This development follows President Donald Trump’s decision to drop his opposition to the measure just one day prior.
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives cast an overwhelming vote compelling the Department of Justice to release all unclassified documents pertaining to the deceased pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
President Donald Trump had previously ended his resistance to the proposal on Monday, urging House Republicans to back the initiative.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender, was discovered deceased in a Manhattan jail in 2019, where he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking offenses. His extensive connections with affluent and powerful individuals in the U.S. and internationally persistently stir debate in Washington, with both political parties levying accusations of exploiting the case for partisan advantage.
The resolution achieved passage with a vote of 427-1, having been signed by 218 members of the House, where Republicans hold a narrow 219-214 majority. These documents will now proceed to the Senate for additional review. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune has refrained from commenting on the subsequent steps.
However, the resolution includes provisions allowing the Justice Department to retain materials that might “jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution.”
On Monday, Trump declared on Truth Social that “the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!” He further asserted that “we have nothing to hide.”
For several months, the president had opposed the disclosure, alleging that Democrats were sensationalizing the case to divert public attention from critical issues and undermine his presidency. He continued to label the case the “Epstein hoax” in his social media post.
During his election campaign, Trump had pledged to release the Epstein files and subsequently signed an executive order to that effect shortly after assuming office. U.S. officials have since made public multiple collections of documents concerning the discredited financier, including 20,000 files in November alone.
Nonetheless, crucial materials, such as flight logs, client identities, and contact directories, have stayed sealed, intensifying conjectures about potential individuals who might be implicated. Earlier in the current month, Democrats released an email where Epstein purportedly claimed that Trump “knew about the girls.” In retaliation, Trump mandated an investigation into Epstein’s connections with notable Democrats, including Bill Clinton.