Congress votes to approve the release of Epstein files

Bill will need Senate approval before it is signed by Trump

- STAFF REPORTER

Both the House and Senate acted decisively to pass a bill last night to force the justice department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The move is a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from US president Donald Trump and Republican party leadership.

When a small bipartisan group of House legislators introduced a petition in July to manoeuvre around speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the House floor, it appeared a hopeful effort - especially as Mr Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax”.

The bipartisan pair who sponsored the bill, representatives Thomas Massie (Republican) and Ro Khanna (Democrat), warned senators against doing anything that would “muck it up,” saying they would face the same public uproar that forced both Mr Trump and Mr Johnson to back down.

“We’ve needlessly dragged this out for four months,” Mr Massie said, adding that those raising problems with the bill “are afraid that people will be embarrassed. Well, that’s the whole point here”.

But both Mr Trump and Mr Johnson failed in their efforts to prevent the vote. Now the president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said he will sign it.

Just hours after the House passed the bill, the Senate agreed to pass it with unanimous consent once it is sent to the body.