Fury at sole rebel in 427-1 vote to release Epstein files.. as he reveals why he tried to block move

A Republican representative is facing backlash after he was the sole lawmaker not to vote for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files in the House’s 427-1 vote.

Clay Higgins, of Louisiana, was accused of ‘defending pedophiles’ by critics on X, while others called for him to be investigated.

But the Republican argued that he was voting on the principle to enshrine the sanctity of the criminal justice system, arguing that witnesses had been given protections which risked being eroded if the files are published.

‘I have been a principled “NO” on this bill from the beginning,’ he posted on X ‘[The bill] abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America.’

‘As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc.’

He warned that releasing tens of thousands of documents to the ‘rabid media’ will result in innocent people being identified.

Higgins added that if the Senate amends the bill to protect the privacy of the victims and others who are named but not criminally implicated, then he would vote for it.

Soon after posting his reasoning for voting against the bill on X, Higgins received a torrent of backlash online.

Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), model Melania Knauss, financier Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000

Louisiana Republican Congressman Clay Higgins was the only representative to vote against releasing additional Epstein files

‘Check his hard dive @fbi,’ reacted Patrick Webb, the co-founder of Leading Report.

Another X user, Louisa Clary, wrote: ‘Who are you voting to protect? It isn’t the survivors. They approved the protections already included in the existing Epstein Transparency Act.’

Higgins has voiced support for the active House Oversight Committee investigation, led by Chairman James Comer, into Epstein as an alternative to the Epstein Transparency Act, which the US House of Representatives passed on Tuesday afternoon.

‘The Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation that has already released well over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case,’ Higgins wrote in his post.

Higgins’ office has been asked for comment.

Though his support for the committee’s probe was not enough to shield Higgins from criticism.

‘The victims themselves have been pleading for the release of those files. Their voices should count the most. Of course the files should be made public. Only then can justice come,’ Akash Maniam wrote on X.

Another user posted: ‘This is the modern day equivalent of covering up the JFK assassination.’

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-CA, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-GA, speak during a press conference with survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein chat at a social event in a still from an NBC News video from the early 2000s

Though the effort received broad bipartisan support, it was endangered by President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly urged Republicans to vote against the bill.

He has called the scandal a ‘Democrat hoax’ and suggested repeatedly that liberals have more to lose from the Epstein saga than Republicans.

But Republican voters were not satisfied with the president’s answers and they urged their GOP representatives to vote on releasing the Justice Department’s trove of Epstein files.

Now the bill will head to the Senate, where it is expected to be quickly taken up for a vote.

That could happen on Tuesday evening or Wednesday, sources familiar with the matter revealed to the Daily Mail.

It is expected to garner widespread bipartisan support and then go to Trump’s desk for his signature. Trump has said he would sign the bill if it passes out of both chambers of Congress.

Higgins made headlines last year for launching an independent investigation into the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania

Higgins, a congressman since 2017, raised his national profile last year after leading an independent probe into Thomas Matthew Crooks following the young man’s assassination attempt on Trump.

A former sheriff, the Republican ventured solo to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the horrific shooting that left one dead and two critically injured, in addition to Trump, to probe the US Secret Service’s failure to protect the former and future president.

In August 2024, Higgins released a report detailing what he described as abnormalities, including the quick cremation of Crooks’ body days after the tragedy.