US President Donald Trump salutes, as he observes a procession of horses passing the White House.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Washington: The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday to force the release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, moving ahead on a matter that has fractured relations between President Donald Trump and some of his most ardent supporters. Two days after Trump abruptly dropped his longstanding opposition, the vote is all but certain to succeed after four months in the making, sending a resolution requiring the release of all unclassified records on Epstein to the Senate for consideration.
Lawmakers were due to vote in the afternoon under a procedure requiring a two-thirds supermajority for passage. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he expected an overwhelming majority to vote in favor, including himself.
About two dozen survivors of Epstein's alleged abuse joined a trio of lawmakers from the Democratic and Republican parties outside the US Capitol to urge the release of the records. The women held photographs of their younger selves, the age at which they said they first encountered Epstein, a New York financier who fraternized with some of the most powerful men in the country.
'Not about you, President Trump'
Trump, a Republican, socialized and partied with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s before what he calls a rift, but the old friendship has become a rare weak spot for the president with his supporters. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in October found that four in 10 Republicans approve of Trump's handling of the matter, well below the nine in 10 who approve of his overall performance.
"Please stop making this political, it is not about you, President Trump," Jena-Lisa Jones, who said Epstein sexually abused her when she was 14, told a press conference outside the Capitol. "I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment."
Trump has said he had no connection to Epstein's crimes and has begun calling the issue a "Democratic hoax," despite some Republicans being among the loudest voices calling for the release of the records from criminal investigations of Epstein.
Epstein's death in a federal jail cell in 2019, ruled a suicide, came a few weeks after he was arrested on new sex trafficking charges.
"It's time to pull the Band-Aid off," said Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, who joined Epstein's victims at the Capitol. "It's disrespectful to the survivors if they delay." Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said Trump should invite the survivors to attend the president's eventual signing of the resolution to release the records, should the Senate also pass it.
Speaker Johnson resisted Mass's move
Johnson had for months resisted a drive for disclosure spearheaded by Massie, who collected signatures from 218 House members, both Democrats and Republicans, for a discharge petition to force a vote on the resolution. Trump's opposition soured relations with one of his strongest Republican supporters in Congress, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has expressed anger at the Justice Department not releasing more details on Epstein. She said Trump pressured her to withdraw her support for the resolution and publicly called her a traitor after she doubled down.
She joined Massie and Khanna at the Capitol, telling reporters: "A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me."
Trump said his about-face on Sunday was an effort to get Republicans to move on from a damaging feud about Epstein and "because we have nothing to hide." Trump already has the power to order the release of Justice Department records himself, and does not need a congressional resolution compelling him to do so.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, told reporters Trump "appears to have chickened out."
"It's a complete and total surrender."
Trump's statement was likely to produce strong support from Republicans, who hold a 219-214 House majority.
It was unclear what the Republican-led Senate would do after the House vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has declined to comment.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters that he and Trump were concerned about protecting Epstein's alleged victims from unwanted public exposure. He planned to vote in favor on Tuesday, he told reporters, but also said he wanted the Senate to amend language in the resolution to ensure the Justice Department does not violate victims' privacy or disclose informants' identities.
If the Senate passed an amended version of the resolution, the House would have to vote again to approve.
Supporters of the resolution note that it already allows the Justice Department to withhold alleged victims' identities and other sensitive information.
"It could be just another delay tactic," Massie said. "Justice delayed is justice denied."
Worries about fullness of disclosure
Even if successful, lawmakers voiced doubts about how full the disclosure of Epstein records would be. Last week, Trump instructed the Justice Department, which has traditionally avoided acting at the whims of a president, to investigate Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats and other political opponents.
The House resolution allows the Justice Department to withhold material that would "jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution."
Massie said he worried the Justice Department might cite that exemption to slow down the release of documents.
Epstein pleaded guilty to a Florida state felony prostitution charge in 2008 and served 13 months in jail. The US Justice Department charged him with sex trafficking of minors in 2019. Epstein pleaded not guilty to those charges before his death.