House passes Epstein files bill in near-unanimous vote
Benjamin Weiss
WASHINGTON (CN) — The House on Tuesday afternoon nearly unanimously passed legislation aimed at shining a spotlight on the federal government’s investigation into the late financier and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
But the push to publish the so-called Epstein files must now face another hurdle in the closely divided Senate, where skeptical Republican leaders hope the measure will be amended.
Both Democrats and Republicans have long urged Congress to pass legislation directing the Trump administration to publish a trove of documents on Epstein, the New York financier who died by suicide in 2019 while facing federal charges for sex trafficking minors. Lawmakers have said the government should provide transparency about Epstein’s connections to powerful figures, including President Donald Trump.
And despite months of pushback from the president and Republican leaders, the House voted 427-1 on Epstein files legislation championed by Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie and California Representative Ro Khanna.
Louisiana Representative Clay Higgins was the sole “no” vote on the measure. In a post on X, he argued the legislation “abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America.”
“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,” wrote the congressman.
The measure was brought to the House floor last week after Arizona Representative Adelita Grijalva became the 218th signature on a procedural mechanism known as a discharge petition, aimed at forcing a vote on the Epstein legislation. Grijalva’s swearing-in had been delayed for more than a month — a move which some, including Massie, have suggested was related to the discharge petition.
“I am embarrassed for my own party today,” the Kentucky Republican said on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. “I am embarrassed that we withheld swearing in a duly elected representative of the people for 49 days, just to avoid this vote that is finally going to happen today.”
Though just a handful of GOP lawmakers joined House Democrats in signing the Epstein discharge petition, Republicans almost universally supported the underlying legislation. House Speaker Mike Johnson explained Tuesday morning that he and many of his colleagues were unhappy with the measure but that they wanted to remain “intellectually consistent” in their desire for transparency while shielding Epstein’s victims.
Trump himself has been vehemently opposed to efforts to force publication of the government’s Epstein files. He has long referred to the effort as a “hoax” pushed by Democrats and accused the discharge petition’s Republican supporters of being duped into supporting the effort.
The president in recent days has specifically targeted Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a one-time Trump ally who he has now branded a “traitor.”
The Georgia Republican addressed Trump’s comments during a news conference Tuesday morning. “I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for five, six years for,” she said. “I gave him my loyalty for free … and he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition.”
Speaking later on the House floor, Greene said she and other Republicans who backed releasing the Epstein files fought months of intimidation for their decision.
“This is what the American people are sick of,” she added.
While House Republicans largely got on board with the Epstein measure, several complained the exercise was little more than a political cudgel wielded by Democrats against Trump.
“We support holding people accountable, and we’re all going to vote for this resolution, but a little perspective is important,” said Ohio Representative Jim Jordan. “Democrats spent six months talking about Epstein, even though they had four years to do something about it.”
As a candidate in 2024, Trump said that, if elected, he would publish the government’s Epstein files. And though Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had those documents on her desk, the Justice Department over the summer said it would not publish any more information related to the late financier.
Kentucky Representative James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, pointed out that his panel had published tens of thousands of documents, including some provided by Epstein’s estate. Comer accused Democrats of undertaking an “anti-Trump hoax” by mischaracterizing witness testimony and selectively releasing documents.
“They chant ‘release the files’ until the files contradict the story they want to tell,” said Comer. “That’s the definition of hypocrisy.”
Though the proposed Epstein legislation has passed the House, it must now clear the Senate, where the partisan divide is even tighter. Johnson, on Tuesday morning, expressed hope that the upper chamber would amend the resolution to protect the information of Epstein’s victims.
But Senate Majority Leader John Thune poured cold water on that idea Tuesday, telling reporters he did not think amendments were likely in the upper chamber. “When a bill passes the House 427-1 and the president said he’ll sign it into law, I’m not sure there’s going to be a need for or a desire for an amendment process over here,” he said.
Senators on both sides of the aisle called on leadership to bring the measure up for a vote right away, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, who joined several Democrats in urging Thune to “quickly” bring the legislation to the floor.