Donald Trump’s Republican foe believes the president’s military operation in Iran has ulterior motives.Rep. Thomas Massie issued a clear reminder Sunday that the war will not distract him from his efforts to force the Justice Department to release all documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein.“PSA: Bombing a country on the other side of the globe won’t make the Epstein files go away, any more than a Dow above 50,000 will,” the Kentucky liberal wrote on X.
Massie is one of several Trump critics who have accused the president of stirring up foreign policy crises and other controversies in the White House to distract from his historic relationship with Epstein, especially with the release of new Justice Department documents related to the late sex trafficker’s crimes, The Daily Beast reported.
In January, critics also claimed that the administration’s arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was a temporary reprieve from partisan pressure surrounding Trump’s ties to Epstein, who once described himself as Trump’s “closest friend.”Massie and his Democratic ally, Rep. Ro Khanna, spearheaded the Epstein Files Transparency Act — which Trump reluctantly signed into law — directing the Justice Department to release all files linked to Epstein, who died in 2019, by December 19, 2025.
The Justice Department has released more than 3 million files related to Epstein, although another 3 million files have been withheld for various reasons.Massie was also a thorn in Trump’s side before the president’s military action in Iran.“Congress must vote on war according to our Constitution,” the congressman wrote on X Day on February 19, and said he and Khanna “will force this vote to take place in the House as soon as possible. I will vote to put America first, which means voting against further war in the Middle East.”Massie and Khanna are expected to advance a vote next week aimed at limiting Trump’s military action without congressional approval.These efforts were not deterred by the president’s major attack on Saturday morning, which reportedly included a direct strike on the Shajarat Taiba Girls School in Minab, Hormozgan Province, killing at least 43 students and wounding 63 others, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency.“Acts of war not authorized by Congress,” Massie wrote in a post on X, linking to an Associated Press article titled, “US and Israel launch major attack on Iran, Trump urges Iranians to take matters into their own hands.”In a separate post, he criticized Trump’s military action as the opposite of his “America First” slogan.“I am against this war,” he wrote in a post that had been viewed 4.2 million times at press time. “This is not ‘America First.’”“When Congress reconvenes, I will work with,” Massey continued [Ro Khanna] To force Congress to vote on war with Iran. The Constitution requires voting, and your representative must be registered as an opponent or supporter of this war.The president has repeatedly referred to Massie as a “loser” and a “moron” and is backing his primary opponent, Ed Gallerin, in the race for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District.
