CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN LEADS BIPARTISAN PUSH TO FORCE RELEASE OF EPSTEIN FILES, SLAMS SPEAKER JOHNSON FOR SENDING MEMBERS HOME EARLY TO AVOID TRANSPARENCY

Congressman Pat Ryan Leads Bipartisan Push to Force Release of Epstein Files, Slams Speaker Johnson for Sending Members Home Early to Avoid Transparency

Congressman Ryan’s bipartisan resolution, co-sponsored by nine Democrats and eleven Republicans, would force the complete release of the government’s files related to Jeffrey Epstein

Following numerous bipartisan calls to release the files, Speaker Johnson ordered the House into an early recess to avoid a vote on transparency

Johnson’s decision follows President Trump’s mounting demands to stop discussing what he is now calling the “Epstein Hoax” 

WASHINGTON, DC  –  Today, after Congressman Pat Ryan sponsored a resolution that would force the complete release of the government’s files related to Jeffrey Epstein, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the House into an early recess until September. Johnson’s decision follows mounting demands from President Trump to stop discussing what he is now calling the “Epstein Hoax.” Ryan is slamming Johnson for sending Members home early for the express purpose of avoiding a vote on his resolution.

“This is yet another promise broken by the Trump Administration. Sending us home early is nothing but a weak, pathetic move by politicians hellbent on preventing transparency on an issue that the American people have clearly expressed matters to them deeply,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “It’s also a total abuse of Speaker Johnson’s power – he’s sending us home for a month to deny our very basic, reasonable, bipartisan request: a vote on transparency. It’s ridiculous, and we’re not going to let up. I’m proud to be fighting alongside my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and every corner of the ideological plane; we’re standing with the American people demanding answers – not only because it’s what they deserve, but because it is what they were promised.” 

The week prior to Speaker Johnson’s call for an early recess to avoid voting on transparency, Congressman Ryan questioned Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, at a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Ryan asked Secretary Duffy if he, as a senior member of the President’s cabinet, would commit to a transparent conversation about the release of the files in front of the American people. Duffy dodged the question, bizarrely seeming to imply that the files haven't been released because people who only had a layover on the notorious island could be mistakenly implicated, and that he wanted to “protect” the identity of the children involved. The full exchange can be viewed here. 

Congressman Ryan is a co-sponsor on the bipartisan resolution – introduced by Congressmen Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) – which would force the complete release of the government’s files related to Jeffrey Epstein. The full list of co-sponsors, which includes nine Democrats and eleven Republicans, is included below. The full text of the resolution can be found here. 

• Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Michigan)
• Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado)
• Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Missouri)
• Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee)
• Rep. Elijah Crane (R-Arizona)
• Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (R-New Jersey)
• Rep. Marie Glusenkamp Perez (D-Washington)
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia)
• Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia)
• Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California)
• Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina)
• Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky)
• Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Massachusetts)
• Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio)
• Rep. Cory Mills (R-Florida)
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York)
• Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland)
• Rep. Pat Ryan (D-New York)
• Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas)
• Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan)

###