Epstein Files Transparency Act
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The Epstein Files Transparency Act was sponsored by Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat, and required the Justice Department by force of law to release the Jeffrey Epstein files no later than 19 December.

It passed the House 419 to 1 and the Senate 99 to nothing, and the president signed it. John Kiriakou's account of what happened next is that the president then said, in effect, "Tough luck. I'm not going to release anything. What are you going to do about it?", and that the answer is nothing. About three million pages were released, leaving three to three and a half million withheld, more than seven months past the deadline.

The legislative route was never needed

Kiriakou, who holds a master's degree in legislative affairs, argues the whole congressional exercise was unnecessary. The files are executive branch documents housed at the Department of Justice: "All the president needs to do is say release the documents." Congress reached for a discharge petition only because he would not, and Kiriakou reads the sequence of votes as a charade that delays release rather than compelling it, the president can encourage members to vote yes while a Senate leader kills the bill, leaving him able to say he tried.

He also notes how rare the instrument was: discharge petitions are attempted often and almost never succeed, he cites one on withholding tax in 1986, and predicts people will write books about this one.

The cost to its backers

Kiriakou records that the Republicans who supported release were punished: super PACs mostly affiliated with AIPAC spent thirty-five million dollars against Massie, another member was forced to resign after her son received death threats and the White House declined to help, a sitting congresswoman came fifth in a governor's race after losing an endorsement, and a fourth was brought into the situation room and pressed to take her name off the discharge petition.

"I would just release everything"

Asked in February 2026 about Donald Trump's position, Kiriakou declined to argue about guilt and argued about strategy instead: "if I were Donald Trump and I were confident in my innocence, I would just release everything."

His objection is to the pace rather than to the policy: "I just don't understand why it has taken this long, and it's not even done yet... he's shooting himself in the foot if he's truly, truly, truly innocent."

See also

- Jeffrey Epstein
- Thomas Massie
- Mike Johnson
