing, but apparently it’s going to pass, so,” Simpson said. “I think he did the right thing in saying, ‘Let it pass.’”

One Republican, Rep. Troy Nehls — who publicly opposed the legislation until, conspicuously, after Trump changed his mind this weekend — would not explain why his vote changed Monday.

Even though he told The New York Times on Monday afternoon that he would “yes,” he did not sound happy about it Monday evening.

“Releasing the Epstein files for the Democrats has nothing to do with wanting justice for the victims,” Nehls told reporters. “It’s about damaging Donald Trump as much as they can all assist. That’s all this is.”

Whether Johnson plans to vote for the measure is to be seen. He told The Wall Street Journal on Monday night: “You’ll know tomorrow.”