The United States House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported a bill of 427 votes to compel the US Department of Justice to release files related to the case of convicted and deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It follows from the live broadcast of the vote. The proposal must now be considered by the Senate, where its fate is unclear according to American media. But US President Donald Trump has already promised to sign this legislation if Congress approves it.
The only congressman who voted against was Republican Clay Higgins. He wrote on the X network that he could not support the proposal in this form, because this law, if approved, would harm innocent people. If the Senate amends the bill to protect the privacy of victims as well as Americans whose names appear in the files but are not prosecuted, then Higgins promised support in the next vote.
Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune said, according to Reuters, that this chamber of Congress will try to pass the bill as quickly as possible and then send it to Trump for his signature. This could happen today local time (at night on Wednesday).
Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee released several emails last week in which Epstein mentioned current President Trump. The correspondence, according to Democrats, appears to indicate, among other things, that Trump spent hours at Epstein’s home with one of the victims of sexual abuse. The committee eventually released over 20,000 pages of documents obtained from Epstein’s estate, now the House-passed bill covers files available to the Justice Department related to the Epstein investigation.
Trump maintains he had nothing to do with Epstein’s sex crimes, and although they were photographed together decades ago, the president said they fell out before Epstein’s conviction. He calls the public effort to release investigative documents a manipulation by Democrats who, he says, divert attention from the real problems of the country, which his government is successfully solving. He supported the release only when a number of Republicans made it clear that they would vote to declassify the files regardless of Trump’s wishes.
Cases involving Epstein attract considerable media attention not only in the US, as the financier also maintained close ties with former US President Bill Clinton and British Prince Andrew.
Epstein committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of abusing underage girls. Back in 2008, Epstein was sentenced to 18 months for sexual abuse as part of a controversial secret plea deal.
