During his Oct. 17campaign rally in Kentucky, President Trump trashed Republican Representative Thomas Massie in the district that the congressman has represented since 2013.
“Massie, the worst, what happened to him by the way? Haven’t heard about him in the last few months, what the hell happened to that guy?”Trump saidto the crowd. “What a loser he is, what a loser. He’s the worst. No, he’s a terrible guy, everything was always a no.”
What happened to Massie is that, in May, helosthis House Republican primary,the most expensive in US history, toEd Gallrein, a Navy veteran that Trump handpicked to run against him.
Especially during Trump’s second term, Massie has been as close as Republicans have come to resisting Trump. He was one of two GOP House members tovote againstTrump’s massive tax and spending bill last year. Days after the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran in a joint operation on Feb. 28, Massiecriticizedthe war as illegal, unconstitutional, and a distraction from the affordability issues that were already plaguing Americans due to Trump’s tariffs.
To Trump’s great indignation, Massie, along with Democratic Representative Ro Khanna of California, introduced theEpstein Files Transparency Actlast year, which required the Department of Justice “to publish (in a searchable and downloadable format) all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in DOJ’s possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.”
By anear-unanimous vote, the bill passed and Trump signed it into law. But the DOJ has yet to fully comply, releasing only heavily redacted portions of the files on Epstein, the late convicted sex offender and former Trump pal. Attorney GeneralTodd Blanchehas falsely claimed there are no more files to be released.
Trump, for whom vengeance is like oxygen, wanted Massie gone. And that’s why in the time he has left in Congress, Massie should become an even bigger thorn in Trump’s side regarding the Epstein files.
On the House floor last month, Massieaccusedthe federal government of defying Congress and withholding more than three million files. He introduced the “Epstein Files Transparency Act II” to, he said, “bring the fight to the state courts, accountability to the Department of Justice, and closure for survivors. We want perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and prosecuted.”
Then, in what Massie called an effort to “shame” the DOJ, he read the names of 14 people in the files — includingLes Wexner, the billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch who retained Epstein as his chief financial adviser for 20 years;Leon Black, a billionaire businessman; and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew who wasstripped of his royal titleslast year after revelations of hisdecades-long relationshipwith Epstein.
None of the names were new, and some have been called to face House committees to answer questions about their dealings with Epstein,though not all have complied. And none have been criminally accused of any connection to the charges that led to Epstein’sfinal arrest— sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors — before his death in a New York jail cell in 2019.
Massie should go even further in naming more redacted names.
Before Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress in January after she ran afoul of Trump over the Epstein files, she hinted that, “if asked,” she would use herconstitutional immunityas a member of Congress to reveal the names of those allegedly connected to Epstein’s crimes. In comments included in speeches on the House and Senate floors, congressional legislators are protected from criminal or civil penalties.
At a press conference last September,Greene said, “Yes, it’s a scary thing to name names, but I will tell you — I’m not afraid to name names. And so if [Epstein survivors] want to give me a list, I will walk in that Capitol on the House floor and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women,” she said. “I can do that for them and I’d be proud to do it.”
Greene never did. But Massie still can before he leaves Congress in January.
This isn’t simply about Massie exacting revenge on Trump for costing him a congressional seat that he probably would have won again. It’s about an administration that has pulled every trick to bury hideous crimes that probably go deeper than many dare to imagine. Massie has been clear-eyed about the injustice suffered by survivors. And, a president’s vengeance be damned, he should use his remaining time to move them closer to the accountability they have long been denied.
