1 of 6 | Epstein survivor Haley Robson spoke during a press conference with other survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. The House voted Tuesday to approve legislation that would force the U.S. Department of Justice to release all files related to the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to release the files from the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The House voted 427-1 to pass the measure. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., was the only member to vote against it. Five members didn’t vote.
The next step will happen in the Senate, where senators will decide whether to advance the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The bill, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, would force U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” related to Epstein and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. They would have to be in a searchable and downloadable format “not later than 30 days” after the law is enacted.
The Department of Justice can redact names of victims or information that would hinder active federal investigations.
Higgins said he voted no because he didn’t believe the bill adequately protects victims.
“If the Senate amends the bill to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated, then I will vote for that bill when it comes back to the House,” he said, according to The Guardian.
The bill does say that Department of Justice can redact names of victims or information that would hinder active federal investigations.
The vote came two days after Trump reversed course on the bill and called for Republicans to support the measure to make the documents public. Trump said he’s eager to move past discussion of the files, which critics of the president believe may contain incriminating information about him. Trump has called it a “hoax.”
“We’ll give them everything,” Trump told reporters Monday. “Sure. I would let them, let the Senate look at it. Let everybody look at it.
“But don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us.”
After the vote, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., told Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., that the Senate should vote on the bill “immediately,” The Guardian reported.
“Donald Trump is panicking and trying to stop our investigation. We need to know what he’s hiding, and what powerful men are responsible for the rape and abuse of children and women,” Garcia said.
“And let’s be clear — Donald Trump has the power to release the files today. But he chooses to delay and deflect. No more lies. No more secrets. We will get justice for the survivors. Release the files now.”
The House’s newest member, Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., said during debate before the vote that she was voting for survivors.
“I rise today to acknowledge the survivors, family members and advocates who are here today and have never given up the legislation in front of us, at its core is about something very simple: The survivors deserve justice. The American people deserve the truth,” she said.
“Protecting women and children from pedophiles should not be a Democratic issue. Should not be a Republican issue. It should be a human rights issue and a matter of justice. I urge my colleagues to vote yes.”
Representatives Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., held a press conference with some survivors before the vote.
“You had Jeffrey Epstein, who literally set up an island of rape — a rape island — and you had rich and powerful men, some of the richest people in the world, who thought that they could hang out with bankers, buy off politicians and abuse and rape America’s girls with no consequence,” Khanna said.
“Because survivors spoke up, because of their courage, the truth is finally going to come out,” he added. “And when it comes out, this country is really going to have a moral reckoning.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson tried to avoid a vote for months. Democrats accused him of delaying the swearing in of Grijalva knowing she would her signature on a discharge document would force a vote on releasing the files.
Johnson said Trump “has never had anything to hide.”
“He and I had the same concern, that we wanted to ensure that victims of these heinous crimes were completely protected from disclosure. Those who don’t want their names to be out there, and I am not sure the discharge petition does that and that’s part of the problem,” Johnson said.
Discussion about the Epstein files ramped up over the past several days after Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released a trove of emails from the estate between the late Epstein and others, including co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
While at least one of the references is somewhat cryptic in its reference to Trump, others more openly appear to discuss what the president knew about Epstein’s scheme to bring women and underage girls to his private island for his friends to sexually abuse.
“The more Donald Trump tries to cover up the Epstein files, the more we uncover,” Garcia said in a statement accompanying the released emails.
“These latest emails and correspondence raise glaring questions about what else the White House is hiding and the nature of the relationship between Epstein and the president.
