- House to vote on bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act forcing DOJ to release unclassified Epstein materials within 30 days.
- Survivors and lawmakers, including an unlikely GOP-Democratic alliance, press for full disclosure to hold powerful figures accountable.
- Trump reversed stance, backing release; emails naming high-profile figures could spark wider investigations and Senate redaction fights.
Washington, D.C. – In a dramatic twist that’s gripped Capitol Hill and beyond, the House of Representatives is set to vote today on a bipartisan bill that could finally pry open the remaining files on Jeffrey Epstein’s sprawling sex-trafficking network.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), arrives at a fever pitch of political infighting, victim advocacy, and a stunning reversal from President Donald Trump himself.
What started as a partisan flashpoint has morphed into a rare moment of potential unity – or at least, that’s the hope from survivors who’ve waited years for answers.
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The stakes couldn’t be higher.
Here’s What It Means
If passed, the bill would force the Department of Justice to release all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials tied to Epstein’s case within 30 days, in a searchable and downloadable format.
That could mean fresh light on flight logs, Ghislaine Maxwell’s role, and the shadowy web of powerful figures who crossed paths with the disgraced financier.
A House committee already dropped over 20,000 pages earlier this year, revealing Epstein’s emails with elite society members – communications that have only fueled suspicions of deeper ties left unchecked.
But today’s procedural votes and debates, kicking off at 10 a.m. ET, aren’t just procedural theater.
They’re the culmination of months of pressure, from grassroots campaigns to high-stakes clashes within the GOP.
And lurking in the background? Newly surfaced emails that name-drop some of the biggest names in politics and beyond, raising questions about who else might squirm if these files see daylight.
A Victim’s Plea Echoes Through the Halls of Power
The morning’s momentum built early, with Epstein accuser Alicia Arden – a 27-year-old model who says Epstein assaulted her in a Santa Monica hotel back in 1997 – making an impassioned call from the front lines.
In a statement timestamped just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Arden didn’t mince words:
“Speaking as a victim, I beg you to release these files, once and for all. There is no valid reason not to do so. This should be a really easy bi-partisan issue. Why would there be a single ‘No’ vote? Vote to release these files so we can finally see who else helped Jeffrey Epstein.”
Her words landed like a gut punch, especially as survivors gathered for a 9 a.m. press conference on Capitol Hill, hosted by Massie, Khanna, and – in a eyebrow-raising alliance – Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Danielle Bensky, another survivor who spoke to CNN last week, framed the push as pure accountability: “releasing the files in full was about ‘accountability,’ adding ‘I think that survivors are holding strong to that sentiment and I think that the only way that we’re ever going to be able to do that is by releasing all the files from the government.'”
These aren’t abstract demands. Epstein’s 2019 indictment laid bare how he leaned on a “network of close contacts” to abuse girls as young as 14, with employees and associates scheduling encounters at his New York and Palm Beach homes.
He died in jail weeks later – ruled a suicide – before facing sex-trafficking charges head-on.
His accomplice, Maxwell, drew a 20-year sentence in 2022 for conspiring to sexually abuse minors.
Yet for victims like Arden and Bensky, closure remains elusive without the full paper trail.
Trump’s Flip-Flop: From ‘Hoax’ to ‘All For It’
No story on this vote would be complete without the elephant in the room: President Trump’s rollercoaster ride on the issue.
Just days ago, he was torching the bill as a Democrat-orchestrated “hoax,” slamming supporters as “stupid” and “weak,” and even yanking his endorsement of Greene over her refusal to back down.
But facing a bipartisan discharge petition that hit 218 signatures – enough to force the vote – Trump pulled a 180.
On Sunday, he posted on Truth Social: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown.’”
By Monday, he doubled down in a video clip that’s already racking up views: “All for it.”
And if it lands on his desk? “We’ll give them everything. Sure. I would let them, let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it, but don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us. It’s really a Democrat problem. The Democrats were Epstein’s friends, all of them, and it’s a hoax.”
The shift didn’t come in a vacuum. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who once branded the whole thing a “hoax” on social media, flipped his vote overnight after Trump’s nudge, telling The New York Times he’d back the bill.
Greene, one of just four Republicans to sign the petition initially, predicts a “unanimous vote” in the House today.
But she didn’t hold back on the personal toll: “I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for five – no, actually six years for… I fought for him for the policies and for America First.
And he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition.”
Khanna gave her props for the grit: “This would not have certainly been possible if it were not for the courage of Marjorie Taylor Greene… I had been texting with fellow petition backer, Rep. Thomas Massie, concerned, ‘Is she going to drop off?’
Because there was so much pressure against it, so much attacks against her. But she stood with the survivors.”
Massie, ever the straight shooter, tallied the wins and warnings:
“We fought the president, the attorney general, the FBI director, the Speaker of the House, and the vice president to get this win. But they say they’re on our side today, though, so let’s give them some credit as well. They are finally on the side of justice.”
He saved his sharpest words for the Senate: “Don’t get too cute. We’re all paying attention. If you want to add some additional protections for these survivors, go for it. But if you do anything that prevents any disclosure, you are not for the people and you are not part of this effort.”
Massie also shouted out GOP women like Greene, Reps. Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, who “stood so strong” against the blowback.
Greene, posting on X ahead of the fray, framed it as a moral imperative: “Tomorrow Congress will finally vote to release the Epstein files. This should have never been a fight.
Raping teenage girls, trafficking victims, and protecting powerful people is not a hoax. I unapologetically and proudly stand with these women.”
In a CNN sit-down Sunday, she added nuance on Trump: “I think that’s the part that has so many people confused is that the women themselves that I’ve talked to over and over again said that Donald Trump did nothing wrong; quite a few told me that they had voted for him.
Those are the women I would like to see in the Oval Office with support, I would like to see all of the women there with support.”
The Emails That Could Rock Washington – and Hollywood
At the heart of the frenzy are those 20,000+ pages from the House committee, packed with Epstein’s digital footprints.
One batch, released recently, shows him emailing Ghislaine Maxwell in 2011:
“I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him.” He followed up: Epstein added Trump “has never once been mentioned,” Maxwell replied: “I have been thinking about that…”
Then there’s a February 2019 note Epstein sent to himself: “Trump knew of it. and came to my house many times during that period… He never got a massage.”
The White House has been quick to dismiss: These emails “contain no proof of wrongdoing by Trump.”
Still, in another 2011 exchange, Epstein told Maxwell straight up: “Trump ‘knew about the girls.‘”
The ripples extend further. A March 2018 email from Mark Epstein to his brother Jeffrey floated asking Steve Bannon if Vladimir Putin had “the photos of Trump blowing Bubba” – a crude joke, Mark later clarified, not aimed at Bill Clinton (despite the nickname) but tossed in as dark humor: “You and your boy Donnie can make a remake of the movie Get Hard.”
Trump, never one to let a jab slide, has turned the spotlight on Democrats, calling for a DOJ probe into “prominent Democrats including former President Bill Clinton.”
Clinton’s long been an Epstein associate, though he’s denied wrongdoing.
Any formal investigation, though, could delay the files’ release under the bill’s provisions for ongoing probes.
And it’s not just D.C. insiders. Emails show former Treasury Secretary and Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers corresponding with Epstein right up until July 5, 2019 – days before Epstein’s arrest.
Summers, who’s largely retreated from public life since, issued a raw mea culpa: “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused… I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”
If more like that surface, it could drag academics, billionaires, and maybe even A-listers back into the glare – names that have hovered on the periphery of Epstein’s orbit for years.
What’s Next? Senate Hurdles and Redaction Fights
Passage in the House needs a two-thirds majority, but with Nehls’ switch and Trump’s blessing, Greene’s unanimous prediction feels plausible.
From there, it’s off to the Senate, where Massie’s watchful eye looms large.
The DOJ gets 30 days post-signature but expect battles over redactions for privacy or active investigations – fights that could stretch into next year.
As the clock ticks toward 10 a.m., one thing’s clear: This isn’t just about old files.
It’s a reckoning for how power shields secrets, and whether survivors’ voices can finally drown out the noise.
Greene nailed it in her pre-vote rallying cry: “the fight, the real fight will happen after that… I wanted to see the Justice Department release all the files and not have them tied up in investigations.”
For figures like Clinton or Summers – or anyone else unnamed but implicated – today’s vote might be the starting gun on a very uncomfortable sprint.
Also Read: A DOJ Whistleblower Now Makes Revelation That Undermines the Judicial System’s Integrity
