A bipartisan group of lawmakers appears to have the support needed to force a House vote on a measure demanding that the Trump administration release its investigative files on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who on Tuesday won a special election for a House seat in Arizona, has committed to signing on to a so-called discharge petition that would force action on the measure. The petition needs the signatures of a majority of the House — 218 members — to succeed, and Ms. Grijalva is poised to be the 218th.
“On my very first day in Congress, I’ll sign the bipartisan discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files,” Ms. Grijalva said in a statement on Monday. “This is as much about fulfilling Congress’s duty as a constitutional check on this administration as it is about demanding justice for survivors.”
It is likely to take weeks for the measure — which is cosponsored by Representatives Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, Democrat of California — to come to a vote, and the effort could falter if any of the three Republicans who have signed on withdraw their backing.
But should none withdraw, Ms. Grijalva’s signature would be all but certain to force Speaker Mike Johnson and Republican leaders to confront an issue that they had hoped to dispense with in the face of resistance from President Trump, sharp divisions within their ranks and pressure from right-wing supporters.
The Trump administration’s sudden reversal on a much-vaunted promise to make public investigative files on Mr. Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while facing sex-trafficking charges, prompted an outcry from many of Mr. Trump’s right-wing adherents, who had been primed to expect new revelations. G.O.P. lawmakers have been reluctant to break with the president on the matter, but also fearful of crossing their voters by opposing more transparency about the investigation.
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The post Arizona Democrat’s Win Clinches Bid to Force Epstein Files Vote appeared first on New York Times.
