WASHNGTON, November 18. /TASS/. The House of Representatives of the US Congress has adopted the bill demanding to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, according to the vote’s live broadcast by C-SPAN.
A total of 427 lawmakers voted in favor of the document, obliging the US Department of Justice to publish the files, one voted against. The bill will now go to the Senate and, if approved, will be submitted to US President Donald Trump for signing.
When asked whether he was ready to sign the bill into law, Trump replied that he fully supports it. Earlier, he called upon his fellow party members in the Congress to also support it, at the same time accusing the Democrats of an attempt "to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party."
Democrats earlier this week published part of Epstein's emails with several of his acquaintances and confidants. They indicated that Trump might have known about the financier's crimes. The White House described the Democrats' actions as an attempt to smear the president.
Epstein was detained by New York State law enforcement in July, 2019. The prosecutor's office said there was evidence that in 2002-2005 he organized visits to his Manhattan home by dozens of underage girls, the youngest of whom was 14. Epstein's friends and acquaintances included a large number of current and retired officials not only from the United States, but from many other countries, including former heads of state, major entrepreneurs, and show business stars. The criminal prosecution of the financier in the United States was terminated after he committed suicide in a prison cell in August 2019.
Epstein's acquaintances included 42nd US President Bill Clinton and Trump.