The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the Epstein Files Transparency Act, voting 427–1 to require the Justice Department to declassify and release its records related to the federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. The measure now heads to the Senate, where it will need 60 votes before advancing to the president’s desk.
The vote came the same day the House introduced a resolution to censure V.I. Delegate Stacey Plaskett, following the latest batch of materials released by the House Oversight Committee. The Washington Post has reported that some of the documents include text messages sent by Epstein that appear to align with the timing of a 2019 congressional hearing involving testimony about then-President Donald Trump. The documents do not identify a recipient. The reporting linked the timing to questions Plaskett asked during the hearing; her office has said she received messages from “staff, constituents and the public at large — including from Epstein” that day and reiterated her long record on combating sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender who maintained properties in multiple jurisdictions — including Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where many of his crimes are alleged to have occurred — operated a trafficking network over several decades. His death in federal custody in 2019 left significant gaps in the public record and intensified longstanding calls for greater transparency.
The political landscape around the disclosure effort has shifted in recent days. After last week’s release of thousands of pages of Epstein-related documents, President Donald Trump expressed support for the transparency bill, reversing earlier skepticism. National reporting indicates he directed former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, now serving in his administration, to review issues raised in the documents; Bondi referred that review to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Trump has since said he would sign the measure if it reaches his desk.
The lone vote against the bill came from Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), who said he objected to the legislation’s current scope. In a statement released after the vote, Higgins argued that the bill “reveals and injures thousands of innocent people” by broadly opening investigative files, and he expressed concern about privacy protections for victims, witnesses, and others referenced in the records. He said he would support the bill if the Senate amends it to address those concerns.
If the legislation clears the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, it would move to the president for consideration. A presidential veto would require two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override. Some legal observers note that a president can independently direct the Justice Department to release certain records, though others caution that materials tied to active or sealed investigations may remain protected.
For now, Tuesday’s actions provide the clearest public record to date of where lawmakers stand on the release of information connected to Epstein — a case that continues to carry significant weight in the U.S. Virgin Islands and nationally.
St. Croix Source
Local news
