Debate Ahead of US House Vote on Release of Epstein Files
BBC News
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The US House is now debating a bipartisan bill for the Department of Justice to release all files related to the convicted late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Earlier, survivors of Epstein spoke at a news conference at the US Capitol – Annie Farmer says they have suffered "institutional betrayal" for years
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene hits out at her former ally President Donald Trump and repeats her call for all Epstein files to be released
Taylor Greene – whom Trump has dubbed a "traitor" – says the Epstein issue has "ripped Maga apart" (Trump's Make America Great Again movement)
Donald Trump has called for his own party to vote to release the files, after weeks spent claiming the vote was a distraction led by the Democratic Party
It comes after more than 20,000 pages of documents, some mentioning Trump, were the latest tranche to be released last week
Trump has previously said he cut ties with Epstein many years ago, and he has always denied any link to Epstein's sex abuse and trafficking
Edited by Caitlin Wilson and Oliver O'Connell with Ana Faguy reporting from Capitol Hill
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on mandating the release of the Epstein files, voters in central Tennessee are heading to the polls for early voting in a special election to fill a vacant House seat.
The Epstein issue has already made waves in this race, with left-wing groups supporting Democrat Aftyn Behn spending $300,000 to air adverts accusing the Republican candidate, Matt Van Epps, of wanting to keep the Epstein files “locked away”.
I’m outside a voting location in Nashville, the state capital, where Democrats hope heavy liberal turnout will help Behn. The voters I’ve spoken with so far have all been paying attention to the latest twists in the Epstein story, including today’s House of Representatives vote.
Amanda Gleaton spoke with the BBC about her concerns in today's special election
Amanda Gleaton tells me that while affordability and the economy are big issues in this campaign, “transparency” – including a full accounting of Epstein’s ties to the wealthy and powerful – is also at the top of her mind.
While the Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District is reliably Republican, having supported Donald Trump by more than 20% in last year’s presidential election, polls suggest this may be a tight race. If Behn wins on 2 December, it would be perhaps the most dramatic sign so far this year that the national mood is turning against Trump and the Republicans.
Earlier, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie spoke with BBC Newsnight.
He said Donald Trump, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel could "save the Senate a lot of work" by simply releasing the Epstein files if the measure passes in the House of Representatives later today.
He tells the BBC: "They could just announce they’re gonna release all these files as soon as this House measure passes. It’s going to pass with a veto-proof majority I believe."
Trump recently did an about-turn on the Epstein files. Having previously claimed the vote was a distraction led by the Democrats, he is now calling for his own party to release the files.
Massie thinks Trump realised he was "asking the entire GOP conference to walk the plank for him on an issue that puts him at odds with his base".
US Representative Thomas Massie has just been speaking in the House.
Massie has been saying how this is an important moment for victims.
He now adds that it's important not just for Epstein's victims, but also for other assault survivors.
"I've had to drag our party to this floor today to even vote on this," the Republican politician says.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is speaking on the House floor now, talking about the victims of Epstein's abuse and the efforts to release more information about the probes into the disgraced financier.
"It should've been the easiest thing for the president of the United States to release all the information," Greene says of Trump.
She says the so-called cover up of the Epstein scandal represents the failures of Congress to the American people.
Greene adds that she and the three other Republican members of Congress who have pushed for the release of the files have faced threats and intimidation.
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Watch: How much do Americans care about the Epstein story?
The words "Epstein files" have been hanging over the Trump administration for months as it faces mounting scrutiny over the sex crimes of the late convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC asked people in Washington DC what they make of the unfolding developments and how much these disclosures matter to them.
Video by Meiying Wu and Blanca Estrada
The House of Representatives has now begun debating a rule relating to the bill to force the justice department to release files related to investigations into Epstein.
The rule includes the process for sending the bill to the Senate once the House passes it.
After the debate, members are expected to vote on the bill, but exact timings have not yet been confirmed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated he will push Republicans to move "immediately" on the Epstein bill, if it passes through the House of Representatives later today, as widely expected.
The next step after that is the Senate.
"The American people have waited long enough and they want to see what's in it," he says.
When asked what he makes of the speaker's suggestion that the bill needs changes, Schumer repeats: “We’ve waited long enough.”
If you've been watching today's activity at the Capitol closely, you may have noticed a giant pink frog in the background of some of the photos and videos of press conferences.
This protestor, donning what looks like a pink inflatable suit, has been present outside the House of Representatives as the Epstein row has intensified.
We're not too sure who's inside, but whoever they are, they're part of a cohort of demonstrators who has been spending many days at the Capitol calling for the release of the files.
Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill
While we wait for more movement on the Epstein files, I thought it might be intriguing to hear what it’s like on Capitol Hill right now.
It’s a very different vibe from what it was like last week when the House voted to reopen the government for the first time in 43 days.
It’s bustling. Everywhere you look there are people.
Tours of the Capitol have resumed and little kids are roaming the halls once more in awe of the history.
The tunnels have returned to the normal crowded state with staffers occasionally switching from a brisk walk to a sprint.
And of course, the business of Congress has resumed too. We’ll see more of that later today when the House votes on releasing the Epstein files.
At his press conference this morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has five "top concerns" about the discharge petition coming to a vote today in the House:
Despite these "deep concerns", Johnson says he will be voting for the bill.Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
Donald Trump has developed a finely tuned sense for what engages and motivates his political base.
What is unusual about the president’s handling of the Epstein files is that he has been decidedly out of step with his base for months and is only now coming around.
As recently as last week, the White House was pressuring a handful of House Republican to withdraw their support from the petition that forced today’s vote.
Now he’s encouraging this party to approve the House measure – but only after it became obvious that rank-and-file Republicans were poised to do exactly that in spite of Trump’s pressure campaign.
Donald Trump may have changed course and backed a House vote to release the Epstein files, but his move – at least so far – has been a calculated one.
While he has told members in the lower chamber to support the measure, he’s yet to offer a similar encouragement to the Senate, which will also have to approve the legislation.
By Jake Horton
When asked whether he would sign a bill supporting the release of the Epstein files yesterday, Donald Trump said he was “all for it”.
This followed a Truth Social post on Sunday from the US President which said: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.”
This represents a change of course for Trump who since entering office has resisted the files being released, repeatedly calling them a “hoax” by the Democrats.
Trump said he would release the Epstein files while campaigning to be president last year.
When asked on Fox News in June 2024 whether he would declassify the files, he said: “Yeah I would, I guess I would, I think that less so, because you know you don’t know, you don’t want to effect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that world, but I think I would.”
And in September last year when questioned on a podcast about releasing a supposed client list of people who visited Epstein’s island, Trump said: “I would be inclined to do the Epstein, I would have no problem with it.”
Today, the US House will vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would force the justice department to make all files pertaining to Epstein publicly available – but what will today's vote actually mean?
When is the vote?
The House is now in session and will tackle procedural votes and debates regarding the Epstein bill and other legislation before the chamber. We could see a vote as soon as 14:00 ET (19:00 GMT).
Who is voting?
The House of Representatives is made up of 435 politicians elected by the states they represent. It's currently made up of 214 Democrats and 219 Republicans, and they're expected to vote in favour of releasing the files.
Will the files be released?
Not yet. If the bill passes in the House of Representatives, it then goes to the Senate where where Republican majority leader John Thune is under pressure to move to a quick vote.
If it passes the Senate, Trump's got to sign the bill before it becomes law. The Department of Justice would have 30 days to publicly release the files if the bill does pass.
The press conference from Democratic lawmakers has now concluded, with many of them urging the Trump administration and Senate colleagues to "do the right thing" – and guarantee the release of the Epstein files.
Stay with us as we look ahead to the House vote, which is expected to start at 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
Representative Kelly Morrison now steps up and says the "only reason" the House is holding a vote on the release of the files is because the Trump administration is "refusing to comply with a subpoena".
The Democrat says "the president and his administration are legally required to release the files to Congress, and could do so today, they could have released them at any time since he was sworn in".
She adds that for too long, she believes the government and people in power have "been complicit in covering up the horrific abuses of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell".
“Today we will say no more."
US Representative Robert Garcia has just been speaking and says President Trump "has the power to release the files today" but adds that the president "refuses to do so".
The Democratic lawmaker says there are millions of survivors of sexual abuse watching to see if leaders in the US will do anything to tackle powerful abusers.
He says he's often asked by survivors of abuse "what's next".
Garcia says they believe the truth can be found in the bank records of abusers.
He warns leaders in US financial institutions that if they are hiding records then "we will be coming after them".
Democratic senator Mark Kelly is now at the mic, and he echoes Grijalva's remarks by reminding everyone that this bill passing the House today is only the first step.
He calls for leaders in the Senate – the upper chamber of Congress, which will have to review the bill when it passes the House – to promptly schedule a vote once it lands on their desks.
"We've got a little more work ahead of us but my hope is Leader Thune will do the right thing," he says, naming the Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the top Republican in the Senate.
In her address to the media, the newly elected Democratic Representative Adelita Grijalva begins by saying survivors are the ones who have forced this vote on the Epstein files.
"Without full transparency, we can't have justice," she says.
The Arizona lawmaker says this is not a Democratic or Republican issue – but a "human rights issue".
Grijalva also stresses that today is "just the first step".
As a reminder, the bill is widely expected to pass in the House of Representatives later today, but it must also pass in the Senate.
The president must then sign it, and the Department of Justice must implement the law "fully and responsibly", Grijalva says.
She calls today "a milestone, not the finish line".
Democratic Representative Adelita Grijalva is set to speak on Capitol Hill
Back outside the Capitol, we're about to hear from Representative Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat who was elected eight weeks ago in a special election in the state of Arizona.
But it took seven weeks for her to be sworn in, with House Speaker Mike Johnson keeping the House out of session for 53 days to increase pressure on Senate Democrats to agree to a government shutdown compromise.
When Grijalva was eventually sworn in, she immediately signed a discharge petition form calling for the release of the Epstein files.
Her signature was the 218th – the final signing needed to trigger a floor vote. Four Republicans joined the bipartisan effort to call for the vote.
Stay with us as we bring you key lines from her address.
Johnson says he will vote in favour of the bill on the Epstein files today despite his "deep concerns" – and that the vote may be close to unanimous.
But he goes on to accuse the Democrats of blocking efforts to bring the bill to the floor last week for a unanimous consent vote.
The Democrats, however, have pushed back against that line of attack, saying they objected to that measure because the votes would have been anonymous – and they want public accountability.
While the current version of the bill can't be amended in the House, Johnson says he and his Republican colleagues have issues that he hopes are raised when it reaches the Senate.
"The Democrats have disregarded all these concerns," he says.
We're going to move away from Johnson's press conference and turn our attention to a separate briefing happening on Capitol Hill, where Epstein survivors and Democratic Representative Adelita Grijalva are speaking – stay with us.
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