The United States House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday by an overwhelming majority ordering the Department of Justice to release documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In total, the"yes" vote received 427 votes (211 Democrats and 216 Republicans), compared to only one vote against, that of Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana. In addition, five legislators did not participate in the vote on the so-called Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The vote in the lower house of the US Congress came after a petition to force the process gained the necessary support, thanks to the backing of some Republicans, and after President Donald Trump, a former friend of Epstein, was forced to lift his objection to the disclosure.
Several survivors of Epstein's abuse were present during the vote and applauded the legislators at the close of the proceedings. The measure must now be considered and voted on by the Senate and, finally, receive the president's signature.
“Republicans should vote to release the Epstein filesbecause we have nothing to hideand it’s time to move past this Democratic hoax perpetrated by radical left-wing lunatics to distract from the Republican Party’s great success,” he said Sunday on the social network TruthSocial.
The president, who during his campaign had promised to release all the files in the case—more than 300 gigabytes of documents, videos, photographs, and audio recordings stored in the FBI's central electronic case management system—denies having any criminal ties to Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 in a New York jail.
It is worth mentioning that 20,000 new documents were released last week, including a series of emails from Epstein to friends and associates in which Trump was mentioned.
The documents suggest that Trump knew about Epstein's conduct, who also claims that the now-president knew"about the girls."
“These emails prove absolutely nothing, except that President Trump did nothing wrong,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The Republican also counterattacked by demanding an investigation into Epstein's relationship with some Democratic figures, including former President Bill Clinton (1993-2001).
Epstein and Trump were close in the 1980s and maintained a friendship for at least 15 years, when they were both businessmen in New York, but broke ties in the early 2000s.
