Indian-origin congressman Ro Khanna has become as one of the leading reasons of President Donald Trump’s biggest setback of the year, after the House voted 427 to 1 to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The overwhelming vote stunned both MAGA and progressives. The episode has been described by former Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene as an event that “ripped MAGA apart.” And at the centre of the push was Khanna, a Democrat from Silicon Valley who spent months stitching together an unusual coalition across the aisle.Khanna’s role became visible only after the vote succeeded. His Republican co-sponsor Thomas Massie described their odds at the beginning as “about 4 per cent.” Yet the victory has placed Khanna directly in the national spotlight as the Democrat who delivered Trump a defeat on an issue the president once claimed to champion.
Bipartisan behaviour
Khanna has long argued that politics only works when people speak across divides, and he has spent years appearing on conservative platforms to make that case. That habit often earned him friendlier treatment on the right than among some Democrats, but in the battle to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, it became his biggest advantage.On the morning of the House vote, Khanna noticed that Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie were trending online while he was not. He said he was comfortable with that, explaining that keeping Democrats in the background was part of the strategy to win Republican support. He described the experience saying, “It feels like you can make a difference in Congress.”The coalition Khanna built ultimately moved faster than Donald Trump himself. The president only endorsed the effort at the last minute, writing that Republicans should release the files “because we have nothing to hide.” By that point, the vote was already inevitable.
Meetings with survivors
Khanna said he initially picked up the Epstein files issue because it aligned with his attacks on elite networks that, in his view, manipulate systems to protect themselves. But his outlook shifted after he began meeting Epstein survivors in his office.He described hearing “emotionally horrific” accounts from women who carried guilt for introducing friends to Epstein or who had blocked out memories of their own abuse. He said those conversations reshaped his understanding of the issue and made him regret not acting sooner.“Had I met the survivors in 2019 or 2020, I would have been more vocal in the Biden administration,” he said. “I think it is a fair point that all of us should have been more vocal earlier.”Survivors appreciated Khanna’s work. Haley Robson, who helped organise others, said, “If it wasn’t for Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ro Khanna, I don’t think any of this would have been possible.” She described him as someone who “stands for justice.”
2028 presidential bid?
Khanna has never hidden his interest in a larger national role and has openly entertained the idea of a 2028 presidential bid. He said the Epstein vote proved he could deliver results on issues that cut across partisan lines.“The knock on me from some is: ‘Okay, Ro, you can write books on this, you can write op-eds on this, but can you really, brass tacks, get things done?’” he said. He said that getting “MAGA on board” was proof.Khanna’s political network spans former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, Bill Kristol and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Khanna believes media attention was essential. “If there was no media attention to this, this thing would never have gotten a vote,” he said.Associates of Barack Obama say the former president continues to monitor Khanna’s career, seeing him as a rising Democrat with national potential.Khanna has not spoken to Trump since January 2021 and does not know whether he will be invited to the bill signing. He said he believes Trump cannot “wiggle out” of releasing the files, as too many lawyers and officials know what is in them. The documents are believed to contain a compilation of dark secrets about the “island” — including allegations of underage children, sex trafficking, forced prostitution and more. Even Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s long-time associate, is expected to watch the situation closely from prison.
