House Majority Whip Tom Emmer dismissed renewed calls to release Jeffrey Epstein’s supposed client list as “a non-issue” during an Axios forum Wednesday, even as rank-and-file Republicans spar over how hard to press the White House for the documents.
While President Donald Trump keeps urging lawmakers to move on from the issue, Trump-aligned voters seem to want the files out. Emmer later told the Daily Caller the party and White House are “united in calling for transparency” and blamed Democrats for “sitting on this for four years” under former President Joe Biden. (RELATED: Federal Judge Denies DOJ Request To Unseal Florida Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts)
“House Republicans and the White House are united in calling for transparency. What the media should be asking is why did Democrats sit on this for four years while President Biden was in office,” Emmer told the Caller.
EXCLUSIVE: GOP Whip Tom Emmer says Jeffrey Epstein is a “non-issue” https://t.co/FtNXHGWUsy
— Axios (@axios) July 23, 2025
Pressure is intensifying from the base. A July Reuters poll found that over 69% of Americans believe the federal government is concealing details about Epstein’s clients.
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie is using that unrest to peel off colleagues. His bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, co-sponsored with Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna, would force a floor vote to compel the release of the records.
“If we don’t release these files, we’ll lose the House,” Massie said in an interview with the Caller, adding that Trump is “wrong on this” and warning leaders not to “stick our heads in the sand.”
“Trump’s right most of the time, but he’s wrong on this,” the lawmaker told the Caller. “And in the House, we don’t always have to do exactly what the president wants. In this case, it would be better for the House to vote to release the absent files.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, facing open warfare inside the conference, abruptly moved adjournment up a day Monday. (RELATED: AP Stealth Edits Post After Hiding Powerful Lawyer’s Epstein Connection)
“My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing,” Johnson said, according to Politico. “And if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that. But I don’t think we’re at that point right now, because we agree with the president.”
For now, leadership is betting voters will be mollified by White House promises to review grand jury testimony.
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