WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday compelling Department of Justice to release records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Cape Fear representative David Rouzer was among those in favor.
“Americans deserve transparency surrounding Jeffery Epstein and his crimes,” Rouzer wrote in a statement. “The Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats had four years to release the files, but instead chose to make this a political fight, using victims and survivors as pawns. Today’s vote will provide much needed transparency to the American people and hopefully provide some closure for victims.”
The bill publicly would compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to make available all “unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the Department of Justice’s possession related to Epstein and his counterpart, convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Rouzer — who was among the elected leaders to vote against certifying the 2020 election — claims former president Joe Biden was an obstructionist, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump have both resisted recent efforts to bring forth a vote on the legislation.
Though Trump campaigned on releasing the files, this fervor has cooled since the president took office, as he called the case a Democratic hoax. Trump and Epstein socialized together frequently and were pictured together several times from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. In 2002, Trump praised Epstein to a reporter as a “terrific guy” that “likes beautiful women” on “the younger side.”
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published Epstein’s 2003 “birthday book” inclusive of a message from Trump. Within the outline of a drawn woman’s body, the message says Trump and Epstein have “certain things in common.” It also states: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.” Trump has denied writing this, calling the message a fake.
However, the move for the Justice Department to release the files has gained bipartisan support; only Rep. Clay Higgins (R-Lousiana) voted against the measure Tuesday over concerns it didn’t offer enough protection to the potentially innocent people named in the documents.
The bill — titled the Epstein Files Transparency Act — heads now to the Senate.
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