U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), following the vote on releasing the Epstein files. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) mocked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Thursday after the Republican leader lashed out at him over his latest effort to force the release of additional Jeffrey Epstein files.
“Speaker of the House crashing out,” Massie wrote on social media, sharing footage of Johnson’s heated exchange with CNN’s Manu Raju over legislation aimed at exposing Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators and forcing the Department of Justice to release files they're accused of illegally withholding.
The public trolling came after Johnson tore into his fellow Republican, accusing Massie of staging political stunts and disregarding Epstein’s victims.
“Thomas Massie has never given a darn about that,” Johnson said, insisting Republican leaders had worked to protect victims while pursuing transparency.
“He didn’t care if names of victims were exposed in the way he handled that,” Johnson continued. “When I addressed that with him, he just, you know, was pretty transparent about it. He really didn’t care.”
Johnson also accused Massie of deliberately stirring up trouble.
“He’s just trying to cause chaos on the way out,” Johnson charged, adding that Massie was “ginning this up to get attention.”
The confrontation unfolded after Massie secured 218 signatures on a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.
The Republicans’ feud quickly drew reactions online.
“Why not release the files?” Rick Rule, president and CEO of Rule Investment Media, asked in a social media post.
“Speaker Johnson's excuse is always ‘protecting the victims,’ to protect the co-conspirators,” author Mike Kovacevic wrote on X.
The account Libertarians Against Trump accused Johnson of protecting "the rich & powerful who could be exposed, not the children who were victimized.”
Johnson, meanwhile, insisted he supported transparency — but told Raju he had not reviewed the bill.
“We don’t need legislators taking political stunts here,” Johnson said. “And that’s what I see this as.”
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