All posts tagged "thomas massie"

Trump tried to sabotage nemesis over bid to release Epstein files: report

President Donald Trump was reportedly so hell-bent on trying to stop lawmakers from revealing the relationship he had with Jeffrey Epstein that he tried to poach a Republican enemy's staff.

Trump apparently wanted to stop Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and his team. Massie was pushing legislation to prompt the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files and the trove of documents connected to the late financier and convicted child sex offender, according to The Daily Beast.

The president reportedly aimed to disrupt Massie, who had co-sponsored the legislation with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).

"As the House moved toward a vote on releasing the Epstein files last summer and fall, the White House and top Trump allies launched an effort to forestall it that lawmakers told me was unprecedented in its intensity and scope," according to The Atlantic.

"Massie called it a '360-pressure campaign,' one felt not just by him and his staff but anyone associated with him," The Atlantic reported. "One tactic he had not experienced before: Some of his key staff members were suddenly offered more prestigious jobs in the Trump administration or more lucrative jobs in the private sector—the idea being that if Massie no longer had a full staff, he couldn’t pursue ambitious legislation."

Massie revealed several situations that caused him to pause.

"Massie recalled asking an employee who, a few weeks before the vote, had received an employment offer that would double his salary: 'Did it ever occur to you that they might be offering you this job to basically make me less effective?' He said the young man sheepishly replied: 'That’s what my mom said.' He turned down the offer and finished writing the bill," according to The Atlantic.

The Republican lawmaker has also signaled that he has felt unsafe during the process to release the files.

"I’ve p---ed off enough billionaires who are clearly amoral people that I might have shortened my expected lifespan,” he told The Atlantic.

GOP congressman pounces after Alex Jones accuses him of Epstein cover-up

MAGA podcaster Alex Jones accused a Republican congressman of a Jeffrey Epstein cover-up, and the lawmaker hit back on Sunday.

Jones, known for spreading right-wing conspiracies online, lashed out at Thomas Massie, who has been at the forefront of the Republican effort to expose files related to the deceased convicted child sex abuser. Specifically, Jones asked Massie to release unredacted Epstein file names he's privy to as an active congressman.

"I want the f------ names," Jones said, specifically calling out Massie. "Massie, you've been in there three weeks, where are the f------- names? Is Massie covering up the names?"

Massie issued an extensive takedown, starting with, "Every member of Congress has the same access to the same files as me. I haven’t watched your video here, but have you addressed the cowards who wouldn’t sign the discharge petition and still won’t go look at the files?"

He went on to say, "I forced the release of every man’s name that I could find in the redactions so far. This includes the Sultan (now resigned) who discussed the torture video with Epstein. I was the one who got that out there. I forced the release of Leslie Wexner’s name in the FBI document that lists him as a coconspirator in a child sex trafficking case."

Going even further, Massie called out AG Pam Bondi.

"I’ve done several interviews and even told Bondi in the hearing that the problems now are (a) the DOJ has files they can’t/won’t unredact for us (they claim they received the documents already redacted), (b) the DOJ made available, but then removed critical files from the database before we could view them… we want to view unredacted because it appears these could have coconspirators' names in them," he wrote, adding, "DOJ hasn’t released every document yet including FD-302s and internal communications about decisions not to investigate."

Offering an explanation, Massie noted, "In some of the emails I tried to view, the sender was a female and possibly a victim, so that could be why myself and other members of Congress haven’t disclosed them... You (or your staff) can post the EFTA# for documents that you believe contain men’s names redacted, and I’ll go look at those documents at DOJ to see if those documents contain men’s names. If the redacted identifier is an email address not associated with a name, I can put the email address back into the DOJ computer as a search term to see if it is associated with a man’s name elsewhere in the documents. This is how I discovered it was the Sultan who Epstein was discussing a torture video with."

Adding an apparent insult, Massie wrote on X, "Try not to be a nenard about this."

‘I’d like to report a murder’: Rebel GOP lawmaker trolls JD Vance over past Epstein posts

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) spent Tuesday morning reviving Vice President JD Vance's old comments on late financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Massie, who co-authored legislation to push the Department of Justice to release the full Epstein files, pulled up the old posts on X from Vance that revealed the vice president had different thoughts about Epstein in the past. Since the release of more than 3 million documents and materials related to Epstein, Vance has appeared to change his tune about the deceased pedophile's operation and has been criticized for staying mostly quiet on the situation.

Massie has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump and his administration, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). His open criticism of GOP leadership has frustrated Republican leaders who remain committed to supporting Trump.

Vance wrote in a Sept. 4, 2021, post on X:

"Remember when we learned that our wealthiest and most powerful people were connected to a guy who ran a literal child sex trafficking ring? And then that guy died mysteriously in a jail? And now we just don't talk about it."

Massie had this quippy response at 4:20 a.m. ET Tuesday: "Yeah, why is that?"

"Some of us never forgot," he added in a later post on X.

People were quick to notice the early morning posts, divulging their thoughts on the resurfaced comments from Vance.

"Hello 911, i'd like to report a murder this morning," Matt Rein, attorney and influencer and creative partnerships director for The Democrats, wrote on Threads.

"Lmao the fact that Massie wrote that at 4:20am has me dying," user Emilie Brooks wrote on Threads.

"I certainly want to know why the current administration doesn't want to talk about it or why they won't release all the files," veteran Katie Kazoo wrote on X.

"Your silence on the issue is deafening, JD," social media strategist Devin Duke wrote on X.

'DOJ screwed up': Republican lawmaker hits MAGA attorney with blunt fact check

A Republican lawmaker's announcement that he would be on TV this weekend resulted in a public fight with a MAGA lawyer with close ties to the Trump administration.

Rep. Thomas Massie announced Sunday, "I'll be appearing with Martha Raddatz on ABC at 9:23 AM ET. We will discuss AG Bondi’s Judiciary testimony and the latest release of Jeffrey Epstein documents. Tune in!"

Enter former GOP staffer Mike Davis, who has made headlines for his social media comments in the past, and was rumored to be on Trump's list for attorney general. He chimed in, "Yep, sure you will, Massie."

"You are now the useful liberal media darling. Of course, you didn’t have much to say about Epstein during 4 years of Biden," he then added. "But now you can team up with the Democrats on the Epstein hoax. (Did you ever apologize to the 4 men you smeared?)"

Massie responded with a fact check:

"DOJ released the names not me. The names should have been released with context of a line-up, but DOJ screwed up by omitting the context I gave them." He then wrote, "Here’s the tweet," and included a screenshot of the claim.

In a separate comment, Massie added, "History will not be kind to your side of this debate."

Video shows Kentucky Republican 'snatching' mic out of fellow GOP lawmaker's hand at event

A Republican congressman can be seen on video having a microphone yanked out of his hands by a fellow GOP colleague.

Thomas Massie, who also on Saturday accused the Trump admin of hurting Epstein victims with the botched and unlawful files release, went to social media to tell his side of the story. He linked to an article which described how David Osborne, Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, took the mic aggressively from Massie while the rebel Republican was speaking.

According to the article, Osborne has claimed that it was a matter of timing, and not of beliefs. But Massie claimed that, if Osborne had liked what he was saying at the time, that he wouldn't have "snatched" the mic.

A congressional reporter posted the video of the contested event.

Read the article here (subscription required).

Trump's 'flamethrower' attack on House Republican's new wife backfires after flub

President Donald Trump attempted to hurl an attack on a rebel Republican foe on Monday, but his accusation was actually incorrect.

Trump was complaining about Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a vocal critic of Trump, and his new wife in an accusation and was called out for missing a key detail about her.

Trump wrote the following on his Truth Social platform:

"People are saying that Thomas Massie became a Liberal because his new wife, blessed be their marriage, is supposedly a Radical Left 'flamethrower.' This new union all went so fast that maybe he didn’t know what he was getting into but, nevertheless, he is an absolutely terrible and unreliable 'Republican' — Perhaps a RINO, or maybe even worse! Ed Gallrein, a Farmer and War Hero, is running against Massie. He is a HIGH QUALITY individual, and there is no Candidate for Congress that could be better. He is running because he realizes Thomas Massie has been totally disloyal to the President of the United States, and the Republican Party. He never votes for us, he always goes with the Democrats. Thomas Massie is a Complete and Total Disaster, we must make sure he loses, BIG!"

Eric Michael Garcia, Washington Bureau chief at The Independent and MS NOW columnist, posted on Bluesky to set the record straight.

"Trump blames Thomas Massie’s wife for him becoming 'Radical Left ‘flamethrower.' Carolyn Grace Moffa worked for Rand Paul," Garcia wrote.

This wasn't the first time Trump had tried to send Massie a venomous message. After Massie, a widower, announced his new marriage in October, Trump attacked him, rather than congratulate him or send flowers.

At the time, Trump wrote this on Truth Social:

"Did Thomas Massie, sometimes referred to as Rand Paul Jr., because of the fact that he always votes against the Republican Party, get married already??? Boy, that was quick! No wonder the Polls have him at less than an 8% chance of winning the Election. Anyway, have a great life Thomas and (?). His wife will soon find out that she’s stuck with a LOSER!"

Massie, a Libertarian-leaning Republican congressman from Kentucky, has frequently clashed with Trump over various policy issues, including foreign aid, military spending, and government oversight, despite generally supporting Trump's anti-establishment rhetoric. He has been critical of Trump on specific issues such as the spending bills and foreign military assistance, positioning himself as a fiscal conservative who prioritizes constitutional limits on executive power and government spending regardless of which party controls the White House.

Massie, along with his co-sponsor Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), helped pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the legislation that forced the DOJ to release the Epstein files.

He has accused Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche of lying about an effort of several lawmakers to review unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files, an alleged lie that Massie subsequently provided “receipts” to disprove.

'They've given up': GOP member releases tirade against colleagues 'rolling over' for Trump

Some members of the Republican Party have accused the Rules Committee of "rolling over" to make way for Donald Trump's demands.

One member of the GOP claimed there were some bills passed into the House that would not have made it there had it not been for the president's demands. Thomas Massie, an outspoken critic of Trump, told The Independent he was surprised at how stringent some Republican Party members had been when following Trump's orders.

He said, "I thought I'd have some other people occasionally when he deviated from his promises. I mean, my colleagues here are increasingly being forced to choose between President Trump and President Trump's promises, and so far, they've chose President Trump but not his promises."

Specifically on Rules Committee members Chip Roy and Ralph Norman, Massie said, "I'm kind of disappointed with what's going on there."

"There's three conservatives who were supposed to make things happen, and they seem to have given up on that effort, and the rules committee, that's totally gone."

The Rules Committee is currently led by Virginia Foxx, and was previously run by Republican Party members Tom Cole and Michael Burgess.

Disgruntlements within the GOP come as Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman suggests it would take just eight defectors in the party to sever Trump's strong grip on power.

He wrote, "What can we say about the cowardly Republicans in Congress, who are still sustaining Trump even though many of them – perhaps most of them – are privately appalled by his behavior?"

"It would take just eight of these people — four Republican senators and four Republican House members — to switch sides and caucus with the Democrats to end GOP control of Congress and eliminate much of Trump’s power."

"But taking such a step would mean risking Trump’s wrath by standing up and acting like patriots, rather than knuckling down and averting their eyes as Trump descends into madness."

'Scuttlebutt' suggests Mike Johnson is about to lose House majority: MS Now analyst

Rumors have surfaced that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is anticipated to lose the GOP's House majority, an MS Now analyst reported Wednesday.

After the unexpected death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and serious car crash involving Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN), who was hospitalized and expected to recover — but will not be available for upcoming votes — the Republican majority is hanging in the balance, according to Steve Benen, producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show."

"LaMalfa’s death leaves House Speaker Mike Johnson with a 218-member conference — in a chamber where 218 is the bare minimum for a majority," Benen explained.

Even President Donald Trump is worried. He addressed the Republican party over concerns about losing the narrow majority Tuesday, also telling GOP lawmakers his prediction that he could be impeached if they lose the midterms in November.

But that's not the only concern among Republicans. After Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) resignation Monday, plus Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) often voting against his party's initiatives, other murmurs of exits have surfaced.

"What’s more, conditions for the majority party are likely to get worse before they get better, Benen wrote. "While Greene and LaMalfa are likely to be replaced by Republicans, the special elections to fill their vacancies are still months away. On the other hand, later this month, voters will replace the late Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner in one of Texas’ bluest districts, increasing the Democratic conference to 214 members and narrowing the House GOP’s advantage even more."

The stakes have become higher for the GOP now more than ever. And for Johnson, this could present even more challenges.

"Hanging overhead, meanwhile, is recent scuttlebutt that other current House Republicans, including New York’s Elise Stefanik and South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, are weighing possible resignations before their terms end," according to Benen.

"By any fair measure, 2025 was exceedingly difficult for Johnson and his fellow House GOP leaders. There are fresh reasons to believe 2026 will be worse."

Republican warns GOP should brace for rebellions as 'keys to car' 'wrestled' from speaker

Slim margins in the House of Representatives mean the Republican Party should brace for stalemates, a GOP member has claimed.

The party has seen its House majority thin following the high-profile resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene. Though it still holds a majority of five, some moderates within the Republican Party have defected on several crucial votes. A threatened government shutdown following a failure to solve a healthcare subsidies bill — along with the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files — highlight the in-fighting taking place in the GOP.

It is something the Democratic Party will be keen to take advantage of this year, and according to Republican Party rep Thomas Massie (KY), the fractured GOP will struggle. Massie suggested moderates in the party had "wrestled" control away from Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump, though there are still problems for the Republican Party to deal with.

Speaking to NOTUS, Massie said, "Mike Johnson has given the keys to the car to President Trump, but we wrestled the keys back and took them for a spin and got the Epstein Act passed right. There may be more discharge petitions, as long as the speaker keeps things bottled up and just does whatever the president does and keeps everything else from happening."

Johnson will find it "hard to escape" the issues plaguing the party, with healthcare subsidies still a sore spot for the GOP, according to political analyst Meredith Lee Hill.

She wrote, "The House returns from the holiday recess to confront old issues that continue to bedevil Johnson — from a politically perilous battle over health care and the ongoing release of the Jeffrey Epstein files to a messy intra-GOP fight over lawmakers’ stock trading and another looming government shutdown cliff."

"But Johnson will find it hard to escape internally divisive clashes as the GOP feels pressure to address the rising cost of living and otherwise firm up its standing ahead of the November midterms."

"But even Republican leaders’ unity-building proposals — such as highlighting fraud convictions in Minnesota — could end up sparking fights," she went on.

"A growing number of conservatives want Trump to reinstate Elon Musk in his prior role as efficiency czar to probe reports of Medicaid fraud and other related projects. But other Republicans, especially key moderates, are cool to the idea."

Backfire: Republican 'thorn in Trump's side' raises money using president's insult

A Republican lawmaker who serves as a "thorn in Trump's side" raised thousands of dollars using the president's Christmas insult against him, according to a new report.

Republican congressman Thomas Massie bucked the president with this co-authorship of the Epstein files act, which required the Department of Justice to release all of its files related to the deceased child sex abuser's case. Since that time, Trump has backed a primary challenger to Massie in Kentucky.

But Massie isn't taking that lying down. After Trump called the congressman a "lowlife" on Christmas, Massie used that insult to raise thousands for his campaign within two hours, the Guardian reports.

Under the subheading "Massie uses president's insult to raise funds," the outlet reported Sunday, "On Christmas, Trump posted a rant on his Truth Social platform that dismissed Congress’s interest in Epstein as a 'scam' while referring to Massie – the only lawmaker named in the post – as 'one lowlife ‘Republican'."

The Guardian continued:

"That prompted Massie to reply on X: 'Imagine celebrating a blessed Christmas with your family … suddenly phones alert everyone to the most powerful man in the world attacking you … for fulfilling his campaign promise to help victims!'"

It further reported, "Massie’s account cited the 'one lowlife Republican’ phrase in the post’s text, highlighted it in screenshots of Trump’s tirade – and asked X users to 'please support me' while providing a link to his campaign donations site. More than 40 people had donated nearly $3,000 within the first two hours, Massie’s account said in separate follow-up posts."

Read the full article here.