The US House of Representatives has voted to release files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The vote passed by 427-1, sending a resolution requiring the release of all unclassified records on Epstein to the Senate for consideration.
President Donald Trump had fought for months against the release before ending his opposition two days ago.
Before the vote, about two dozen survivors of Epstein’s alleged abuse joined a trio of Democratic and Republican lawmakers outside the US Capitol to urge the release of the records.
The women held photographs of their younger selves, the age at which they said they first encountered Epstein, a New York financier who fraternized with some of the most powerful men in the country.
Despite his changed position on the bill, the Republican president remains angry about the attention paid to the Epstein matter.
On Tuesday, he called a reporter who asked about it in the Oval Office a “terrible person” and said the television network the journalist worked for should have its license revoked.
Mr Trump socialized and partied with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s before what he calls a rift, but the old friendship has become a rare weak spot for the president with his supporters.
Protesters stand behind the barricades outside the Capitol building
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REUTERS
Mr Trump socialized and partied with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s before what he calls a rift, but the old friendship has become a rare weak spot for the president with his supporters.
A poll published yesterday found 44 per cent of Republicans approve of President Trump’s handling of the matter, well below the 82 per cent who approve of his overall performance.
Jena-Lisa Jones, who said Epstein sexually abused her when she was 14, told a press conference outside the Capitol a few hours before the vote: “Please stop making this political, it is not about you, President Trump…I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment.”
Trump has said he had no connection to Epstein’s crimes and has begun calling the issue a “Democratic hoax,” despite some Republicans being among the loudest voices calling for the release of the records from criminal investigations of Epstein.
Donald Trump, pictured with Melania Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000
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GETTYPresident Trump’s opposition soured relations with one of his strongest Republican supporters in Congress, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has expressed anger at the Justice Department not releasing more details on Epstein.
She said Trump pressured her to withdraw her support for the resolution and publicly called her a traitor after she doubled down.
The Georgia representative joined protesters at the Capitol before voting in favor of the resolution, telling reporters: “A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves.
“A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks during a press conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act
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REUTERS
