WASHINGTON – Nearly every member of the U.S. House of Representatives on both sides of the aisle voted on Tuesday, Nov. 18, to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill that would require the federal government to publicly release as much information as possible about the late accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
One lawmaker, however, was an adamant no.
Rep. Clay Higgins, a former police officer, was the lone vote against the legislation. For the Louisiana Republican, who typically votes with other conservatives, it was a politically unusual choice. But he said it came down to privacy concerns.
Safeguarding the personal information of Epstein's many victims was his primary issue with the legislation, even though most GOP lawmakers, following President Donald Trump's lead, joined with Democrats to support the measure in recent days.
"As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc.," Higgins wrote on social media after casting his vote. "If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt."
