Minnesota House Republicans keep mum ahead of Epstein files vote

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve a measure Tuesday to release government files on deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein after President Donald Trump reversed his position on the matter, though it’s unclear how Minnesota’s four GOP members will vote on the issue.

Minnesota’s Republicans in the House did not respond to requests for comment on the vote, but Trump’s shift could provide cover for some members who have faced increasing pressure from his supporters to make good on a campaign promise to release the Epstein files. At least one Minnesota Republican has already received pushback from right-wing activists in Minnesota over the files.

The vote is the culmination of months of pressure from Democrats and a growing number of Republicans to release the files. Trump said Monday from the Oval Office that he would sign off on the release of the files if it reaches his desk, a shift after months of calling the effort a “hoax.”

Before Trump’s change, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the chamber, said Thursday on the “Next Up with Mark Halperin” show that he would not vote on the petition or push for votes either for or against it.

“I’m not going to vote for it, I don’t whip discharge petitions,” Emmer said.

Pressed on whether he supports the premise of the legislation, Emmer said he believed the House Oversight Committee had already “produced more documents than this discharge petition even covers.” Last week Democrats on the committee released emails in which Epstein talked about Trump.

In a 2019 email, Epstein said Trump “knew about the girls.” In another from 2011, Epstein mentioned that the president had “spent hours” at his home with one of the victims.

“In my opinion, that is all about politics,” Emmer said of the petition. “That is Democrats with a couple of Republicans that, yeah, I think the Republicans’ hearts are in the right places, but I think they’re being used by Democrats who are not interested in the victims and justice they’re interested in going after Donald Trump.”

Emmer also indicated in another interview with Punchbowl News Thursday that he does not think the Epstein files will be a campaign issue in the 2026 midterm elections.

Ahead of the vote, Republican leadership went to great lengths to avoid voting on the Epstein files. Speaker Mike Johnson shut the House down early for its August recess to head off a looming vote and he delayed the swearing-in of a newly elected Democrat who gave lawmakers the last signature needed to force a vote on the files.

Unlike the rest of the state’s GOP House members, Rep. Michelle Fischbach had to reject releasing the files multiple times from her position on the House Rules Committee.

Her votes angered some in the right-wing activist base that’s dominated Republican politics in her district, including the conservative group Action 4 Liberty (A4L), which warned that the Epstein issue could be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” for conservatives.

“We want transparency, right? And anybody that deals with pedophilia must be brought to justice, so as it goes we’ll see.”

All of the state’s four Democrats in the lower chamber have signed on to a bipartisan petition to force a vote on the release of the files. Democratic Rep. Kelly Morrison, who recently met with some of the Epstein survivors, said she plans to vote to release the files to bring them justice.

“President Trump has the power to release them today. The reason this discharge petition is happening even is because he’s not releasing them,” said Morrison, who suspects Trump may have urged Republicans to back the measure because he thought he would lose the Tuesday vote.

Rep. Betty McCollum said it was “appalling” that Republicans delayed the vote for months.

“Now, the President has totally reversed his position on the release of the Epstein Files,” she said. ”If he means what he says, then he can instruct the Department of Justice to release them.”

If the measure passes the House on Tuesday it will still need to be voted on by the U.S. Senate and receive Trump’s final approval.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she will vote to release the files if it reaches the Senate.

“I believe this transparency is owed to the American people,” Klobuchar said. “This case is about exploitation and abuse, and these victims deserve justice. Given that the President now says he wants the files released, there is absolutely no reason Senate Republicans should delay calling for the vote the day after the House votes.”