The only House Republican to vote against the release of the Epstein files has disclosed his reasons for opposing the release.
The bill, which will force the release of the files, passed 427-1 after months of delay by Congress.
Republicans broke with their leader, Donald Trump’s, long-held stance that the files should not be released, in a potentially decisive blow to the formerly rock-solid MAGA base.
Clay Higgins was the only representative to stick with his party’s previous position and said that he feels that releasing the files amounts to an abandonment of “250 years of criminal justice procedure.”
"I have been a principled 'NO' on this bill from the beginning,” he wrote on X. “What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. 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.
"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 did confirm that he would vote for an amended House bill if that included the censoring of the names of victims and other Americans ”who are named but not criminally implicated.”
However, underneath his post, an amendment, rated as “helpful” by X users, disputes Higgins’ claim.
“Rep. Higgins’ claim misrepresents H.R.4405,” the fact-checking memo reads. “The bill includes redactions for victims & uninvolved individuals.
“Massie explained victims can’t release names due to lawsuits forcing them into homelessness, and the petition was not yet eligible three months ago.”
The U.S. Senate fast-tracked a vote on the Epstein files shortly after the House ruling and approved their release.
That means that it falls upon Trump to sign the release of the files into law, something he has promised to do should Congress vote accordingly.
The president has previously branded the Epstein case as a “hoax,” and insisted that he broke off his friendship with the convicted pedophile because he was a “sick pervert.”
In recent days, under pressure from both sides, Trump has made a sudden about-turn on his view that the files should not be released and even called on Republicans to vote in favor of the House bill, despite the president being able to sign an order forcing their release anyway.
He has since been branded as weak by Democrats, who suggested his policy reversal was a political choice to salvage some authority, despite his party breaking with his long-held stance.
“Now he is panicking and has realized he is about to lose this Epstein vote to force the Department of Justice to release the files,” Robert Garcia, a Democrat, said in a statement seen by The Guardian. “Let’s be crystal clear: Trump has the power to release all the files today.
“But instead, he wants to continue this cover-up and launch bogus new investigations to deflect and slow down our investigation. It won’t work. We will get justice for the survivors.”
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