Northwest lawmakers all back release of ‘Epstein files’ in Congress after Trump relents

WASHINGTON – Hours after the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to direct the Justice Department to release all of its investigative files on the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, senators unanimously sent the measure to the desk of President Donald Trump.

The back-to-back approvals marked a remarkable turn of events after Trump campaigned on a promise to release the documents, then spent the first 10 months of his second term dismissing calls for transparency as a “hoax,” all while pressure mounted over his own connections to Epstein. The president went so far as to label a longtime GOP ally in Congress a “traitor” for her support of the discharge petition, a seldom -used mechanism that forced Tuesday’s vote in the House over the objections of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Every lawmaker from the Northwest voted for the House bill, although none of the region’s Republicans were among the handful of GOP representatives who – along with every Democrat – signed the discharge petition. The vote came just two days after Trump seemingly bowed to political pressure and stopped opposing the move, encouraging Republicans to support it.

In a statement released after the vote, Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane, said he supported the measure “because, as I have long said, the evil and predatory network surrounding Jeffrey Epstein must be fully exposed.”

“The American people deserve the truth, and every victim of sexual assault deserves justice,” Baumgartner said. “That pursuit of justice begins with transparency and accountability.”

In the same statement, Baumgartner referred to the revelation that Del. Stacy Plaskett, a nonvoting Democratic member of the House from the U.S. Virgin Islands, exchanged text messages with Epstein during a congressional hearing in 2019. Republicans seized on the messages, which were revealed in a trove of documents related to Epstein that were released by the House Oversight Committee on Nov. 12, underlining how politically charged the issue remains despite the near-unanimous vote.

“This is a five‑alarm ethics fire that cannot be ignored,” Baumgartner said of Plaskett’s communication with Epstein in February 2019, an example of how influential the multimillionaire remained more than a decade after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges in Florida related to prostitution of an underage girl.

After a 2018 investigation by the Miami Herald revealed that Epstein had sexually abused dozens of girls and received what critics called a lenient plea deal to avoid prosecution, he was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019. A medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death in September of that year in his prison cell a suicide, but it has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories involving the financier’s ties to wealthy and powerful people around the world, including Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

The resolution passed Tuesday compels the Justice Department to release documents related to the federal charges that have not been made public since Epstein’s death ended the prosecution.

Trump, who shared a public friendship with Epstein beginning in the 1980s, has said he ended that relationship before Epstein was arrested in 2006. The Florida prosecutor who oversaw the nonprosecution agreement that let Epstein serve barely a year in jail – much of which was a controversial “work release” arrangement that let him leave via limousine for 12 hours a day – was Alex Acosta, who went on to become secretary of labor in Trump’s first term.

While he campaigned on a promise to release more documents related to Epstein, Trump opposed the discharge petition in the House until Sunday, when it appeared inevitable that the measure would pass. Despite pressure from the president to withdraw their support, four Republicans signed the petition: Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

The petition was one signature short of the majority of House members needed to force a vote, as Johnson declined to seat Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., for nearly two months after she was elected to succeed her late father in a special election in September. When the House returned from its two-month break to end the government shutdown on Nov. 12, Grijalva officially became a member of Congress and signed the petition.

Along with Massie, the petition was led by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. In a brief interview at the Capitol before the vote, Khanna told The Spokesman-Review that while Trump could direct the Justice Department to release the files, “The bill would be a much more constitutional way to do it.”

“It’s about standing up for forgotten and abandoned Americans over a corrupt Epstein class, a group of people who are rich and powerful and have abused the American people,” Khanna said, casting the push for transparency as part of a bigger political project.

Speaking at the White House before the vote on Tuesday, Trump criticized an ABC News reporter who asked him if he would simply order the release of the Epstein files – which he has the power to do – calling her a “terrible person” and suggesting she should have asked the question more “nicely.”

Just one House lawmaker, Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., voted against the measure on Tuesday, citing his concern that releasing the files without redacting sensitive information could potentially harm Epstein’s victims. Other Republicans expressed similar objections, but their political calculus was summed up by Johnson, who said before the vote, “None of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency.”

Rep. Russ Fulcher, a Republican who represents North Idaho, said in a brief interview after voting to release the files that he was also concerned about potential harm to the victims. He said that while the discharge petition didn’t allow the House to amend the bill before passing it, he hoped the Senate would add an amendment to make the appropriate redactions.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican who represents central Washington, expressed the same concern in a statement released after the vote.

“While Jeffrey Epstein is dead, the fact remains that his victims were trafficked, their innocence exploited, and they deserve justice for the heinous crimes committed by this horrible man,” Newhouse said. “The entirety of the debate around releasing the Epstein files has been centered around one thing, transparency. My top priority in releasing these files has been protecting the victims, especially the minors, as well as ensuring any unsealed information does not interfere with active pursuits of justice.”

But soon after the House sent the bill to the upper chamber, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said amending it was unnecessary. Apparently eager to move past the issue quickly, he allowed Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to bring the legislation up for unanimous consent. With no senator objecting, it was sent to Trump, who said he would sign it.

Before the Senate approved the bill, Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray of Washington joined all of their fellow Democratic senators in sending a letter to Thune calling on the GOP leader not to obstruct the effort, as they accused Johnson of doing in the House.

“The victims of Jeffrey Epstein – and the American people – deserve answers, accountability and the truth,” the Democratic senators wrote. “So far, they have only seen empty promises from President Trump and his Administration.”

Fulcher pointed out that Democrats showed little interest in the Epstein files until recently, suggesting that their focus on the issue is opportunistic. But although only four House Republicans publicly broke with Trump on the issue – leading the president to call Greene “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene” and “a disgrace to our GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY” in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday – his reversal one day later suggested there may be a limit to the president’s grip on the GOP.