UPDATE 2 - US House overwhelmingly passes bill ordering Justice Department to release Epstein files

ADDS SEPARATE REMARKS BY REP. CLAY HIGGINS, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) – In a long-awaited vote, the US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation to compel the Justice Department to release its files on the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.

The lower chamber of Congress voted 427-1 on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It will now be sent to the Senate.

Republican Rep. Clay Higgins cast the lone "No" vote.

"I have been a principled “NO” on this bill from the beginning. What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America," Higgins said through US social media company X.

"As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people — witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. 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. Not by my vote," he added.

The vote was triggered by a discharge petition to compel a vote in the House on the Epstein files' release. The petition reached the required 218 signatures after newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva signed it last week.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday vowed swift Senate action on the House bill.

"Once the House passes the bill to release the Epstein files today, I will move for the Senate to immediately take it up and pass it — period," Schumer said in a statement.

- Senate could move bill Tuesday

Following the House vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects the upper chamber would pass the bill as soon as Tuesday.

“My assumption is the president sounds like he’s prepared to sign it,” Thune said. "So I’d assume it would move fairly quickly over here."

Earlier Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized Democrats for what he described as a politically motivated push to force congressional action to release the records related to Epstein.

"Democrats are trying to use the Epstein matter as a political weapon to distract from their own party's failures, and in a desperate attempt, they're trying to somehow tie President (Donald) Trump to the scandal. President Trump has nothing to do with it. He has said himself he has nothing to hide," Johnson said.

Democrats have repeatedly countered that the issue should be nonpartisan and that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should stand firm again sexual predators. They point to how before his second term, Trump-aligned Republicans, and sometimes even Trump himself, said the files should and would be released.

Before the vote, a group of Epstein accusers gathered Tuesday on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to advance legislation compelling the Trump administration to make all government records tied to Epstein public.

Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. He had previously pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2008 of procuring a minor for prostitution.

His survivors have demanded accountability and legal support to face their abusers and achieve justice.