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Victims of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will go in front of cameras on Wednesday, as the controversy over Epstein-related files reignites with Congress back in Washington this week.
The victims are scheduled to join Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky amid a bipartisan push by members of Congress to release files related to the federal investigation of Epstein, who died in prison six years ago while awaiting federal charges related to sex trafficking,
Khanna said that “people are going to be outraged” after seeing the news conference.
The news conference is part of the effort by Khanna and Massie to pass through the House a procedural motion known as a discharge petition, which could force a House vote urging the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.
KHANNA ON EPSTEIN VICTIMS NEWS CONFERENCE: ‘PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE OUTRAGED’
On the eve of the news conference, the House committee that’s been investigating the Epstein files released thousands of documents related to the case that the Justice Department had handed over to lawmakers.
The surprise document dump of nearly 34,000 pages by the House Oversight Committee included a Justice Department interview with one-time Epstein partner Ghislaine Maxwell, and videos that appear to show the inside of Epstein’s Palm Beach, Florida home.
THOUSANDS OF EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS SUDDENLY RELEASED
“This is the most thorough investigation into Epstein and Maxwell to date, and we are getting results,” Oversight Committee chair Rep. James Comer of Kentucky said Tuesday evening.
But Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, claimed that nearly 97% of those documents were already public.
The sudden release appeared to be a bid to neutralize the effort by Khanna and Massie, which Comer called a “political stunt.”
But Massie charged that “there’s nothing new here” in the suddenly released fires. “They haven’t given us anything.”
A NEXT STEP IN THE JEFFREY EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION INVOLVES HIS ‘BIRTHDAY BOOK’
Khanna, in a Fox News Digital interview on Monday, pushed towards the news conference.
“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.
“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.
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.”
Massie, in a social media post, hoped that House Speaker Mike Johnson “will listen to the pleas of these victims for justice and quit trying to block a vote on our legislation to release the Epstein 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–.”
EPSTEIN ESTATE HIT WITH NEW HOUSE SUBPOENA FOR ‘CLIENT LIST,’ CALL LOGS
Khanna and Massie are optimistic they have the votes to support their effort.
“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…In this country, people want transparency. They want accountability.”
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 regarding who else may have been involved in the sex ring the financier allegedly operated.
A House vote on a separate resolution proposed by GOP leadership, which calls on the Oversight Committee to formally continue its investigation into the Epstein files, along with the document release Tuesday evening, appear to be a concerted effort to blunt Khanna and Massie.
Massie claimed that the leadership’s resolution aims to “provide political cover for those members who don’t support our bipartisan legislation to force the release of the Epstein files.”
But Johnson, hours later, shot back, arguing, “I would not put much stock into what Thomas Massie says.”
And the Speaker added that “the House is going to do its job here, and you’re going to get maximum transparency. And we’ll let the American people decide.”
A handful of accusers of both Epstein and Maxwell, who was convicted of sex-trafficking and is serving 20 years in prison, were on Capitol Hill Tuesday and met privately with Johnson and Comer.
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