GOP Sen. Thom Tillis says Epstein files could impact midterm prospects
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis continued to buck against Republican House leadership and President Donald Trump Wednesday over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The North Carolina Republican made a defiant call to "release the damn files" while appearing at an Axios event.
"The promise to release the files during the campaign was either overplayed and we got a nothing burger if the files get released, or it's something really disturbing and that's actually an even more compelling reason to release it," Tillis said.
Tillis predicted that the Epstein files will continue to be an issue "all the way through next year's election" and said that releasing the files would be the best way to get past it.
Tillis told ABC News later in the day that he is serious about the issue.
"I don't know what's ambiguous about me saying we should release the files. I still stand by that," he said.
Tillis' Wednesday comments come as the Epstein files saga continues to cause drama on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would end the legislative session early before Congress' August recess and postponed a committee vote on bipartisan legislation that would call for the release of the Epstein files.
The House leaving early won't do anything to ease concerns, Tillis said.
"I think the files should be released, let the light of day, let the sun shine through, and that's the best way to get past it," he said at the Axios event.
"Otherwise, if anybody thinks that this is going to go away because the House left a day early or something, it's going to be like those zombies in 'The Walking Dead': every time you think you've killed it, another one is just going to come running out of the closet after you," he added.
Tillis told ABC News, "I think the House should be back here with us to enjoy the fun."
Last week, Tillis had a similar message on the files, saying the administration needs to "just release it and deal with it."
"Why don't we just release it and deal with it? If it's embarrassing because it's not substantive, that's fine. If it's embarrassing because somebody's implicated, that's fine. We just need to solve it," Tillis said to reporters at the Capitol last Thursday.
Johnson said he would like the files to be released, but did not want to harm the victims.
On Wednesday, the speaker told reporters that "we don't have any fear" on Epstein votes as the House floor is practically paralyzed by the Epstein drama.
"There's no point in having a vote today, because the administration is already doing everything within their power to release them," Johnson told ABC News' Capitol Hill Correspondent Jay O'Brien.
Trump has lashed out against calls for the files, but has ordered the Justice Department to seek approval to release grand jury testimony from the probe.
Some Republicans and Democrats, however, said that all pertinent files should come out.
Tillis dismissed those who say the files cannot be released due to the vulnerability of victims, and said those concerns could easily be dealt with by redacting names and personal details.
"And this nonsense of 'Well, we've got to protect the innocent witnesses,' those sorts of things -- that's called redaction. We do that all the time, that's sort of a fake for -- a bad reason for trying to stop something that you don't want to happen," he said.
House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, however, claimed the Epstein matter is a "non-issue."
"It's kind of funny, if it was so important, why weren't Democrats clamoring for this for four years under Biden?," he said during the Axios event.
ABC News' Brittany Shepherd and Jay O'Brien contributed to this report.
