Debate Ahead of US House Vote on Release of Epstein Files
BBC News
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The US House is now voting on 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
The debate in the US House has concluded, and voting has begun on the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
As a reminder, this is not the final step.
If the vote passes in the House of Representatives today, as widely anticipated, the next step is for it to pass through the Senate.
You can watch live above.
Republicans and Democrats are debating ahead of the vote, trading jabs and blame on who is responsible for the delay on releasing the files.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has the floor right now, and he says Democrats forcing an Epstein vote are distracting lawmakers from other "urgent priorities".
"This is a show vote," he said. "They're making a show of it."
Johnson says he supports the bill and the release of the files, but questions why Democrats didn't call for their unveiling when former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was still in office.
"Democrats are using the Epstein tragedy…as a political weapon to try to distract from their failures as a party," he said.
On Trump, he added: "The president had nothing to do with this and he had nothing to hide."
Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill
I’m in the chamber listening to House Speaker Mike Johnson speak on the floor of the House.
In the chamber I can see Marjorie Taylor Greene and Anna Paulina Luna – two house Republicans who have campaigned for the release of the files.
At the top of the house gallery I can see survivors and survivors’ families sitting and quietly listening on – Virginia Giuffre's brother among them.
They’re eagerly awaiting the the final vote. That’s coming soon.
As the House debates the bill to compel the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, here's a quick recap of what was released last week.
On 12 November Democrats on the Republican-led House Oversight Committee publicly released three emails out of thousands of documents received from the Epstein estate.
Included in the Democrats’ release was an April 2011 email from Epstein to his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell alleging Trump "spent hours" with one of the victims, and calling the president the "dog that hasn't barked".
Trump has consistently denied any knowledge or involvement in Epstein's criminality.
The committee’s Republicans accused Democrats of cherry-picking from the documents and responded by releasing more than 23,000 pages. Among those messages, Epstein said in 2018 about Trump: "I know how dirty donald is" and "I am the one able to take him down".
Although some of the messages mention Trump's name, none of the emails are to or from Trump directly. The White House has said the emails released "prove literally nothing".
The rule debate over the Epstein files bill has now finished, with lawmakers now pivoting to debating the merits of the bill itself.
Stick with us, we'll bring you the top lines from the House floor.
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan is managing the floor debate for Republicans with Ranking Member Jamie Raskin up for the Democrats.
You can watch live by clicking on the link at the top of the page.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are meeting at the White House.
They're taking questions from the media right now in the Oval Office.
The president scolds a journalist when asked why he can't just release the Epstein files now, instead of waiting for Congress.
He replies by saying "it's not the question that I mind; it's your attitude. I think you're a terrible reporter". Trump also calls her "a terrible person".
"I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein… I threw him out of my club several years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert."
Trump adds "I never went to his island".
He says he thinks the licence should be taken away from ABC after the journalist's question. "You ought to go back and learn how to be a reporter. No more questions from you," the president says before moving on.
Keep up to date with our live coverage of the White House visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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.
He calls on the Senate to not make any changes to the bill, as House Speaker Mike Johnson says they might.
"Do not let the Senate muck this bill up," Massie 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).
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