The US Congress on Tuesday, November 18, voted to pass legislation to compel the Justice Department to release all its records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. House of Representatives passed the measure with a vote of 427-1, sending a resolution, opens new tab , requiring the release of all unclassified records on Epstein to the Republican-majority Senate, which swiftly approved it. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., was the only lawmaker to vote no. The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epsteins victims have waited long enough, Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a floor speech on Tuesday, before winning unanimous consent. Let the truth come out. Let transparency reign. The bill could now go to Trump for his signature as soon as Wednesday. Trump plans to sign the bill when it reaches his desk, a senior White House official said. The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trumps side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epsteins ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019. Before the House vote, about two dozen survivors of Epstein's alleged abuse joined a trio of Democratic and Republican lawmakers outside the U.S. Capitol to urge the release of the records. After the vote, they reportedly applauded lawmakers from the House's public gallery, some of them crying and hugging each other. On Tuesday, President Trump called a reporter who asked about it in the Oval Office a "terrible person" and said the television network the journalist works for should have its license revoked. "I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein," the Republican president told reporters while hosting a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. "I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert."
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