Kentucky Republican Files Petition for Release of Epstein Files

Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie said President Donald Trump retaliated against Republican Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert after she declined to remove her name from a discharge petition that would have forced a House vote on releasing the Epstein files.

Massie made the allegation during an interview with Tucker Carlson that aired Wednesday. He said Boebert was one of only four Republicans who joined 214 Democrats on the petition. Boebert was taken into the Situation Room and urged to drop her support, Massie stated.

The bipartisan measure would have completed a 130-mile pipeline to deliver clean water to tens of thousands of residents in southeast Colorado. "They took her into the Situation Room and tried to whip her into taking her name off of the discharge petition over Epstein," Massie said.

" >"They took her into the Situation Room and tried to whip her into taking her name off of the discharge petition over Epstein. " — Rep. Thomas Massie, May 7 2026 (Daily Caller) The vetoed bill is one of just two measures the president has vetoed during the current term.

Trump previously stated he vetoed the project in December because costs had grown too high and local users had not repaid their share as originally planned. Congress had provided additional funding in 2009, yet construction had not advanced. "Enough is enough," Trump said at the time.

"My Administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies. " Massie questioned why Colorado residents were being deprived of water because their representative sought to expose what he described as a sex trafficking ring.

The president has repeatedly called the Epstein files a "Democrat hoax" but ultimately signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law after it passed both chambers with overwhelming support.