Outgoing lawmaker vows to ‘name names’ in Epstein files: ‘I’ve got seven more months’

Outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who last week lost his re-election bid after serving seven terms, vowed on Sunday that during his remaining seven months in office, he would publicly identify individuals linked to Jeffrey Epstein whose names, critics have said, had been unlawfully redacted in Justice Department files.

“I’ve got seven more months to keep going against the grain,” Massie told NBC News’ Kristen Welker during an appearance on the network’s “Meet the Press.”

Welker noted that Massie had legal protections for remarks made while on the House floor, and as such, asked the Kentucky Republican whether he intended on identifying individuals connected to Epstein as he and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) had done in the past.

“As you’ve noted, the Speech or Debate Clause actually protects you from being prosecuted for whatever you say on the floor of the House,” Welker said. “You have named names in the Epstein files in the past – can we expect you to name more names in the coming weeks and months?”

Massie responded by bluntly saying “yes” before going on to accuse Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche of “violating the law” by continuing to withhold millions of files related to Epstein.

“There are still millions of files they haven’t released, we know from talking to the victims’ lawyers that their own 302 forms haven’t been released, we know the files have been over-redacted,” Massie said.

“I don’t think it’s possible to get to convictions with Todd Blanche at the top and with the FBI director – Kash Patel – at the top, because they’ve effectively both perjured themselves by saying that there’s nobody else in the files. Even Melania [Trump] doesn’t believe that, the first lady knows that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t act alone!”