Donald Trump’s Republican foe believes the President’s military operation in Iran has ulterior motives.Rep Thomas Massie issued a pointed reminder on Sunday that war will not distract him from his push to force the Department of Justice to release all documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein.“PSA: Bombing a country on the other side of the globe won’t make the Epstein files go away, any more than the Dow going above 50,000 will,” the Kentucky libertarian wrote on X.Massie is one of several Trump critics who have accused the President of staging foreign policy crises and other White House controversies to deflect scrutiny from his historic relationship with Epstein, particularly as new Department of Justice documents related to the late sex trafficker’s crimes are released, The Daily Beast reported.In January, critics also alleged that the administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro served as a temporary reprieve from bipartisan pressure surrounding Trump’s ties to Epstein, who once described himself as Trump’s “closest friend”.Massie and his Democratic ally, Rep Ro Khanna, spearheaded the Epstein Files Transparency Act—which Trump begrudgingly signed into law—directing the Department of Justice to release all files connected to Epstein, who died in 2019, by Dec 19, 2025.The DOJ released more than 3 million files related to Epstein, though another 3 million remain withheld for various reasons.Massie was also a thorn in Trump’s side ahead of the President’s military action in Iran.“Congress must vote on war according to our Constitution,” the congressman wrote on X on Feb 19. He said he and Khanna “will be forcing that vote to happen in the House as soon as possible. I will vote to put America first, which means voting against more war in the Middle East.”Massie and Khanna are expected to bring forward a vote next week aimed at curbing Trump’s military action without congressional approval.That effort did not deter the President’s major attack on Saturday morning, which reportedly included a direct hit on the Shajareye Tayabeh girls’ school in Minab, Hormozgan Province, killing at least 43 students and wounding 63 others, according to the Iranian state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency.“Acts of war unauthorised by Congress,” Massie wrote in an X post, linking an Associated Press article titled “US and Israel launch a major attack on Iran, and Trump urges Iranians to take over.”In a separate post, he slammed Trump’s military action as the opposite of “America First”.“I am opposed to this war,” he wrote in a post viewed 4.2 million times at the time of publication. “This is not ‘America First.’”Massie continued: “When Congress reconvenes, I will work with [Ro Khanna] to force a congressional vote on war with Iran. The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.”The President repeatedly referred to Massie as a “loser” and a “moron” and is backing his primary opponent, Ed Gallrein, in the race for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District.
