(WTAQ-WLUK) — Congress acted Tuesday to approve a bill to force the Department of Justice to release their full files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The final tally in the House of Representatives was 427-1, with a Republican lawmaker from Louisiana casting the only “no” vote. Within hours, the legislation was passed in the Senate, too. It will now require President Donald Trump’s signature.
Epstein, a billionaire financier, was charged with sex trafficking underage girls. The FBI said Epstein “harmed over 1,000 victims.” He died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Two criminal investigations into Epstein’s crimes amassed a large volume of evidence, which has become known as “the Epstein files.” This includes emails; transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses; details about items confiscated from raids of Epstein’s properties; digital material from databases, hard drives and network drives; images of Epstein and images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors; flight logs from Epstein’s plane and his contacts book containing the names of famous people he knew.
Over the years, some of this material has been declassified and released into the public domain. A number of high-profile figures who were connected to Epstein are named in the documents, including Trump, the now-former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, former President Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, Elon Musk, Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Trump’s former aide Steve Bannon.
Officials have stressed this does not necessarily imply any wrongdoing by those individuals.
Pressure has been building from Trump’s own supporters and powerful voices within both the Democratic and Republican parties, calling for more transparency on what the Epstein investigations uncovered. Epstein’s victims have also been outspoken in seeking justice and accountability.
If the Epstein Files Transparency Act is signed into law, it would require the DOJ to publicly release, within 30 days, the files related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, with some exceptions including survivors’ personal information and other sensitive material.
Here’s what Wisconsin lawmakers and political organizations said after the House vote:
U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-8th District
Today, I was proud to vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files in full. While I had already taken direct action to ensure the House Committee on Oversight continued investigating and releasing previously sealed documents by voting to pass H. Res. 668 on September 3rd, it was clear the American people believed more needed to be done. With this vote, the House, under the Trump Administration, has shown the American people the transparency they deserve — something they did not see when Democrats had full control of the government under the Biden Administration.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-WI
The victims of Jeffrey Epstein – and the American people – deserve answers, accountability and the truth. So far, they have only seen empty promises from President Trump and his Administration. Now that a majority of the U.S. House of Representatives has acted to provide transparency on this matter – we call on you to quickly hold a vote in the U.S. Senate to help deliver the accountability that was promised and that so many Americans are demanding.
Democratic Party of Wisconsin
It took far, far too long for the Epstein files to see the light of day, and that’s because Republicans, including Tom Tiffany and Derrick Van Orden, voted against its release earlier this year. Donald Trump’s attempts to block its release — and his sudden reversal — cause great suspicion as to whether or not we are going to get the whole truth or a cover-up. While Ghislaine Maxwell enjoys play time with puppies as part of the special treatment Donald Trump arranged for her, America will be left with deep doubts about the President’s involvement in one of the most notorious and disturbing sex trafficking schemes ever.
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