US Congress votes to release Epstein files. Decision taken with only one vote against

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to require the release of the Justice Department's files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an outcome that President Donald Trump fought for months before finally giving up his opposition, reports Reuters, carried by Agerpres.

Two days after Trump's sudden change of heart, the measure passed by 427 votes to one, so the Senate will now consider a resolution requiring the release of all unclassified records about Epstein. However, there is no certainty that the Republican leader of the majority in the Senate will even organize a vote there, AFP states.

The public and increasingly bitter conflict between Republicans over the Epstein files has fractured relations between Trump and some of his most ardent supporters.

Before the vote, about 20 survivors of Epstein's alleged abuse joined a trio of elected Democrats and Republicans outside the US Capitol to demand the release of the records. The women held up photos of themselves when they were younger, the age they said they first met Epstein, a New York financier who fraternized with some of the most powerful men in the country.

The Epstein scandal has been a political thorn in Trump's side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein in front of his own supporters, Reuters comments.

Many Trump voters believe his administration covered up Epstein's ties to powerful figures and hid details of his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan prison in 2019.

Despite changing his position on the bill, the Republican president remains angry about the attention given to the Epstein case, Reuters adds. On Tuesday, he called a reporter who asked about the case in the Oval Office a “terrible person.” In addition, Trump stated that the ABC television station, for which the journalist worked, should have its license revoked.