The House today overwhelmingly passed a Bill to compel the Justice Department to release files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, ending a months-long impasse and sending the legislation to the Senate, where Republican leaders suggested they could move quickly on it.
The 427-1 House vote was the remarkable culmination of a bipartisan crusade by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Ro Khanna (D-California) that until Monday had met fierce resistance from United States President Donald Trump, who repeatedly insisted that the focus on the Epstein files was a “hoax” promoted by Democrats.
“Because survivors spoke up, because of their courage, the truth is finally going to come out,” Khanna said at a news conference where he and other lawmakers were joined by about a dozen Epstein accusers.
Before the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) announced he would support the Bill - though he continued to argue that there are problems with the legislation that need to be addressed in the Senate before it becomes law.
Johnson said he has spoken to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) about amending the Bill - which Johnson called a “political stunt” by Democrats - to include additional protections for victims mentioned in the files who want to remain anonymous.
“There are serious deficiencies in the legislation that I have noted at length. And Republicans have to work to address those deficiencies in the Senate if and when this legislation is advanced,” Johnson said during a floor speech.
Thune, however, told reporters that the Senate could pass the legislation as soon as today, depending on whether any senators have objections to it. He suggested the Senate was unlikely to amend it.
“When a Bill comes out of the House 427 to 1 and the President said he’s going to sign it, I’m not sure that amending it is in the cards,” Thune said.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York) said he would seek to pass the Bill today by unanimous consent, a procedural move that would allow the Senate to pass it quickly but which any single senator could block.
“We have an opportunity to get this Bill done today and have it on the President’s desk to be signed into law tonight,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “We should seize that opportunity.”
Schumer and all 46 senators in his caucus also sent a letter to Thune urging him “to quickly hold a vote” on the Bill.
House Republicans across the ideological spectrum joined Democrats in voting for the Bill.
The lone no vote came from Representative Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana), who argued in a social media post that the Bill as written “reveals and injures thousands of innocent people - witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc”.
As it became increasingly clear he could lose the House vote, Trump reversed course on Monday NZT urging Republicans in a social media post to support the Bill, which would compel officials at the Justice Department to release all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials relating to the investigation and prosecution of Epstein in its possession. Trump said that he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
The Justice Department has not said how it would respond to congressional requests to release the Epstein files, but Attorney-General Pam Bondi and her deputies have previously said that they cannot release materials related to ongoing investigations.
Trump called on the Justice Department last weekend to examine the relationships between Epstein and several prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, and Bondi quickly tapped federal prosecutors in Manhattan to take on the job.
“The real test will be will the Department of Justice release the files, or will it all remain tied up in investigations?” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) said at today’s news conference with Epstein accusers.
The House vote is the result of a discharge petition - a mechanism by which House lawmakers can circumvent the normal legislative process to compel votes.
The petition received the 218th signature needed to force a vote on the Epstein files last week after newly sworn-in Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-Arizona) joined the effort, which included all 214 Democrats in the chamber and four Republicans: Lauren Boebert (Colorado), Nancy Mace (South Carolina), Massie and Greene.
Massie and Khanna introduced the petition in July. Their press for greater transparency surrounding the Epstein case included two news conferences with Epstein’s victims, one in early September and the second one today.
As they did in September, several of the Epstein accusers who spoke today implored the full release of the Justice Department files and insisted that it should be a nonpolitical issue.
This time, however, many of their remarks about Trump and his handling of the matter were much more pointed.
Haley Robson, an accuser who said she was a Republican, accused Trump of stonewalling the release of the files.
Trump and White House lieutenants for months tried to convince congressional Republicans to back away from the Epstein inquiry.
In a bid to thwart a floor vote, Trump personally whipped votes against the discharge petition in both private and public, according to two people familiar with the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail private conversations.
Trump has the authority to direct the Justice Department to release the documents in its possession, as he previously has with documents related to the government investigations into the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King jnr.
Trump has not explained why he has not taken that step, and the White House did not respond to questions about why the release is contingent on a vote from Congress.
“If the President is serious about what he’s saying, he’s got the power to release the Epstein file right now,” Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) said on the House floor before the vote.
“Nobody’s stopping him. It’s within his possession. It’s within his control. He can release the whole thing, and he can redact the names of the victims and others, who are innocent.”
Notably, the Bill today drew support from members of the House Freedom Caucus - staunch conservatives largely representing Trump-won districts - as well as moderates in competitive seats, many of them eager to move past the matter. Others championed the openness.
“When it comes to the Epstein crimes, the best answer is transparency,” Representative Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) said. “Putting a spotlight on all the evidence is best in long run.”
The House vote is one of two efforts under way to force more disclosure of the Epstein files.
House Oversight chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) subpoenaed the Justice Department after one of the panel’s subcommittees voted to compel the department to release the files.
Comer has since broadened his probe into Epstein’s investigation by subpoenaing Epstein’s estate in August. The estate’s lawyers released the “birthday book”, which featured dedications from Epstein’s high-profile associates collected and given to him by his ex-partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for sex-trafficking.
The House released another tranche of files last week from Epstein’s estate that included additional emails mentioning Trump.
The President has said that he knew Epstein socially in Palm Beach and that they had a falling-out in the mid-2000s. Trump’s name appears repeatedly in previously released documents from Epstein’s estate, but Trump has maintained that he had “no idea” about Epstein’s criminal behaviour, and the documents have produced no evidence of wrongdoing by Trump.
- Natalie Allison, Maegan Vazquez and Perry Stein contributed to this report
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