Only one member of Congress went on the record Tuesday to vote against compelling the Justice Department to publicize all its files in the notorious Jeffrey Epstein case.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) was the lone “no” in the 427-1 House vote supporting the resolution.
Later Tuesday, the Senate agreed to approve the measure by unanimous consent, sparing its members from being put on the spot in a recorded vote and sending the bill directly to President Trump for his signature.
The 64-year-old Higgins, a former law enforcement officer who has represented the Pelican State’s 3rd District since 2017, provided a detailed explanation for his unpopular move on X.
Louisiana GOP Rep. Clay Higgins was the sole member of the House of Representatives to cast a “no” vote Tuesday on a resolution to force the Justice Department to publicize all files in the Jeffrey Epstein case. AP
Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in prison in 2019. Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Rep. Clay Higgins explains why he was the long lawmaker to vote “no” on releasing the Epstein files. AP“I have been a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning,” he wrote. “What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America.
“As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt. Not by my vote,” Higgins continued.
“The [House] Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation that has already released well over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case,” the lawmaker went on. “That effort will continue in a manner that provides all due protections for innocent Americans. If the Senate amends the bill to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated, then I will vote for that bill when it comes back to the House.”
Higgins will not get that chance, with the Senate opting to pass the House bill as is.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had also called for the Senate to amend the “dangerously flawed” bill to fix five major issues, including failure “to fully protect victim privacy” as well as that of undercover law enforcement and whistleblowers, the risk of disclosing “non-credible” allegations against others as well as child sex abuse material, and the potential to reveal “confidential sources and methods” used by the feds.
However, Senate Majority John Thune (R-SD) rebuffed the speaker, telling reporters Tuesday evening: “I think there are some things he’d like to change, but you got a 427-1 vote, it’s probably not likely to happen.”
The bill requires the Justice Department to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” regarding Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his co-conspirator who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, within 30 days of becoming law, as well as disclose “[i]ndividuals, including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity or plea agreements, or investigatory proceedings.”
“No record shall be withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary,” the bill text reads, though the attorney general is given discretion to withhold or redact documents that “contain personally identifiable information of victims or victims’ personal and medical files,” or whose release would “constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
Any redactions, which must be explained to Congress, can also conceal child sexual abuse material, information about ongoing criminal cases and informaiton that could harm national security
Despite going against his colleagues, Higgins’ stance won support from some commentators.
X user Shipwreckedcrew, a former federal prosecutor turned defense attorney, wrote in a post after the Epstein vote that “I know there are good reasons for not releasing raw information that federal agents write down. They write down everything, and then conduct the investigation to determine what is true and what is false.
“Many allegations made by third parties have ulterior motives that aren’t necessarily obvious in the initial reporting,” they continued. “That’s why some investigations are closed out without charges being filed. But that won’t stop innocent people from being dragged thru the mud by innuendo and false smears.
“The FBI has powerful tools to acquire information — we don’t want those tools to be the source of public inquisitions and trials in the ‘court of public opinion’ where the falsely accused has no good way to defend himself.”
