The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday the release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, implicated in a case of alleged sexual abuse of minors, after President Donald Trump reversed his stance and urged Republicans to support the release.
The House vote on a bill ordering the Justice Department to release the documents related to Epstein passed with 427 votes in favor and one against, with Republican Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana casting the sole dissenting vote. The bill now requires approval from the full Senate.
On the eve of the announcement, the White House occupant stated that he was prepared to sign any bill that came his way declassifying Epstein’s files, thus confirming his previously announced change of position when he asked Republicans to support the measure, assuring them that his party had “nothing to hide.”
This announcement contrasted sharply with his resistance to releasing the files throughout his second term, despite making it a key campaign promise. Nevertheless, he maintains that the Democratic Party is focusing on this issue as a strategy to ignore his administration’s “successes.”
Last week, a House committee released several emails from Epstein in which he claimed that the current US president “spent hours” with one of the victims of the child trafficking ring and that he “knew about the girls,” once again highlighting their relationship.
In September, Congress released a batch of files related to Epstein, comprising more than 33,000 pages, which had been handed over by the Justice Department in an attempt at transparency by the Trump administration. However, the measure backfired because most of the documents had already been made public, generating pressure within the Justice Department to release more documents that would be new to the case.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on charges of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of girls in the early 2000s. This millionaire, who at one point even rubbed shoulders with figures such as Prince Andrew of England—brother of Charles III—Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump, was found hanged in his cell.
