作者：伊丽莎白·埃尔金德、利奥·布里塞诺 | 福克斯新闻
发布时间：2026年2月19日 美国东部时间下午6:00
极右翼圈内对众议员托马斯·梅西的行为存在分歧
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在众议院的主要共和党批评者在最近一次采访中承认，他曾向共和党领袖提出，以支持投票为交换，换取对方对自己推动披露联邦政府杰弗里·爱泼斯坦相关文件的公开感谢。
这一举措至少引发了来自他的一位众议院共和党同僚和极右翼圈内其他人的强烈反对。
“任何利用爱泼斯坦可怕性虐待受害者来推进政治议程或追逐公众认可的人，都应认真重新考虑自己的职业。”威斯康星州共和党众议员德里克·范奥尔登表示。
本周早些时候接受《政客》采访时，梅西称，当议长寻求他在关键投票中的支持时，他提出了这一要求。
议员们以可能传唤比尔·盖茨的方式升级爱泼斯坦调查
2026年2月3日，肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·梅西抵达华盛顿特区参加众议院投票（凯文·迪施/盖蒂图片社）
“有一天，他们需要我的投票，我提出如果[约翰逊]会发布一份新闻稿感谢我在《爱泼斯坦文件透明法案》上的出色工作，我就会支持他们。这就是我获得支持所需的全部条件。我认为他可能转而给了其他人一项法案通过，而不是发表公开声明。”梅西表示。
他告诉福克斯新闻数字版，这是对约翰逊是否会为反对他推动投票的行为承担责任的考验——但约翰逊拒绝了。
“我想看看议长是否会承认反对该法案是个错误，但即便有了关于有权势富人堕落和非法活动的所有新揭露，议长仍拒绝承认《爱泼斯坦文件透明法案》的成功。”梅西在给福克斯新闻数字版的声明中表示。
但这一举措也遭到了共和党社交媒体圈其他人的抨击，梅西与特朗普支持者之间爆发了某种程度的内部矛盾。
“很快就会出现在竞选广告中：托马斯·梅西要求在国会获得支持前必须公开受到赞扬。”右翼影响者瑞安·萨阿韦德拉在X平台上写道。
保守派媒体《联邦党人》创始人肖恩·戴维斯在社交媒体上表示：”天哪，这真的全是自我驱动。”
然而，也有人为他辩护，比如一个仅被称为”杰里米”的X账号：”你真的不能责怪这个不断被保守派批评的人，他希望议长对《爱泼斯坦文件》的公开表示肯定并给予他荣誉。表面上这很幼稚，但这也是他们游戏的运作方式。”
梅西去年带领少数共和党人与民主党人联手，不顾众议院领导层和特朗普的反对，推动考虑《爱泼斯坦文件透明法案》。特朗普认为该立法对爱泼斯坦性交易受害者的身份保护不够充分。
该法案旨在迫使司法部（DOJ）公布爱泼斯坦案件的几乎所有信息，梅西坚持其语言确实为已故恋童癖者的受害者提供了足够的保护。
但约翰逊和特朗普都确认支持政府透明度，但表示无法支持梅西的法案。
2025年，这些众议院特立独行者比任何人都更违抗自己的政党
2026年2月3日，路易斯安那州共和党众议员迈克·约翰逊与幕僚及安保人员一同行走（肯特·西村/盖蒂图片社）
值得注意的是，除了路易斯安那州共和党众议员克莱·希金斯外，所有众议员最终都投票支持该法案。
天主教大学政治学教授马修·格林认为，梅西的要求及其被拒绝，突显了约翰逊对总统支持的高度依赖。
共和党目前在众议院仅以一票优势维持多数，这是因为最近佐治亚州共和党众议员玛乔丽·泰勒·格林辞职，以及加利福尼亚州共和党众议员道格·拉马尔法突然去世，这两件事都发生在1月。共和党可能在3月佐治亚州举行的特别选举中填补格林的空缺，重新夺回一个席位。
但在此之前，约翰逊一直与极小的容错空间作斗争以推动共和党主导的优先事项，而梅西则不断缩小这一空间。
格林认为，在这种情况下，梅西的要求实际上是在威胁维系政党团结的关键因素之一：特朗普的支持。
“在我看来，他实际上要求的是展示共和党领导层与特朗普总统的紧密联系。”格林说，”你知道，只要说’我支持一项法案’或’我认为这是个好主意’，你可能会觉得这是一个相对无害的要求，但关于爱泼斯坦文件，总统直到最后都在说’不要投票释放这些文件’，而议长也同意了。”
共和党叛乱迫使众议院议长迈克·约翰逊推迟对特朗普议程关键部分的投票
2026年2月5日，唐纳德·特朗普总统（亚伦·施瓦茨/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images）
在《爱泼斯坦文件透明法案》投票前夕，特朗普抨击这一努力，在Truth Social上呼吁梅西放弃推动，并谴责”民主党爱泼斯坦骗局”。
正是总统对梅西爱泼斯坦透明化推动的反对，让格林认为肯塔基州议员知道他的要求不会得到满足。
“他知道答案会是否定的。”格林说，”如果约翰逊说’是’，不仅会违背他本人对该法案的立场，还可能激怒特朗普总统。”
尽管这一要求看似不可能实现，但格林认为梅西愿意谈判这一点值得关注。
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“有趣的是，他暗示自己实际上愿意为了某种东西而投赞成票。”格林说。
梅西办公室未回应范奥尔登关于其投票提议的声明。
伊丽莎白·埃尔金德是福克斯新闻数字版的政治记者，主要报道众议院事务。她此前曾在《每日邮报》和哥伦比亚广播公司新闻有过数字报道署名。
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https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388884990112
Massie faces backlash over Epstein demand, critics suggest he should ‘seriously reconsider’ Congress
By Elizabeth Elkind, Leo Briceno | Fox News
Published February 19, 2026 6:00pm EST
The right-wing sphere has been divided over Rep Thomas Massie’s actions
President Donald Trump’s top House GOP critic admitted in a recent interview that he once offered Republican leaders his vote in exchange for a public expression of gratitude for his role in forcing the disclosure of the federal government’s Jeffrey Epstein files.
It’s a move that has drawn backlash from at least one of his fellow House Republicans and others in the right-wing sphere.
“Anyone who uses the victims of Epstein’s horrific sexual abuse to advance a political agenda or chase public recognition should seriously reconsider their line of work,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis.
In an interview with Politico earlier this week, Massie said he had made the offer when the speaker had approached him for his support on a key vote.
LAWMAKERS ESCALATE EPSTEIN PROBE WITH POSSIBLE BILL GATES SUBPOENA
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., arrives for a House vote on Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington, D.C.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“One day, they needed my vote, and I offered to give them my vote if [Johnson] would issue a press release thanking me for my good work on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. That’s all I required to get my vote. And I think he probably went and gave somebody else a bill to pass instead of doing the public statement,” Massie said.
He told Fox News Digital that it was a test of whether Johnson would take responsibility for opposing his effort to force the vote — but said Johnson refused.
“I wanted to see if the speaker would admit that it was a mistake to oppose the bill, but even with all the new revelations about depraved and illegal activity of rich and powerful men, the speaker refused to acknowledge the success of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Massie said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
But the move also caught blowback from others in the Republican social media sphere, which has erupted into a civil war of sorts between Massie and Trump’s supporters.
“Coming soon to a campaign ad: Thomas Massie requires that he be praised publicly in order to secure his vote in Congress,” right-wing influencer Ryan Saavedra wrote on X.
Sean Davis, who founded conservative outlet “The Federalist,” wrote on social media, “Good grief. It really is all ego-driven.”
Some defended him, however, like an X account tied to someone only identified as “Jeremy”: “You really can’t blame the guy who’s constantly getting crapped on my conservatives for wanting the speaker of the house to say something positive about the Epstein files coming out and giving him the credit. It is childish on the surface, but this is also how their games work.”
Massie last year led a handful of Republicans to join with Democrats to force consideration of the Epstein Files Transparency Act over the objections of House leadership and Trump, who argued the legislation did not come with sufficient protections for the identities of Epstein’s sex-trafficking victims.
The bill was aimed at forcing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release nearly all information on Epstein’s case, and Massie maintained its language did provide for sufficient coverage for the late pedophile’s victims.
But Johnson and Trump both affirmed they supported efforts for government transparency but maintained they could not support Massie’s bill.
THESE HOUSE MAVERICKS DEFIED THEIR OWN PARTIES MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN 2025
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., walks with staff and his security detail.(Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Notably, however, all House members except for Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., wound up voting for the bill.
In the view of Matthew Green, professor of politics at The Catholic University of America, Massie’s ask — and its denial — underscores how reliant Johnson is on the president for support.
Republicans currently hold just a one-vote majority in the chamber amid the recent resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and the sudden death of Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif, both of which happened in January. Republicans will likely win back a seat in March when Georgia holds a special election to fill Greene’s vacancy.
But until then, Johnson has battled against a vanishingly small margin of error to pass GOP-led priorities, a margin Massie has made consistently smaller.
In this case, Green believes Massie was asking for something that would threaten one of the key things holding the party together: Trump’s support.
“What he was actually asking for, to my mind, was illustrating how closely Republican leadership is or has to be aligned with President Trump,” Green said.
“You know, to just say ‘I support a bill’ or ‘I think this bill is a good idea,’ you’d think would be a relatively harmless ask, but with the Epstein files, you had the president, until the very end, saying, ‘Do not vote to release these,’ and the speaker agreeing.”
GOP MUTINY FORCES HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON TO DELAY VOTE ON KEY PIECE OF TRUMP’S AGENDA
President Donald Trump pictured on Feb. 5, 2026.(Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In the lead-up to a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Trump slammed the effort, calling on Massie to abandon his push and condemning the “Democrat Epstein Hoax” in a post to Truth Social.
It’s the president’s opposition to Massie’s Epstein transparency push that makes Green think the Kentucky lawmaker knew his request would go unfulfilled.
“He knew the answer would be no,” Green said. “If Johnson said yes, it would be not only going against what he had said about the bill himself, but also potentially upsetting President Trump.”
Despite the improbable nature of the request, Green thinks it’s noteworthy Massie was willing to negotiate at all.
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“What is interesting, though, is that he suggests that he actually was willing to vote yes in exchange for something,” Green said.
Massie’s office did not address Van Orden’s statement about his vote offer.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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