Lone Member of Congress to Vote Against Epstein Files Release Says it Was a ‘Principled’ Decision

Conservative News DailyNovember 18, 2025

The article discusses the political and public interest surrounding the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile involved in an extensive underage sex trafficking operation. After Epstein’s apparent suicide in August 2019, there has been widespread demand for justice and transparency from both sides of the political spectrum. Recently, a bipartisan bill to unseal the Epstein files passed in the House of Representatives with a vote of 427-1.The sole dissenting vote came from Rep. clay Higgins, who argued that the bill compromised centuries of criminal justice procedure and risked harming innocent people such as witnesses and family members. Despite these concerns, proponents like Rep. Thomas Massie emphasized the importance of transparency for survivors and combating deception. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to pass quickly.

Few political issues, if any, have taken a life of its own quite like the files pertaining to disgraced financier and power broker Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein — a convicted pedophile and apparent mastermind of a horrific underage sex trafficking ring — had made quite a number of powerful friends.

People naturally wanted justice after Epstein seemingly killed himself in August 2019. But people also just wanted answers.

And that includes people of all political persuasions.

According to The Hill, a bill looking to unseal the Epstein files passed almost unanimously across Democratic and Republican lines.

Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna spearheaded the bill, which passed 427-1.

That lone dissenting vote belonged to Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana.

And he explained his controversial decision on social media:

I have been a principled “NO” on this bill from the beginning. What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America. As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses,…

— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) November 18, 2025

“I have been a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning,” Higgins posted Tuesday. “What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It 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.”

Higgins then doubled down on his “no” vote (emphasis his).

“If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt,” Higgins posted. “Not by my vote. The Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation that has already released well over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case.

“That effort will continue in a manner that provides all due protections for innocent Americans. If the Senate amends the bill to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated, then I will vote for that bill when it comes back to the House.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed those concerns, but ultimately voted in favor of unsealing the files.

Massie, meanwhile, has been one of the most vocal proponents of unsealing these files, and doubled down after the near-unanimous vote in the House.

“Truth will triumph over deception and obfuscation. Transparency will triumph over dark money. Partisanship will fall away to bipartisanship. Grassroots, the people, will reclaim the people’s house with this vote. It’s going to be a victory for survivors — not just survivors of the Epstein sex trafficking scandal, the thousand survivors that exist,” Massie said in a Tuesday floor speech.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune has already suggested that it will pass expeditiously.