US lawmakers on Tuesday voted to make government records related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein public, following President Donald Trump’s reversal of his months-long resistance to opening the case file tied to one of the nation’s most infamous scandals.
The vote, which passed with near-unanimous support, came after Donald Trump, once a close associate of Jeffrey Epstein, dropped his opposition and backed the legislation, clearing the way for the measure to proceed to the Senate.
The House of Representatives has passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in a near-unanimous vote, requiring the release of unclassified documents related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s operations and his jailhouse death, which was ruled a suicide. Lawmakers argued that the public deserves clarity in a case involving more than 1,000 alleged victims.
US President Donald Trump has claimed the files will reveal connections between powerful Democrats and Epstein, even as he faces renewed scrutiny over his own years-long association with the disgraced financier, who was accused of providing underage girls to wealthy and influential men.
The legislation now heads to the Senate, where blocking it after such overwhelming House support would be politically difficult. Trump has said he will not veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
However, expectations of major new disclosures may be tempered by the Justice Department’s authority to withhold information if its release “would jeopardize an active federal investigation.” Trump recently ordered officials to examine Epstein’s ties to high-profile Democrats, a move that drew widespread criticism.
The debate has revealed unusual fractures within Trump’s own party. Although he campaigned on releasing the Epstein records, he shifted positions once in office, accusing Democrats of advancing a “hoax.” Repeated efforts by Republican leaders to prevent a vote failed after all Democrats and four Republicans signed a “discharge petition,” forcing the bill onto the House floor.
Late Sunday, Trump reversed course, urging Republicans to support the measure because “we have nothing to hide.”
“I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump told reporters Tuesday during an Oval Office event with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.”
Despite that assertion, Trump’s long-documented history with Epstein has been widely noted. The president’s reversal was prompted by internal pressure, and survivors of Epstein’s abuse questioned his intentions.
“I can't help to be skeptical of what the agenda is,” said Haley Robson, who was recruited to massage Epstein when she was 16. “I am traumatized — I am not stupid.”
At the time of his death, Epstein had been preparing for trial on federal sex trafficking charges, following a 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution.
For years, Trump’s supporters have promoted claims of a government cover-up, yet in July the Justice Department said it had completed an “exhaustive review” of the case files and found “no basis to revisit the disclosure” of any Epstein materials.
Last week, the White House intensified efforts to halt the House vote, with Trump and his allies personally lobbying two Republican backers of the discharge petition. The move sparked backlash among his base. The break widened further when Trump withdrew his endorsement of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said the dispute “has all come down to the Epstein files.”
“The real test will be, will the Department of Justice release the files? Or will it all remain tied up in investigations?” Greene said at a press conference.
*With Agency Inputs
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