Why the Epstein files saga won’t go away anytime soon : NPR
The president of the room, Mike Johnson, leaves after having spoken to journalists outside the house of the house at the American Capitol on July 23, 2025 in Washington, DC
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Images Andrew Harnik / Getty North America
The California Democratic representative of California condemns the president of the Chamber Mike Johnson for having returned the members to the house early for a recess of one month to stop a bipartite push to publish files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disagreement deceased in prison in 2019 pending a trial for federal sex traffic.
“He stopped the congress and all the affairs of this week because he does not want to have a vote,” Khanna told NPR Morning edition Wednesday. “He knows he would lose the vote.”
The resolution, introduced with the republican representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, calls for the release of federal interviews and identifying evidence “which was all involved in the sexual traffic that Epstein directed”, “Khanna declared at NPR. He gained ground in the two parties, despite the resistance of the Directorate of the GOP.
Johnson declared that he had prevented the vote because if the congress has “a moral responsibility to exhibit Epstein evil and that everyone was involved in this … But we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocents, and it is a beautiful thread needle”, such as the major jury witnesses that were promised confidentiality during their testimony.
But Khanna said during her NPR interview that the resolution he co -gathered to publish Epstein files “clearly said that the identities of the victims should be protected, that no health pornography should be published”, which concerns Johnson’s confidentiality problems.
Khanna described growing support for a discharge petition that would force the problem on the house.
“The reality is that I have every 212 democrats who will sign the discharge petition,” he added, “and yesterday, when I spoke to Thomas Massie, he said that we were doing up to 11 to 12 years on the republican side; we only need six.”
Several high -level Republicans who line up with President Trump have also joined the thrust to publish the Epstein files.
“Clendor, I was surprised,” said Khanna. “Massie and me [have] resolved war powers to stop the war in Iran. He was the only republican we had. This time, we have Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Tim Buchett, Nancy Mace-some of Maga’s most eminent voices, “he added.
For him, republican support reflects a wider test of President Trump’s campaign and the promise of his administration.
“They said they were going to get rid of corruption. They said they were going to exhibit Epstein’s files. They said they were not going to protect the rich and powerful. They said they were going to be on the side of people,” noted Khanna. “It was the populist campaign they led, and this is considered a betrayal of this.”
Khanna also said that even if the files do not contain any major revelation, the simple fact of making them public always marks progress.
“The release is the best of cases, because it is a step to restore the confidence of the American public, even if there is nothing in there,” he said. “But right now, the government has lost confidence.”
He added: “If there are powerful and rich men who have engaged in sex trafficking or who were on the Epstein plane, went to the island of Epstein, this information should go out and people should be held responsible.”
Khanna noted that the Republicans upset by the Trump administration and the members of the Congress trying to block the release of Epstein files have been “the first thing, probably since Donald Trump descended the elevator, who really divided his base”.
While calls for transparency become stronger, the Ministry of Justice seems to take its own measures. General Tedd Blanche sub-procurer asked for a meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, the long-standing partner of Epstein is now serving a 20-year sentence in the federal prison for sexual traffic and other crimes related to Epstein activities.
But any expectation that such a meeting would lead to a public publication of information is very unlikely, according to Elliot Williams, a former deputy deputy assistant prosecutor during the Obama administration.
“I think they hope to repress the public relations crisis that they are in the middle,” Williams told NPR.
“Basically, it’s a good thing to meet someone in prison that could have useful information,” he said. “The problem is that they will have to give it a kind of some kind … and if they must recognize it, it could be a huge very embarrassing concession.”
Asked how credible Maxwell would be, Williams replied: “Well, I don’t think it is very strong in the public spirit.”
He continued: “There have been many opportunities in three different presidential administrations, to obtain information from her … It is really a question of repressing much more public speculation or internet than to continue the people who have committed crimes.”
Williams also questioned the idea that any new material of such a meeting would be shared publicly. “I find it difficult to see that it would be the case,” he said. “You can’t free this to the public.”
“This idea that Todd Blanche will sit with Ghislaine Maxwell in prison, transcribing an interview with her, then sending it to NPR so that the world can see is simply nonsense,” he added.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Florida denied a request for Trump administration to a which the files of the Grand Jury linked to federal investigations on Epstein. The request is one of the three that the Ministry of Justice submitted to the judges of Florida and New York as part of its efforts to access the seal investigation files.
This part was modified for Digital by Obed Manuel.
