Victims of Jeffrey Epstein “who have not spoken [publicly] before” are poised to arrive in Washington, D.C. next week to put pressure on lawmakers amid fears that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) may use his authority to block an effort to force the release of files related to Epstein.
The Epstein victims will be speaking at a press conference sometime next week, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) announced this week during an appearance on “Breaking Points,” a follow-up to the explosive presser held early last month, and is set to coincide with a potential vote on a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release all of its files on Epstein.
“We have a press conference that Thomas Massie (R-KY), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and I are planning next week, and a number of survivors from around the country are going to be flying in, some who have not spoken out before,” Khanna said.
“Mike Johnson keeps thinking 'okay, if you just shut down Congress long enough, people are going to forget,' but he doesn't realize that this story has gripped the American people. They know there were horrific acts that were committed, and I think when they hear from these women again – these brave women – next week, it's going to make sure that we have action and an overwhelming vote in the House.
Khanna and Massie have introduced what’s known as a discharge petition, which, with 218 signatures, would force a vote on a particular bill – in this case, a bill that would force the DOJ’s hand in releasing files on Epstein. The petition secured its 218 signature this week after Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was sworn in, 52 days after she was elected to Congress.
And yet, despite the discharge petition being specifically designed to circumvent House leadership and force a vote on a particular measure, Johnson could still very well attempt to block it, Khanna warned.
“Johnson has dozens of procedural motions he can try to obstruct it; we could spend the whole day talking about the tools he has,” Khanna continued.
“The confidence I have though is that there are a lot of Republicans who do not want the discharge petition tool to be rendered useless, they want to use it… to get votes on other reforms, so I'm hopeful the coalition will hold to say you've got to bring this for a vote. If Johnson stops the petition from getting a vote, that will hurt any Republican who wants to bring any bill using that mechanism.”
Khanna’s concerns have been echoed by Massie, who in July warned that Johnson may “try to pull a fast one” and rewrite House rules in an effort to block their discharge petition.