'What Are They Hiding?': Republicans Block Vote to Release Epstein Files

Republicans on the House Rules Committee have blocked an amendment that would force the Department of Justice to release the full Jeffrey Epstein files to the public.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) introduced the amendment to a cryptocurrency bill on Monday, seizing on the controversy that erupted after the Trump administration said it would not release any more documents related to the sex-trafficking billionaire.

Had the measure passed out of committee, it would have required the entire House to vote on whether to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to publish all documents related to Epstein to a "publicly accessible website."

"Trump promised that his administration would release the Epstein files to the public," Khanna said before the amendment's introduction. "Now, the Department of Justice is shielding Trump's rich and powerful friends by refusing to release additional files."

All four Democrats on the committee voted for Khanna's amendment. They were joined by Republican Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). Seven other Republicans voted the measure down, while Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) did not vote.

Explaining why he joined Democrats, Norman said: "The public's been asking for it. I think there are files. All of a sudden not to have files is a little strange. We'll see how it plays out… I think the president will do the right thing."

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), the chair of the Rules Committee, defended her colleagues' decision to vote down the amendment.

"I think most of us believe what's appropriate will be released when it is time for the president to release it," Foxx said.

The administration's back-track on the Epstein files has ripped apart the MAGA coalition in recent days, with prominent Trump allies issuing some of their fiercest criticisms of the president's entire second term after he told the public to "not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein."

Trump himself is also potentially implicated in the release of the files. He has a well-documented history with Epstein, who once referred to himself on tape as "Donald Trump's closest friend."

In June, amid a public falling-out with the president, billionaire Elon Musk said that the Trump administration, which he'd just departed, was covering up the files to protect Trump.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), who voted in favor of the amendment, said before the vote that it was of particular interest to her as the chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus.

"The Epstein files concern the abuse of women and the abuse of children," Fernández said to her Republican colleagues. "Why are they not just releasing them?"

"What are they hiding?" she asked on Instagram after the vote failed.

Khanna said this will not be the last attempt to get a vote to the House floor for a release of the files.

"We should see whose side are you on. That's really what this Epstein file issue has become," he told MSNBC. "It's not just about knowing who's being protected, the rich and the powerful...who had interactions with Jeffrey Epstein. It's the sense that people have that the government is too beholden to certain interests who have their thumb on the scale."

He mentioned other Democratic congresspeople who are pushing for the release of the files, including Marc Veasey (D-Texas) who introduced his own resolution calling for their release this weekend.

"We won't stop until the files are released," Khanna wrote on X. "This may have been our first attempt, but the public will not be gaslit. We will keep fighting for transparency."