It seems redundant to compile a collection of politicians who have gone on to disappoint us after launching a promising career in Congress. Doing so would entail creating a manifest longer than a grocery list needed for a family reunion of vegans and celiac sufferers. Nab your preferred pull-quote about corruption, and there is no shortage of figures populating that concept.
So, at first, it seems unnecessary to come out with a study on how Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-04) has migrated into this realm, but he does serve as an object lesson in this very category of polluted characters. Massie conducted an interview with Politico, and in it exposes how far he has drifted from a once-promising conservative career – and I mean beyond his willingness to sit with Politico for a tongue-bath Q&A.
There was a time when Massie was regarded as a bold conservative voice on the Hill who would take charge of issues in a needed fashion. But some time ago, the representative from Kentucky began to show signs of drifting from that dock. Whatever the impetus for this change, he has, over time, morphed into more of a contrarian, a feature that ramped up during the arrival of President Trump’s second term.
Massie has long been at odds with House Speaker Mike Johnson (LA-04). He frequently casts opposing votes and worked on replacing the speaker at times, alongside congressional pariah Marjorie Taylor Greene, something that alone speaks volumes. Massie has voted against party interests frequently, and his motivations seemingly have trended more often towards self-interest than selfless leadership.
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In this new year, Massie has only floated further out towards the political horizon. But it is more than how he has become an almost reliable opposition to GOP legislation, as seen with him voting “NO” on the recent procedural vote to advance the SAVE America Act bill (though he did ultimately vote in favor of the Act's passage, and it cleared the House). He has been remarkably focused on the Epstein files being released, the Epstein Files Transparency Act being a measure that he crafted with occasional Democratic cohort, Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17). This led to the pair having a Wile E. Coyote result last week, as their rush to release names from the files became a case of accusing innocent individuals of grievous crimes.
Thomas Massie: "We found six men whose names have been redacted who are implicated in the way the files are presented."
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 13, 2026
Four of them were totally random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup with no connection to Epstein's crimes. https://t.co/upSpLpYR96 pic.twitter.com/dLESyzfaLv
So initially they complained the DOJ was withholding the names of individuals for no good cause, then — after the un-dynamic duo of Massie and Khanna exposed four innocent people — they turned around and declared their farce was ALSO the fault of the DOJ. As Khanna impotently pleaded, “I wish DOJ had provided that explanation earlier instead of redacting, then unredacting their names. They have failed to protect survivors and created confusion for innocent men.”
Um, no, Ro — you and Thomas were the confused figures in this fiasco.
That was an amazingly inept display, but Massie was undeterred. Filled with import, he ran to Politico and agreed to a sit-down to further burnish his tarnished reputation.
Thomas Massie has gone toe-to-toe with Donald Trump, Mike Johnson and Pam Bondi — and he says there’s more to come.
— POLITICO (@politico) February 17, 2026
The rebel Republican shares his ominous prediction for the GOP, his strategy to dig even deeper into the Epstein files and more👇 https://t.co/PpOfuFAttB
You can practically taste the glee from Politico with that abbreviated resume in the subheader. The man who seems militant in his libertarian ways (whatever that represents, as no two libertarians manage to explain this in the same fashion) was filled with puffery in his interview, as he was either boasting of his moves or luxuriating in the approving questions from Meredith Lee Hill. This is no surprise, really, as being shameless is practically a larger requirement in Washington than a Brooks Brothers navy ensemble and a financial advisor on speed-dial ahead of a floor vote.
One thing never mentioned during this shoulder-chucking swoon-fest, conveniently, is his role in exposing four innocent people as Epstein criminals. Meh, no need to sully an otherwise glowing interview with that unfortunate episode… taking place just one week ago.
But then, in the course of bolstering his own record, Massie lets slip a detail on a recent piece of legislation that exposes his personal career track. He was asked about his interactions with Speaker Johnson, which are understandably scant, considering his contemptuous history, and he gave an anecdote that occurred behind the scenes.
HILL: When was the last time you talked to Speaker Johnson about the Epstein matter at all?
MASSIE: One day they needed my vote and I offered to give them my vote if he would issue a press release thanking me for my good work on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. That’s all I required to get my vote. And I think he probably went and gave somebody else a bill to pass instead of doing the public statement.
It seems perfectly fitting that he does not mention which vote this interaction concerned, because clearly, for Massie, the contents of that legislation were not important. The main thing for him, it seems, was inflating his reputation, and it would appear that this failed bid for relevancy predated his debacle with the release of those names from the Epstein list. He could use that enriched record today after such a pratfall, and it appears Johnson adroitly avoided becoming muddied by those aftereffects.
Massie, unfortunately, shows how he now embodies the role of the D.C. swamp creature, one driven not by foundational principles but purely by aggrandizement and advancement. These are actions straight out of Hollywood central casting, what we have come to expect when watching a political potboiler on a streaming platform. Thomas Massie seems to have typecast himself, and he becomes nothing more than a Washington cliché in the process.
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