Meet the California Democrat who finally cornered Trump on the Epstein files | Opinion
Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna has done what many thought nearly impossible in our increasingly stratified society: The progressive Democrat formed an unlikely coalition with leaders in President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, and brought forward a bill that requires the Justice Department to release all unclassified records related to the pedophile and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The “Epstein Files Transparency Act” passed unanimously through the Senate and was signed by Trump Wednesday evening, after weeks of protest by the president.
“If you build a coalition in Congress and assert power, you don’t have to cave to Donald Trump,” Khanna said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. “Donald Trump will cave to Congress.”
Khanna’s coalition, along with the leadership of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, required every Democrat in Congress to sign the petition, and required the signatures of at least four Republican representatives to force a vote. Khanna and Massie ultimately found those signatures in the furthest right wing of the House: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia; Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina; and Lauren Boebert, R-Colorado.
It was a complicated piece of congressional chess-playing — one that has everyone scrambling to become an expert on exactly what a discharge petition is — and perhaps speaks to Khanna’s possession of that rarest of political skills: Bending Congress toward compromise.
Of course, Khanna’s win is all the sweeter because it was ultimately a Californian who forced Trump’s hand to release the infamous Epstein files. And it was a Californian who finally got some semblance of justice for the hundreds of women and young girls who were tortured, raped and sexually abused for years by the New York financier and his procuress, Ghislane Maxwell (who is currently enjoying special privileges at a low-security federal prison camp in Texas.)
Trump’s burning hatred for California has new fuel for the fire, an explosion that might push some of California’s leaders — including the little-known Khanna — back into echelons of political power, come 2028.
At Khanna’s invitation, survivors of Epstein’s crimes gathered twice in D.C. to share their stories with him and the public, most recently on Tuesday, where they spoke to national media on the steps of Congress.
“What struck me the most is the trauma still being so raw,” Khanna said when I spoke to him the next day. “And I, to be honest, had not dealt with people with that kind of trauma before.
“Thirty years later, (it) was still so raw, so emotional, so hurtful, that they would be shaking as they were telling stories in my office or talking to me… (and) as I got to meet the survivors, it became much more emotional and much more personal. It became about really seeking justice for them. I’m so proud of them for the courage they’ve shown.”
Khanna calls the “Epstein class” rich and powerful people who feel the laws don’t apply to them and act with impunity.
“They have really shafted the American people,” he said. “They’ve created a system that has abandoned forgotten Americans, of course, in the most gruesome sense … but in more general terms, they presided over the hollowing out of industry. They presided over income inequality. They presided over increased corruption in our government.”
Khanna’s main goal, he said, is to reintroduce “grassroots politics” that represents the greater populace. He sees the 427-1 vote in the House and the unanimous vote in the Senate as a testament not only to the courage of the survivors, but also to the righteous anger of the American people.
“It’s not just that the Epstein class needs to go, it’s that we need to make sure that we’re returning to a nation of basic values,” Khanna said. “This is unthinkable, how some of these elites were living with this kind of impunity.”
While the bill makes it clear that the Justice Department must release all files regarding Epstein, there is still a necessary carveout for classified documents or documents that are part of an ongoing investigation. Many are obviously and understandably concerned that Trump and his loyalists will simply find another way to withhold or censor any documents that incriminate the sitting president.
Khanna said he “totally share(s) that concern.”
“The survivors’ lawyers have seen some of these documents, and the survivors’ lawyers know what’s in them, as do former Justice Department officials. There’s also the documents we’re getting from the Epstein estates,” Khanna said. “So if there’s an effort to scrub it, we will know that those documents were tampered with, because we have people who’ve seen them.”
But here’s where Khanna and Massie’s bill comes in: If Justice Department officials scrub the files, they \would be breaking federal law.
“You’re subjecting yourself to criminal liability, and any future president can prosecute you,” he said.
Khanna called the success of the discharge petition a “Wizard of Oz” moment, where Congress was finally able to pull back the curtain on the Great and Powerful Trump and reveal him for what he is: A sad little operator whose name and fingerprints are all over Epstein’s damning documents.
“I believe I awoke in Congress (the will) to reassert our role as a co-equal branch of government,” Khanna said. “For too long, the Congress has been acting as supplicants to Donald Trump.”
This is what the American people have been pleading for the Democratic Party to do for the last year. And Khanna was the one who finally pulled it off.
This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM.
