Featured Image Credit: DANIEL HEUER/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, US News, Politics
Phoebe Tonks
Topics: Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, US News, Politics
After months of tireless back and forth between politicians, the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly voted to release the Epstein files.
At a vote, which took place on Tuesday, the bill which earned bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans alike was almost unanimously approved, with just one person voting against the motion.
The bill ordered the release of the Justice Department's files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with only GOP Rep. Clay Higgins voting against the motion.
The bill, which passed 427 – 1, will now be passed to the Senate for final approval before being signed into law.
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Bearing witness to the historic moment, were several of Epstein’s victims, who had been campaigning outside the Capitol for justice in the days leading up to the crucial vote.
Among them was Victoria Guiffre’s brother, who was seated in the front row alongside around a dozen others who had been victimised by Epstein.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had initially tried to delay any vote from taking place when the matter was first discussed back in July and had caused widespread conflict on both sides of the political divide.
He even sent the House home a day early for August recess because so little progress had been made on agreeing to a plan for how to proceed.
Things were further delayed by the Government shutdown, which lasted for 50 days in total before coming to an end last week – something which had delayed Democrat Adelita Grijalva from being sworn in and adding her name to the bill.
After signing last week, Grijalva became the 218th signature on the bill which forced the speaker to proceed to a vote.
Just before votes were cast, Johnson dubbed the entire bill a 'political exercise' and claimed it was riddled with 'serious deficiencies'.
He said he hoped the Senate would make changes to it.
He did however, make it clear that he believed the President was blameless as he added: "[Trump] has nothing to hide.”
Initially, Donald Trump had been opposed to the release of the files and actively sought to block the bill, but following its growing traction, he made a surprising u-turn on Monday and expressed his support instead.
"I'm all for it," Trump said in a statement, while confirming he would sign the bill into law if it passed the Senate.
Under the bill, Attorney General Pam Bondi would be required to release all 'unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials' in the Department of Justice's possession related to Epstein.
There would, however, still be some redactions, with victims' names and other identifying information excluded from disclosure, along with anything that may depict or contain child sex abuse material.