Both the House and Senate acted decisively Tuesday to pass a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.
The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill on Tuesday to force the Justice Department to publicly release all files and evidence held against disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The bill passed with 427 votes in favour, five abstentions and one against.
The vote was a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from US President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.
A small bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to manoeuvre around House Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the House floor. It appeared to be a longshot effort at the time, especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax”.
Both Trump and Johnson however failed in their efforts to prevent the vote. Now the US president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said he will sign it if it also passes the Senate, the upper chambre of US Congress.
Trump had been fiercely against making evidence against Epstein held by the Justice Department public, after it was alleged that the US president may personally be implicated.
The allegations even caused fractures within his own MAGA – Make America Great Again – base, who called for transparency on the matter.
Trump promised in the wake of his 2024 campaign trail to declassify all evidence against Epstein if elected, a promise he had U-turned from upon returning to the Oval Office in late January.
In a bid to defend himself and assure his supporters, Trump denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he is not personally implicated with Epstein. The US president claimed he had cut ties with Epstein years ago. He still however for months tried to move past the demands for disclosure.
On Monday, he told reporters that Epstein was connected to more Democrats and that he didn't want the Epstein files to “detract from the great success of the Republican Party.”
Pressure on Trump and Republican lawmakers continued to pile as survivors of Epstein's abuse rallied outside the Capitol on Tuesday morning. They held placards and photos of themselves as teenagers, recounting their stories of abuse.
“We are exhausted from surviving the trauma and then surviving the political conflicts that surround it,” said Jena-Lisa Jones, one of the survivors.
Republican House lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene joined the protesters outside the US Capitol to display her support. Greene had long advocated for the release of the files and urged Trump on numerous accounts to make good on his promise.
“These women have fought the most horrific fight that no woman should have to fight. And they did it by banding together and never giving up," she said.
“That’s what we did by fighting so hard against the most powerful people in the world, even the president of the United States, in order to make this vote happen today,” added Greene, a Georgia Republican and longtime Trump loyalist.
Jeffrey Epstein was accused of having trafficked women, many of them underage, and forced them to perform sexual acts on his friends, largely comprised of entrepreneurs, lawmakers and wealthy individuals from the US and abroad, in parties on his infamous Little Saint James private island in the US Virgin Islands.
Many of the world’s richest and most influential people were alleged to have participated in Epstein’s parties, including Trump, Elon Musk, the former-Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and others, all of whom have maintained their innocence and denied any wrongdoing.
Allegations started surfacing around Epstein’s crimes in 2005. He first faced criminal charges a year later at a Florida court where he was indicted on a single charge of soliciting prostitution.
Since then, many more victims came forward, accusing Epstein of trafficking them on his island, along with his longtime partner and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein was later arrested in 2019, after more than a decade of accusations against him. He was charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Epstein died in prison in August of the same year by suicide while awaiting trial.
