WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted nearly unanimously to force the Justice Department to release documents and investigative materials on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Alaska’s lone member of the House, Republican Rep. Nick Begich, voted for the bill, too. And Begich said he would have voted yes even if President Trump was still urging Republicans to block it.
“The American people deserve transparency,” Begich said Tuesday, before the vote. “This (investigation) is a product of the taxpayers’ investment. A lot of money has gone in to investigate these crimes, and I think the people deserve to know what's there.”
For months President Trump pressed Republicans to block the Epstein bill. That put House Republicans in a political bind: Should they follow Trump, or his MAGA followers, who voted for Trump in part because he promised to release the files?
Trump abruptly reversed course over the weekend and said Republicans should vote for it, releasing his House allies from their dilemma.
The Epstein bill goes next to the Senate, where one of the controversies is whether to make changes.
Begich said he agrees with House Speaker Mike Johnson that the bill needs to be amended, to allow the Justice Department to redact or withhold information to better protect victims and investigative methods.
“I think Leader (John) Thune in the Senate has provided some strong indications to House leadership that those will be addressed once this bill goes over to the Senate,” Begich said. “I think that's important.”
House Democrats and the four Republicans who signed a discharge petition bringing the Epstein bill to a vote say the bill doesn’t need amendment. They say the bill already protects victim identities and investigative sources and methods.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse cheered from the House gallery when the 427-1 vote was announced. Many House members turned to face the House gallery, applauding victims who spoke out and have campaigned to release the documents.
The cheers and applause was still underway as the clerk read the procedural rule for the next measures — to repeal Biden administration rules that put the brakes on oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and, to the west, in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the House vote immediately following the Epstein bill was procedural. A vote on final passage of the Arctic legislation is expected Tuesday evening.
