The US Congress on Tuesday voted to pass legislation that would force the Department of Justice to release its investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
President Donald Trump, one of many prominent, wealthy men named in the files, supported the measure after it became clear Republicans would vote in favour of the so-called Epstein Files Transparency Act. Being named in the files does not necessarily imply any wrongdoing.
The House voted 427-1 to pass the measure. Later, Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer asked for unanimous consent to pass the bill, and without any objections raised, the measure passed.
Epstein was a well-connected financier who died in jail in New York while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked minors. He was previously convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Survivors of Epstein's trafficking ring say the government must release all files in the case, which exploded back into the headlines this month after Democrats released a series of emails from Epstein, including one that said Mr Trump "knew about the girls".
Mr Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said he terminated his friendship with Epstein because he was a "sick person".
“These women have fought the most horrific fight that no woman should have to fight," said Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene as she stood with some of the abuse survivors outside the Capitol.
“That’s what we did by fighting so hard against the most powerful people in the world, even the President of the United States, in order to make this vote happen today."
Ms Greene was a one-time Trump loyalist who the President recently called Marjorie "Traitor" Greene in a public falling out over the Epstein case and other issues.
A separate investigation conducted by the House Oversight Committee has released thousands of pages of emails and other documents from Epstein's estate, showing his connections to global leaders, Wall Street powerbrokers, influential political figures and Mr Trump himself.
Mr Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein years ago, but tried for months to move past the demands for disclosure and has called the scandal a Democrat-led hoax, even though Republicans have been clamouring for the release of the investigative files for years.
But many in the Republican base have continued to demand the release of the files.
“We are exhausted from surviving the trauma and then surviving the political conflicts that surround it,” said Jena-Lisa Jones, one of the survivors, said at a press conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday.
She added that she had voted for Mr Trump, but now had a message for the President: “I beg you Donald Trump, please stop making this political.”
Mr Trump now says he supports the Epstein files being published but is refusing to order their immediate release, which as President he has the power to do.
When asked about this by a reporter on Air Force One, he pointed at her and said: "Quiet. Quiet, piggy."
An ABC reporter later asked him a similar question. "It's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It's the way you ask these questions," Mr Trump responded, before saying ABC's broadcast licence should be revoked.
He did not answer the question directly.
