Enough House members have signed a petition to force consideration of a bill authorizing lawsuits that would force the U.S. attorney general to release withheld records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rep. John Garamendi, California Democrat, was the 218th member to sign the petition.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act II, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, is a sequel to his previous act mandating the release of all Justice Department files on Mr. Epstein.
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Since the almost unanimous passage of the original Epstein act, Mr. Massie has alleged that the administration has violated it by unnecessarily withholding and redacting information.
The new bill would allow victims of Mr. Epstein, as well as state and local officials, to sue the Justice Department.
Republican Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, as well as Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, joined Mr. Massie in signing the petition.
None of them will serve in the next Congress.
Mr. Epstein was arrested in 2008 for soliciting and procuring prostitution from a minor, for which he served jail time.
In 2019, he was arrested on sex trafficking charges and died by suicide in federal custody while awaiting trial.
Since his death, lawmakers from both parties have alleged that he was the head of a large sex trafficking conspiracy catering to powerful clients, and that his death was the result of foul play.
During the 119th Congress, both parties have continued to accuse each other’s politicians of associating with the late sex offender, with the House Oversight Committee devoting months to its investigation.
Democrats have pledged to continue investigating Mr. Epstein in the next Congress.
President Trump initially opposed efforts to compel the release of the Epstein files, characterizing attempts to associate him with the actions of Mr. Epstein, whom he knew personally, as a “hoax.”
He ultimately signed Mr. Massie’s original bill into law.
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