LI Reps. Tom Suozzi, Laura Gillen signing on to bid to release files on Jeffrey Epstein

Long Island’s two Democratic House members are joining a bipartisan effort next week to force release of all federal investigative files into the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, including any material mentioning President Donald Trump.

But GOP Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) says he will not go along, calling the maneuver being embraced by Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) and Laura Gillen (D-Rockville Centre) "reckless" and led by "extremists from each party more interested in stirring the pot than solving problems."

Suozzi said through his office: "Yes, I support it," while underscoring that his attention is "more focused on lowering costs and fixing the broken immigration system." A Gillen spokesperson said she also plans to sign the petition, but will wait to say more about this when she does.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) was not yet indicating on Friday through his office what he plans to do.

Broader disclosures on what the government has learned in its investigations of Epstein continue to loom as a national fascination; the issue has also divided Trump’s own Make America Great Again faction and other core GOP supporters.

LaLota warned in a statement Friday that a congressional effort to force more disclosures, if successful, could lead to exposure of "the names of young women who were victimized and unfairly tarnish those who committed no crimes, subjecting them to guilt by association."

Starting Tuesday, the chief sponsors of the wildcat effort in the House to force the releases of all federal investigative records tied to Epstein can start collecting signatures of colleague support for their petition. 

Reps. Tom Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) will need the backing of 218, a majority of all House members, to succeed. 

If they get those signatures, they can bring to a vote — even against Speaker Mike Johnson's opposition — a bill requiring the attorney general to "make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format" all records and other investigative material held by the Department of Justice on Epstein.

In a sort of proxy of how Massie and Khanna might do, their discharge measure already reflects bipartisan support in the form of 11 total GOP co-sponsors and 44 altogether.

A Massie aide said he and Khanna will be holding a news conference Wednesday featuring what he described as survivors of Epstein’s abuse. 

Trump had said he would release such files during his presidential campaign last year, including any "Epstein client list," but he and Attorney General Pam Bondi are viewed by many as backpedaling.

Epstein had been awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges when found dead in August 2019 in his Manhattan jail cell. The events prompted cries of a cover-up.

But in July, the Justice Department suddenly released a short memo reporting that a "systematic review" of federal documents revealed no incriminating Epstein "client list" existed, and that an investigation into Epstein's death confirmed it was in fact by suicide, not murder. 

Johnson — facing a mutiny from even Republicans who were demanding Congress take stronger action to obtain more information from the administration — decided to call an early start to a House break in July, hoping the furor on the issue would die down while lawmakers were away.

But many of the developments since lawmakers broke from Washington in July — including the release of transcripts of a Justice Department leader's interviews of the imprisoned former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell — have not calmed clamor for more disclosure. Maxwell said she was not aware of any inappropriate conduct by Trump.

Upcoming House Judiciary Committee oversight hearings with FBI Director Kash Patel on Sept. 17, and Bondi on Oct. 9, are also expected to attract attention to the issue.