Both chambers of Congress agreed to order the US justice department to release its files on sex offender financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure in a 427-1 vote and the Senate unanimously fast-tracked it without a formal vote.
The moves come just days after President Donald Trump reversed his position and urged Congress to vote to disclose the records following public pushback from many of his supporters.
Last week, Trump and his ties to Epstein were thrust back into the headlines after more than 20,000 pages of documents – some mentioning the president – were released. The White House denied any wrongdoing.
Epstein, a financier, was found dead in his New York prison cell in 2019 in what a coroner ruled was a suicide.
He was being held on charges of sex trafficking, having previously been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.
During two criminal investigations into Epstein, thousands of documents were gathered, including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses.
Trump and Epstein previously socialised in similar circles, but the president said he cut ties with Epstein many years ago, before his 2008 conviction. The president also said he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activity.
Last week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published three email chains, including correspondence between Epstein and Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Some of those make mention of Trump, including one email, sent in 2011, in which Epstein wrote to Maxwell: “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.. [VICTIM] spent hours at my house with him.”
The White House said last week that the victim referenced in the email was prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
She said that row over Epstein has been one of the “most destructive things” to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement since his election in 2016.
Survivors of Epstein’s abuse also spoke at the news conference, urging lawmakers to release the files and pushing Trump to do the same.
Epstein survivor Annie Farmer said that keeping the files under wraps amounted to “institutional betrayal”.
“Because these crimes were not properly investigated, so many more girls and women were harmed,” Ms Farmer said.
By James Kisoo
