More than 100 lawmakers have signed a discharge petition to force a vote on legislation that would let Epstein survivors and state prosecutors sue the Department of Justice (DOJ) for withholding files on Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking network.
Giving survivors the right to sue
Representative Thomas Massie filed Discharge Petition No. 27 on September 1st alongside a bipartisan group, seeking a floor vote on H.R. 9694, the Epstein Files Transparency Act II. A discharge petition forces a bill to a vote if 218 representatives sign, bypassing the Speaker’s schedule. Within days, 106 lawmakers had signed.
Introduced on July 15 alongside Ro Khanna and Teresa Leger Fernández, the bill would let survivors, state attorneys general, district attorneys, and members of Congress sue the Attorney General over unlawful withholding or redaction, subject DOJ and FBI officials to criminal penalties for concealing or misrepresenting files, and guarantee survivors’ access to their own complete, unredacted records. Where the original law gave no one any way to force compliance, H.R. 9694 would.
Newsweek reports,
“The government continues to withhold over three million files,” Massie said. “That’s why we’ve introduced the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, to bring the fight to the state courts, accountability to the Department of Justice and closure for survivors. We want perpetrators of these crimes to be investigated and prosecuted.”
A pattern of stonewalling
H.R. 9694 is a sequel to the original Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed and Trump signed into law on November 19, 2025. This gave the DOJ 30 days to release its full record on Epstein’s trafficking network.
However, the major release didn’t begin until January 30, 2026, six weeks late. When files did arrive, the redactions proved inconsistent: survivors’ names, addresses, and phone numbers were left exposed, while the names of possible co-conspirators were blacked out.
Journalist Katie Phang sued Attorney General Todd Blanche over the redactions, and District Judge Emmet Sullivan has since pressed the department to justify what it withheld, warning that continued non-compliance could amount to contempt of court. New Mexico has separately sued the DOJ, alleging it blocked access to records that could identify survivors and co-conspirators connected to Epstein’s former ranch.
Internationally, investigations have also been stalled in Poland, Norway, Latvia and Britain by a lack of cooperation from the DOJ. European law enforcement officials have reportedly sent multiple requests to the DOJ for legal assistance but have gotten no response.
Time is running out
None of this has compelled the department to release further files. Ghislaine Maxwell remains the only person ever charged in connection with Epstein’s trafficking network, and the DOJ’s continued resistance has made it harder to hold others to account.
That’s why Freedom United is calling on representatives to sign petition No. 27 and vote for H.R. 9694.
Massie’s petition currently has 106 signatures but needs 218 to force a vote. With House leaders having cancelled two weeks of September’s legislative schedule, leaving just four working days before September 17, there is now only a narrow window to secure the remaining signatures.
Join Freedom United today in calling on Congress to sign the petition and pass H.R. 9694. Let’s give survivors the accountability they were promised.
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