WASHINGTON - Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, D-California, are voicing optimism about their ability to force an unsanitized release of the Justice Department's files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"We have the votes," Khanna said Sept. 7 on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."
"I think we're going to get a resounding vote on this," Massie told Stephanopoulos during the same program.
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The Republican and Democratic organizers behind a petition that would force a House vote on the files' release said they were undeterred by concerns that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, might seek to block the legislation in the Senate, or that the Justice Department might scrub information on Republicans and other allies before releasing documents.
"I think (Thune is) going to be under more pressure than he realizes," Massie told Stephanopoulos. "He should do the right thing."
Khanna said government career officials and at least one lawyer for Epstein accusers have seen the files, which would make it harder for the Justice Department to scrub the documents to shield friends or allies of President Donald Trump, who has resisted calls for the files' full release. Trump and Epstein were friends for more than a decade in the 1990s and early 2000s.
More: 'No leniency, no deals.' Epstein victims speak as pressure grows to release files
The potential release of the files became a political lightning rod after the Justice Department announced in a July memo that it failed to uncover any list of clients who may have participated with Epstein in a sex-trafficking ring, and that it didn't plan to make further disclosures.
The announcement followed years of suggestions by Trump allies that Democrats engaged in a cover-up of Epstein associates who may have participated in his crimes, and that Trump as president would should bring greater transparency to the case.
Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly told Trump in the spring that he is named in the files. Epstein associated with various rich and powerful people for years, including not just Trump but also President Bill Clinton. Being named in the files or having associated with Epstein doesn't mean a person engaged in wrongdoing.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Massie and Khanna say they have votes for Epstein files release