The House voted Tuesday afternoon on legislation requiring the Justice Department to release its files related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The measure passed following weeks of Democrats trying to weaponize the issue against President Donald Trump.
The vote came after the House Oversight Committee released thousands of pages of emails and other materials connected to Epstein. On Sunday night, President Trump urged House Republicans to support the release.
"House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The House voted 427-1 to release the files on Tuesday afternoon. According to Fox News, the one nay vote came from Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.).
The legislation, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, was long expected to pass with a large bipartisan majority. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that he would vote for the measure and expected the final tally to come close to unanimous. The bill would require the Department of Justice to release the so-called Epstein files within 30 days of Trump signing the legislation into law. Whether the bill will advance in the Senate remains uncertain.
Democrats, who controlled the House for four years without pursuing the release of Epstein files, shifted their position after Trump returned to the White House, calling for the release of the files while implying that they incriminated Trump.
Last week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released select emails they believed would be politically damaging to Trump. The emails were doctored and/or out of context, with various claims easily disproven. House Republicans responded by releasing more than 23,000 documents that reflected more negatively on Democrats than on President Trump.
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The released communications revealed that Epstein harbored strong negative feelings toward Trump. In February 2017, Epstein told former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers he had "met some very bad people," but "none as bad as trump." Kathryn Ruemmler, who served as White House counsel under President Barack Obama, sent Epstein a message calling Trump "so gross." Epstein replied, describing Trump as "worse in real life and upclose."
The emails also showed Epstein discussed blackmailing Trump with anti-Trump author Michael Wolff. They also revealed that Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) exchanged text messages with Epstein during Michael Cohen's congressional testimony in 2019. The messages showed Epstein offering Plaskett advice during the hearing.
Democrats blocked an attempt to release the Epstein files last week and expressed anger when Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released the whole tranche of emails.
"The Department of Justice has already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the Public on 'Epstein,' are looking at various Democrat operatives (Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, Larry Summers, etc.) and their relationship to Epstein, and the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON'T CARE!" Trump said on Truth Social. “He added that he wanted Republicans to get "BACK ON POINT."
Trump's public stance supporting complete transparency places Democrats in an uncomfortable position after they initiated the push for releasing Epstein-related materials.
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