US LAWMAKERS VOTED today to release government records on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after President Donald Trump walked back months of opposition to opening a case file tied to one of the country’s most notorious scandals.

The near-unanimous vote came after President Donald Trump – Epstein’s one-time close friend –  endorsed legislation that now moves to the Senate for approval.

Lawmakers say the public deserves answers in a case with over 1,000 alleged victims.

The US House voted 427-1 to force the justice department to release all files relating Jeffrey Epstein. The bill will now have to be passed by Senate before Trump signs it into law.

Sky Roberts, brother of prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, speaks as his wife Amanda holds her photograph during a news conference as the House prepared to vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, at the Capitol in Washington. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

But the Justice Department has wide latitude to hold back any information if release “would jeopardise an active federal investigation”.

Republican US Representative Clay Higgins was the only no vote for the bipartisan bill. In a post on X he said the bill “reveals and injures thousands of innocent people”.

Yesterday Trump called on his own party - Republican lawmakers – to vote to release more files related to deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, as it became clear many in his party would defy his opposition to the release.

Survivors of Epstein abuse held spoke at a news conference at the US Capitol earlier today urging the House of Representatives to pass publicise the files.

With the help of Ghislaine Maxwell, who acted as a recruiter, Epstein brought underage girls to his residences – notably in New York and Florida – where they were sexually abused, often under the guise of providing erotic massages.

Before Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial in a pedophile trafficking case, he had been required to register as a sex offender in Florida after pleading guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution, including from a minor.

A photo board featuring a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump during a House of Representatives committee hearing last year. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The development comes after Democrats released emails last week that suggested Trump was aware of the disgraced financier’s sexual abuse and “knew about the girls”.

The US President has since accused Democrats of pushing an “Epstein hoax”. He says the files will expose powerful Democrats’ connections to Epstein, but the president himself faces uncomfortable scrutiny over his years-long friendship with the man alleged to have supplied underage girls to rich and influential men.

Trump has repeatedly denied any involved or knowledge of the sex-trafficking activities of his former friend, who died by suicide in 2019 while in prison awaiting trial, and accused Democrats of trying to “deflect” from their own failings with the latest messages.

Some critics have accused Trump of trying to conceal details about his own alleged wrongdoing – something the 79-year-old denies – by looking to block the vote.

Taking to his Truth Social platform last night, Trump wrote: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.

“It’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party.”

The issue has divided his typically loyal Republican party and driven a rift between Trump and some of his closest allies within his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

With additional reporting from AFP