By Jackson Richman
Contributing Writer
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives, in a near-unanimous vote, passed a bill on Tuesday that would require the Department of Justice to release more files surrounding the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The final tally was 427-1. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., was the sole lawmaker who voted against the measure. The bill heads to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and co-sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., would order the Department of Justice to release “in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” tied to Epstein no later than 30 days following the enactment of the bill.
The legislation would prohibit the Justice Department from withholding, delaying, or redacting records for reputational and political reasons.
However, the department would be allowed to withhold records that identify the victims; consist of child sexual abuse material; would jeopardize an ongoing federal investigation or prosecution, or depict images of death, physical abuse, or injury of any person.
Under the bill, all redactions would have to be accompanied by a written explanation published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress.
Additionally, the measure would require the attorney general, within 15 days of releasing the files, to submit a report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees listing all categories of records released and withheld; a summary of redactions made, including the legal basis; and a list of all government officials and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the released materials, without redactions.
Higgins said in a statement that the bill would hurt innocent people.
“It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America. As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people — witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc.,” he posted on X.
“If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt,” he continued.
President Donald Trump, whose name appears in the files and has not been accused of wrongdoing, told Republicans to support the bill.
“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat hoax perpetrated by radical left lunatics in order to deflect from the great success of the Republican Party, including our recent victory on the Democrat ‘shutdown,’” he said in a post on Truth Social.
The president has said he would sign the bill if it comes to his desk.
“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do. All of his friends were Democrats,” he said in the Oval Office on Monday.
“All I want is I want for people to recognize a great job that I’ve done on pricing, on affordability, because we brought prices way down, but they go way lower,” he continued. “On energy, on ending eight wars and another one coming pretty soon, I believe. We’ve done a great job, and I hate to see that deflect from the great job we’ve done. So I’m all for it.”
Ahead of the vote, some Republicans, such as Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., said they would vote for the bill.
At a press conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he supported the bill, but warned that it would inadequately protect the victims and other innocent parties.
“I’m going to vote to move this forward. I think it could be close to a unanimous vote, because everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on record to show your maximum transparency,” he said. “But they also want to know that we’re demanding that this stuff get corrected.”
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said that the bill is needed.
“At the end of the day, this is not about us and it’s not about politics,” he said. “This is about the survivors. Young girls who were exploited by powerful men. Men who used money and power to take advantage of girls, some as young as 11 years old.”
In comments to reporters, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said that files have already been released, though he did not say how he would vote on the bill.
“We’ve got thousands of documents out to the public through the Oversight Committee’s work, and really going after the Epstein estate,” he said. “We released a treasure trove of documents that even this discharge [petition] didn’t affect.
“So the subpoena that Chairman Comer got on the estate was invaluable, taking a lot of information out and available to the public, and we’re going to continue to push for transparency while protecting the innocent victims.” His reference was to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.
A discharge petition forced a vote on the bill, with most signatures coming from Democrats.
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, criticized the bill.
“Releasing the Epstein files, for Democrats, has nothing to do with working justice for the victims,” he told reporters. “It’s about damaging Donald Trump as much as they do. That’s all this is.”
Khanna told reporters after the vote that the bill should go to Trump’s desk.
“I really hope that the president will take this moment and invite the survivors at the bill signing, because he is the president of the United States. Him having the survivors there really will be a statement to the nation and the world that what happened was horrific and can never happen again.”
Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.
