Will Miami’s Congressional delegation vote to release Epstein files?
Democrats in Washington expect “40 to 50” Republicans to join them in favor of a resolution that would force the Department of Justice to make public its Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell files, but South Florida Republicans won’t commit to whether they’ll be among the defectors.
Democrats planned to force a vote on a measure using a method called a discharge petition, which requires 218 signatures from members of Congress. When the government reopened this week, House speaker Mike Johnson swore in Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva, giving Democrats the requisite 218th backer.
The signatories included all House Democrats and four Republicans: Reps Thomas Massie, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. No Florida Republicans signed onto the discharge petition.
After the petition got the needed signatories this week, Johnson, who has opposed the measure, said he’d put the resolution up for a floor vote next week. Under the resolution, “DOJ must publicly disclose all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in its possession that relate to Epstein or Maxwell.”
But even if the resolution passes the House next week, it would still have to pass the Senate and be signed by the president — who has pressured Republicans against supporting the effort — to take effect. “The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown,” Donald Trump wrote on social media Wednesday. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”
California Democratic sponsor Rep. Ro Khanna told reporters he’s hoping for a critical mass of support from Republicans to pressure Senate Republican leadership to take the proposal up for a vote.
“I believe we’re going to get 40 to 50 Republicans voting with us on the release and if we get that kind of overwhelming vote, that’s gonna push the Senate and it’s gonna push for release of the files from the Justice Department,” Khanna said.
Miami-area Republicans, who live close to the location where Epstein committed many of his crimes, haven’t committed to whether they’ll be among the group voting against the president’s wishes.
Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar said she’s still “thinking.”
“I’m a Florida girl, I have two daughters, so I’m thinking,” she told CNN Thursday. “I’m sure that the president has nothing to fear, we do need to know everything about Epstein.”
Rep. Carlos Giménez said he’s “confident” Trump would not be implicated in the files. “If he was, the Biden administration would have let us know that a long time ago,” he told CNN.
“I have no problem in releasing those files as long as the court system says they’re eligible to be released,” he added, echoing Johnson’s criticism of the proposal, which he has argued lacks sufficient protections for records about victims.
Neither office responded to requests about how they’ll vote from the Miami Herald. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart’s office said he was not available for comment, and has not otherwise publicly commented on his plans.
Democrats tried to force a vote on a similar measure in July. Nine Republicans abstained from voting. The rest — including all of Florida’s Republicans — opposed the effort.
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