Epstein files updates: Senate unanimously agrees to release records, Trump to sign deal
WASHINGTON — Both chambers of Congress nearly unanimously agreed to pass a bill on Tuesday to compel the Justice Department to release as much information as possible about the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The success of the measure, which will immediately go to President Donald Trump's desk after passing the Senate, was a remarkable show of bipartisan force. It was also the culmination of a rare rebuke from congressional Republicans of Trump, whose decades-old ties to Epstein have recently come back to haunt him.
The bill moved overwhelmingly through Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with only one dissenter in the House of Representatives and unanimous support in the Senate. The fast-tracking came despite GOP concerns over protecting the privacy of victims. The president has echoed similar grievances, repeatedly referring to the controversy as the "Epstein hoax."
Still, he signaled he will sign the legislation as soon as it hits his desk.
Trump's about-face came amid mounting political pressure not only from his base, but also from conservative lawmakers typically loath to cross the leader of their party. Support for the bill had been steadily growing, even as Trump's past ties to Epstein were becoming clearer amid new revelations. The president has consistently denied he knew of Epstein's alleged abuse.
Who is Clay Higgins? Meet the only House member to vote against releasing the Epstein files
Rep. Clay Higgins, a former police officer, was the lone vote against the legislation on Tuesday. For the Louisiana Republican, who typically votes with other conservatives, it was a politically unusual choice. But he said it came down to privacy concerns.
Safeguarding the personal information of Epstein's many victims was his primary issue with the deal, even though most GOP lawmakers, following Trump's lead, joined with Democrats to support the measure in recent days.
The bill's bipartisan authors – Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, D-California – have stressed that the legislation will not expose victims. It stipulates that the Justice Department is permitted to withhold certain information, such as personal details on victims and materials that would jeopardize any active federal investigations.
Epstein accusers present for House vote
A group of the estimated 1,000 women and children who have made accusations against Epstein were in the House gallery during the chamber's vote. They cheered and hugged as the vote ended. Some representatives applauded.
“My sister, Maria Farmer, first reported Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to federal authorities nearly three decades ago. Since then, survivors – myself included – have been left in the dark about how our reports were investigated, who was involved in our abuse and trafficking, and why Epstein and Maxwell were able to get away with inflicting pain on so many women and girls for years," said Annie Farmer, who met Epstein at age 16, in a statement after the vote.
– Sarah D. Wire
Why files may not come out even though Congress took action
Despite the House and Senate both voting for its release, there's reason to doubt all the information collected by the federal government during its investigation will see the light of day.
Under the Epstein files bill, the Justice Department would be able to withhold documents that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary."
Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer in Trump’s first term, said he believes that Attorney General Pam Bondi will cite investigations into Democrats linked to Epstein as a reason not to release them.
"I think he and Bondi have determined that they'll try to use Trump-ordered 'investigations' of Democrats ‒ but not Republicans, as he stated ‒ as a bar to producing anything," Cobb said in an interview on CNN. "I think it'll be a long time before we see anything." Read more here.
— Joey Garrison
Epstein survivors helped draft the bill, Khanna says
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, turned away concerns voiced by Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans that the Epstein measure would harm victims.
"Of course it protects the victims because we worked with the survivors in drafting the bill," Khanna, a co-sponsor of the measure, told reporters. "Maybe he should have shown up and listened to the survivors."
A provision in the bill authorizes the attorney general to "withhold or redact the segregable portions of records that...contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy...."
After opposing the measure for months, Johnson joined every House Republican but one in voting in favor.
— Sarah D. Wire
Epstein files bill should move ‘fairly quickly’ through Senate, Thune says
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said shortly after the House passed the Epstein files bill that the legislation should move swiftly through the Senate.
“My assumption is the president sounds like he’s prepared to sign it,” he told reporters, according to multiple outlets. “So I’d assume it moves fairly quickly over here.”
– Zach Schermele
What does NV mean in a House vote?
NV stands for "not voting," meaning that the member of Congress has not yet voted.
Members who don't want to vote can choose to vote "present" rather than not voting.
— Sarah D. Wire
Trump snaps when asked why he won’t order the release of Epstein files
Trump snapped at an ABC News reporter and said he might revoke the network’s FCC license when asked why he doesn’t immediately order the release of the Epstein files instead of waiting for Congress to act.
"You know, it's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter,” Trump said. “It’s the way you ask these questions.”
The president continued to attack the reporter and never got around to answering the question.
“I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said. “I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.”
“It’s a Democrat hoax,” Trump said, later adding, “I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should take a look at that."
— Joey Garrison
Schumer to have Senate take up Epstein files bill 'immediately'
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said Tuesday that he will move for the Senate to “immediately” take up the bill to release the Epstein files after it’s expected to pass in the House.
"Republicans have spent months trying to protect Donald Trump and hide what's in the files. Americans are tired of waiting and are demanding to see the truth,” Schumer said in a statement. "If Leader Thune tries to bury the bill, I'll stop him."
— Rebecca Morin
House Speaker Johnson defends Congress releasing Epstein files
Johnson defended Trump for not ordering the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, saying that he and the president “were insistent upon using the processes of Congress.”
Johnson said that the Oversight Committee would have been the appropriate process for getting the files released, saying that it would have been more comprehensive than the discharge petition that will be voted on Tuesday.
“We want it to be done the right way,” Johnson said. “We want to do it in a way that doesn't jeopardize our legal system and doesn't inflict more harm on victims. And the president is resolute on that, as we have been.”
— Rebecca Morin
Johnson says he’ll vote for the Epstein files bill
Johnson said on Tuesday that he will vote to move the Epstein files bill forward despite deriding it as a “political weapon to distract” by Democratic lawmakers.
“I’m going to vote to move this forward,” he said at his daily news conference on Capitol Hill. “I think it could be close to a unanimous vote because everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on the record to show their maximum transparency.”
Johnson criticized Democrats for pushing for the release of the files, saying that records related to Epstein could have been released under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“They’re trying to somehow tie President Trump to the scandal,” Johnson said. “President Trump has nothing to do with it… He has nothing to hide and that’s clearly what they’ve been trying to do.”
— Rebecca Morin
What’s prompting Epstein advocacy six years later?
Lisa Phillips, who identifies as a survivor of Epstein’s abuse, told USA TODAY that many women started coming forward about their experiences after Epstein died in 2019.
“There’s something that happens when your abuser dies,” Phillips said. “You’re free.”
– Erin Mansfield
Epstein accusers share childhood photos of themselves
Women who said Epstein abused them are holding up pictures of themselves when they were at the age that he started abusing them. The ages include 14, 15, 16, and 17.
“Someone has to protect these children,” said Wendy Avis. “We deserved it then. We deserve it now.”
– Erin Mansfield
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene puts accountability on DOJ
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she expects a near-unanimous vote in the House to release the Epstein files, but she said the fight won’t be over.
She referenced language in the bill that would allow the Department of Justice to withhold documents that are relevant to an ongoing investigation.
“The real test will be will the Department of Justice release the files, or will it all remain tied up in an investigation,” Greene said.
She also questioned whether a list of Epstein's accomplices will come out, mentioning a list that survivors have created and are holding privately “because of their fear in their heart.”
“Will that list of names come out?” she asked. “That’s the real test.”
– Erin Mansfield
Rep. Ro Khanna calls for shunning of Epstein’s associates
Rep. Ro Khanna, the Democrat from California who is co-sponsoring the bill to force the release of the Epstein files, said people associated with Epstein should not be honored in our society.
“There should be no buildings named after these people in the Epstein class,” Khanna said at a news conference Tuesday morning outside the Capitol building. “There should be no scholarships named after them.
“Many of the survivors will tell you these people still are celebrated in our society,” he added. “That’s disgusting. There needs to be accountability.”
– Erin Mansfield
Larry Summers stepping back from public commitments over Epstein ties
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Harvard University President Larry Summers said Monday that he would be stepping back from public commitments after recently released emails showed that he regularly corresponded with Epstein.
A trove of more than 20,000 pages of emails released by the House Oversight Committee on Nov. 12 revealed that Summers sought relationship advice in 2019 from the disgraced financier.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” the Harvard Crimson quoted Summers as saying in a statement Monday. “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”
Summers, who served as Treasury secretary to former President Bill Clinton, had been a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. A spokesman for the liberal policy group said in a statement that Summers' was ending his CAP fellowship.
He also serves as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard's Kennedy School, where he will continue teaching.
— Francesca Chambers
Trump when asked about Epstein: 'Quiet, piggy'
Trump told a reporter "quiet, piggy" while speaking with members of the media on Air Force One on Friday about the Epstein files.
In video footage of a gaggle with the press on November 14 released by the White House, Trump says, "Quiet, quiet piggy," as a female reporter, standing off camera, begins to ask if there was anything "incriminating" in Epstein's emails. The president then appears to wave a finger in her face.
The video went viral on social media on Tuesday morning after People Magazine published an article about the exchange.
— Sarah D. Wire
Epstein accuser Alicia Arden begs Congress to release Epstein files
Alicia Arden, who said she was assaulted by Epstein in 1997 in a Santa Monica, California, hotel, begged members of Congress to vote to release the Epstein files.
"Speaking as a victim, I beg you to release these files, once and for all," Arden told reporters at a news conference Monday. "There is no valid reason not to do so. This should be a really easy bipartisan issue. Why would there be a single 'No' vote?"
Arden said the more accusers are denied the information in the files, the more they assume politicians are trying to hide the information.
She said releasing the files will expose “who else helped Epstein and who else victimized so many children and adults.”