The House of Representatives has officially passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which will force the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. The final vote was nearly unanimous — 427-1.

Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana was the only member who voted against the bill. Higgins explained his “no” vote in a statement on X, arguing that the legislation would not sufficiently protect the privacy of victims. He claimed the bill abandon 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America, revealing and injuring thousands of innocent people — including witnesses, those who provided alibis, and family members.

Higgins emphasized that if the bill is enacted in its current form, a rabid media could result in innocent people being hurt. He noted that the Oversight Committee has already released over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case, with efforts continuing to provide all due protections for innocent Americans.

The House may have passed the bill, but the battle is not over yet. The act now heads to the Senate, where it might be amended. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is calling for the Senate to add more privacy protections for victims and whistleblowers, a concern Higgins cited in explaining his vote against the bill. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is pushing back on that, stating further changes are unlikely. There is a broad desire in the GOP to pass the bill and move on to other legislative business.

If passed by the Senate, President Trump has promised to sign the bill into law. Pressed on whether he would sign the bill should it reach his desk, Trump on Monday said he would. The measure — called “The Epstein Files Transparency Act” — would compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to make available all “unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the DOJ’s possession related to Epstein.

The legislation seeks federal records on Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as other individuals, including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s “criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity, plea agreements or investigatory proceedings.” Victims’ names and other identifying information would be excluded from disclosure, as would any items that may depict or contain child sex abuse material, according to the text of the proposed bill.

Let’s get this thing passed — unredacted! Full transparency!
Then, hopefully, we can finally move on to the prosecutions stage of this whole thing…