House Vote on Releasing the Epstein Files Scheduled for Next Week

A congressional vote on whether to release the full Department of Justice (DOJ) files relating to the investigation into accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein will likely take place next week.

The scheduled vote comes as several emails from Epstein, provided by his estate following a subpoena from House Oversight Committee Democrats, reveal disturbing details about Trump’s relationship with Epstein, and raise the possibility that the two were still meeting as late as November 2017.

On Wednesday, shortly after being sworn into office, Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Arizona) became the 218th person to sign a discharge petition demanding a vote on releasing the files. Hers was the final signature needed to compel Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to schedule the vote.

The vote could technically be delayed, using parliamentary rules available to Johnson, until December. But shortly after the discharge petition reached the number of signatures needed, the speaker announced that he would schedule a vote much sooner.

“We’re going to put that on the floor for a full vote when we get back next week,” Johnson said.

Although the vast majority of Republicans have voiced opposition to the idea, the legislation to release the files is technically bipartisan, with four Republicans joining the Democratic conference in supporting the bill. The decision to expedite the vote is perhaps indicative that Johnson and other GOP leaders want the issue of the Epstein files to disappear quickly, well ahead of the holiday season.

Despite speeding up the process, Johnson continued to express annoyance at the idea of holding such a vote.

“It’s a totally pointless exercise,” he whined to reporters. “It’s completely moot now. We might as well just do it. I mean, they have 218 signatures, that’s fine, we’ll do it.”

He added:

I think it’s a massive distraction by the Democrats while we’re trying to get the government reopened and cover for their mistakes.

Johnson also bizarrely asserted that President Donald Trump was in favor of “maximum transparency” on the matter — a statement that is false, given Trump’s many complaints about the files being made public and his claims that the issue is a “hoax.”

“He’s for everything coming out,” Johnson said.

Despite Johnson’s claims, Trump warned Republicans in a Truth Social post on Wednesday against voting for the files to be released, calling any GOP lawmaker who would support the bill “very bad” or “stupid.”

Sources with knowledge of the planned vote are predicting that dozens of Republicans will end up supporting the bill, with some anticipating that as many as 100 Republicans will “defect” from Trump on the matter. Still, the chances of the bill becoming law are low.

After the bill passes the House, it will move to the Senate, where a filibuster would effectively table the measure indefinitely. Even if 13 Republicans join with every Democratic caucus member in the chamber to overcome the filibuster and pass the bill, the bill could be vetoed by Trump.

But blocking the bill would be an unpopular move for Republicans in the upper chamber, as a majority of Americans want the files made public. A veto from Trump, meanwhile, would rouse new suspicions against him at a time when his approval ratings are near all-time lows. Indeed, an Economist/YouGov poll this past summer found that 67 percent of Americans believe the government is covering up evidence relating to the Epstein case.

Wednesday also saw the release of a batch of emails from Epstein’s estate that suggest Trump was aware of Epstein’s misdeeds, and was keeping secrets on his behalf. In one email, Epstein described Trump as “that dog that hasn’t barked.” In another, Epstein said Trump “knew about the girls,” referring to the victims of his sex crimes.

Among the communications that were eventually released is an email from Epstein detailing his plans for Thanksgiving in 2017.

Asked by NEXT Model Management founder Faith Kates where he was planning to spend the holiday, Epstein responded that he would be with “eva,” likely referring to his ex-girlfriend Eva Andersson-Dubin. Kates then asked “who else is down there?,” to which Epstein responded with a list of names.

“david fizel, hanson, trump,” he wrote back.

The back-and-forth doesn’t definitively prove that Epstein dined with Trump that Thanksgiving, but it does provide more reason for the Epstein files to be made public. Additional emails have also indicated that Epstein was regularly visiting Trump Tower long after he and Trump supposedly ended their friendship, and that guests of Epstein’s thought he and Trump could possibly be meeting with each other around that time.