MANCHESTER, N.H. - With Congress back in session this week, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky are reigniting their push for the Justice Department to release files in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Khanna says that "people are going to be outraged" after seeing a news conference he and Massie are holding on Wednesday with 10 victims of the late convicted sex offender.
The news conference is part of the effort by Khanna and Massie to pass through the House a bill requiring the Justice Department to release its files on the Epstein case.
"These victims haven't spoken for decades. When Epstein got that lenient plea deal, no one talked to the victims or their lawyers," Khanna said Monday in a Fox News Digital interview.
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"My belief is, when the American people actually hear the victims for the first time, they are going to sympathize, their hearts are going to be broken, and all the victims are saying is for closure," he predicted.
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Khanna argued that "there are a lot of other rich, powerful men, politicians, business leaders, who have committed abuse and who have not been held accountable. That's what we're going to hear on Sept. 3, and people are going to be outraged, and I don't see how, after that, the House can't vote for the release of these files."
The White House's handling of the Epstein case sparked outcry earlier this summer, after the Justice Department and the FBI appeared to close the book on their investigation after announcing they had uncovered no evidence of an Epstein client list.
The move infuriated many of President Donald Trump's MAGA supporters and allies - who had anticipated blockbuster revelations - with some calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi to be fired.
And the president aggravated some in MAGA world a month ago by calling the Epstein case a Democratic hoax and arguing that "PAST supporters" had "bought into this bullsh--."
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Khanna and Massie are optimistic they have the votes.
"I'm confident we're going to get the 218 votes for the discharge petition," Khanna told Fox News Digital, as he was interviewed ahead of addressing the New Hampshire AFL-CIO's annual Labor Day breakfast.
"We've got 212 Democrats and 12 Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Look, this is not about Donald Trump, and it's not partisan. This is about justice for the victims of rich and powerful men who abused underage girls."
And he emphasized that "in this country, people want transparency. They want accountability. I'm confident we're going to get the 218 votes for the discharge petition."
Epstein died by suicide in a New York federal prison in 2019 while awaiting federal charges related to sex trafficking,
In the ensuing years, there has been intense speculation and theories on who else may have been involved in the sex ring the financier allegedly operated.
