{"id":2996,"date":"2025-07-22T17:13:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T22:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T17:13:46","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T22:13:46","slug":"us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/","title":{"rendered":"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"769\" src=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana speaks to reporters about the Republican budget reconciliation package at a weekly press conference on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom)\" \/><\/p>\n<p>House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana speaks to reporters about the Republican budget reconciliation package at a weekly press conference on June 24 at the U.S. Capitol (Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">WASHINGTON \u2014 House Republicans are headed home early for their August break after an uproar over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files all but halted any possibility of floor action.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he\u2019s sending his members back to their districts until September to avoid \u201cpolitical games\u201d relating to a bipartisan effort pressuring the release of government investigative documents on Epstein. The financier was a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/07\/01\/us\/jeffrey-epstein-grand-jury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Florida sex offender<\/a> who died by suicide in 2019 in his New York City jail cell, according to authorities, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Epstein enjoyed a wide circle of wealthy, powerful friends, including President Donald Trump. The Wall Street Journal\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/politics\/trump-jeffrey-epstein-birthday-letter-we-have-certain-things-in-common-f918d796?mod=Searchresults_pos1&amp;page=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a> Friday that it reviewed a 2003 birthday greeting from Trump to Epstein featuring a cryptic message and hand-drawn naked woman, leading Trump to promptly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c23g5xpggzmo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sue<\/a> the publication.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe\u2019re for maximum transparency. We\u2019re engaging in that right now. We don\u2019t need political games,\u201d Johnson said at a weekly press conference where the Louisiana Republican was asked about an effort by his own members to compel the release of case material.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has joined California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna in spearheading an effort to force a vote on releasing what are commonly referred to as the Epstein files. The procedural move, called a discharge petition, could be ready for the floor in September if Massie and Khanna can gather signatures from a majority of members.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI don\u2019t understand Thomas Massie\u2019s motivation. I really don\u2019t. I don\u2019t know how his mind works,\u201d Johnson continued.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He said the White House needs \u201cspace\u201d to produce documents and is \u201cin the process\u201d of releasing materials related to the Epstein case.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThere\u2019s no purpose for Congress to push the administration to do something it\u2019s already doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On a separate track, the GOP-led House Rules Committee, the last stop for legislation before it reaches the floor, recessed Monday evening before Democrats on the panel could force their Republican counterparts to vote on amendments related to release of the Epstein information.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The bills stuck in that committee, largely to do with immigration, permitting and public lands, will no longer go to the floor this week.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Last floor votes are scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. House members will not return until Sept. 2.<\/p>\n<h4>Interview sought with Ghislaine Maxwell<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheJusticeDept\/status\/1947670804122001581\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> on social media Tuesday that federal prosecutors are seeking an interview with Epstein\u2019s one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdny\/pr\/ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-20-years-prison-conspiring-jeffrey-epstein-sexually-abuse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conspiring<\/a> with the financier to sexually abuse girls.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that the department\u2019s attempt to interview Maxwell \u201csounds appropriate,\u201d adding that he was uninformed about the matter and downplaying the relevance of the Epstein case.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI don\u2019t know about it, but I think it\u2019s something that \u2026 sounds appropriate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Blanche was Trump\u2019s personal criminal defense attorney. Asked if Blanche\u2019s involvement in the interview raised any concerns, Trump said no. Democrats have used Trump\u2019s social relationship with Epstein to imply he may have been aware of Epstein\u2019s illegal activities.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump urged reporters to drop the Epstein case and instead focus on a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/07\/19\/politics\/gabbard-threatens-obama-officials-2016-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent declaration<\/a> from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that former President Barack Obama improperly ordered an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election that Trump eventually won. Democrats\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/democrats-intelligence.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1397\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">denounced<\/a> the report.<\/p>\n<h4>Trump tries to dismiss Epstein uproar<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Trump has spent the last couple weeks dismissing loud concerns from Republicans and his voter base since a July 7 Justice Department\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/media\/1407001\/dl?inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">memo<\/a> denied the existence of an Epstein \u201cclient list\u201d and concluded the department would not publish any of the files.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">After receiving intense criticism, Trump ordered the department on July 17 to release grand jury testimony in the case.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The president called his supporters \u201cweaklings\u201d for expressing concern about the Epstein \u201choax,\u201d in a July 16 post on his online platform Truth Social. Trump also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/watch-asked-if-his-name-appears-in-epstein-files-trump-claims-comey-obama-and-biden-made-them-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> reporters last week that the so-called Epstein files were \u201cmade up\u201d by former presidents Obama and Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The president\u2019s supporters, including members of his current administration, have fixated for years on unreleased details surrounding the financier\u2019s involvement in sex trafficking, including possible names of clients and the circumstances around Epstein\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">According to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdny\/press-release\/file\/1180481\/dl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">federal charging documents<\/a>, Epstein sexually abused dozens of teenage girls at his residences in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. The Justice Department has concluded that Epstein likely had more than 1,000\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/victims.to\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">victims<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana speaks to reporters about the Republican budget reconciliation package at a weekly press conference on June 24 at the U.S. Capitol (Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom). WASHINGTON \u2014 House Republicans are headed home early for their August break after an uproar over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files all but&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana speaks to reporters about the Republican budget reconciliation package at a weekly press conference on June 24 at the U.S. Capitol (Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom). WASHINGTON \u2014 House Republicans are headed home early for their August break after an uproar over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files all but...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-22T22:13:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad Hildebrand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brad Hildebrand\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brad Hildebrand\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0\"},\"headline\":\"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-22T22:13:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":807,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/\",\"name\":\"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files - WestplexNews.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-22T22:13:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":769},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"WestplexNews.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WestplexNews.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png\",\"width\":690,\"height\":242,\"caption\":\"WestplexNews.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0\",\"name\":\"Brad Hildebrand\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brad Hildebrand\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/Westplexnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/author\/bradh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files - WestplexNews.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files - WestplexNews.com","og_description":"House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana speaks to reporters about the Republican budget reconciliation package at a weekly press conference on June 24 at the U.S. Capitol (Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom). WASHINGTON \u2014 House Republicans are headed home early for their August break after an uproar over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files all but...","og_url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/","og_site_name":"WestplexNews.com","article_published_time":"2025-07-22T22:13:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Brad Hildebrand","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brad Hildebrand","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Brad Hildebrand","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0"},"headline":"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files","datePublished":"2025-07-22T22:13:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/"},"wordCount":807,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/","name":"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files - WestplexNews.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-22T22:13:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mikejohnson_0-1024x769-yRdiSZ.jpg","width":1024,"height":769},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/22\/us-house-gop-leaving-for-august-break-early-to-avoid-pressure-to-release-epstein-files-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US House GOP leaving for August break early to avoid pressure to release Epstein files"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/","name":"WestplexNews.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization","name":"WestplexNews.com","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png","width":690,"height":242,"caption":"WestplexNews.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0","name":"Brad Hildebrand","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brad Hildebrand"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/Westplexnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/author\/bradh\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}