Republicans Pass Resolution Supporting House Oversight Epstein Probe

The House of Representatives on Wednesday gave the green light to a resolution that would, among other items, support the House Oversight Committee continuing its probe into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a 212–208 vote, the House approved the rule, which included a provision related to the investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his accomplice and former girlfriend.

The resolution formally authorizes the Oversight panel to “continue its ongoing investigation into the possible mismanagement of the Federal Government’s investigation of … Epstein and … Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the Federal government to effectively combat them.”

The language was tucked into a larger rule allowing for the consideration of several other unrelated bills.

A day earlier, the House Oversight Committee released more than 33,000 pages of documents related to Epstein and Maxwell’s cases.

In a statement announcing the release, the committee said the DOJ has cooperated with the ongoing Oversight probe, and “will continue producing” records related to the case while redacting the victims’ identities and child sexual abuse material.

In total, the panel produced 33,295 pages of records.

Among the files included were video clips appearing to be body cam footage from police searches, as well as recordings and summaries of law enforcement interviews with victims detailing the abuse they said they suffered.

Democrats on the panel were critical of the release for not containing much new information.

In a statement on the release, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said that the files consist largely of information already made public by the DOJ, with only about 3 percent containing new information.

Epstein died in federal custody in 2019 after he was charged with sex trafficking underage girls into a decades-long criminal operation. Officials say he hung himself inside his jail cell.

His partner in the criminal operation, Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence. In 2021, Maxwell was convicted on five counts, including sex trafficking a minor, transporting minors for illegal sexual activity, conspiracy to sex traffic minors, conspiracy to transport minors for illegal sexual activity, and conspiracy to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

The vote comes as Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) have moved to force a vote on a measure that would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to publicly disclose all documents related to the case within 30 days.

Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.