Procedural vote added to bill regarding Jeffrey Epstein documents defeated in House, new bill introduced

A U.S. House Bill H.R.4505 was introduced on Tuesday, asking for the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all documents and records in possession of the Department of Justice relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

US Representative Michael Rulli told 21 News that the procedural vote in the Rules Committee related to S.1582 on Tuesday garnered attention after House Democrats inserted an amendment regarding Epstein documents into the bill regarding cryptocurrency, which was defeated by a single vote.

211 Republicans voted against adding this amendment to Bill S.1582, and 210 Democrats voted in favor. 

The nine Republicans who chose not to vote on the amendment included Andy Ogles and Mark Green of Tennessee, three from Texas, including Michael McCaul, Wesley Hunt, and Monica De La Cruz; Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Barry Loudermilk, and Buddy Carter, both of Georgia.

H.R. 4505, which was introduced late Tuesday, will now undergo the required committee process before it can be voted on, Rulli said. 

Epstein died in prison in 2019, awaiting trial during a sex trafficking investigation involving underage girls. 

Rulli told 21 News, "I have been, and remain, 100% in favor of releasing every single document related to Jeffrey Epstein. I support the full prosecution and indictment of anyone involved. I am fully supportive of an aggressive investigation into any entities, foreign or domestic, that were involved with these heinous crimes."

The Associated Press reported that last week, the Justice Department and the FBI said that Epstein did not maintain a “client list” to whom underage girls were trafficked, and said no more files related to the investigation would be made public, even though Attorney General Pam Bondi had suggested in February that a document was sitting on her desk waiting for review. Last week, however, Bondi said she had been referring generally to the Epstein case file, not a client list.

The vote led to President Donald Trump lashing out Wednesday at his own supporters, accusing them of being duped by Democrats, which Trump now called a “Hoax,” according to the Associated Press.

NBC News reported that Trump called some Republicans "weaklings" who called for the release of Epstein files earlier in the week. In recent days, the president questioned why the case "would be of interest to anybody."

"It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring, and I don’t understand why it keeps going," Trump told reporters Tuesday evening.

A growing backlash and calls for the release of documents stem from the fact that the president and other politicians were acquainted with Epstein over the years, though Trump said they had a falling out "years ago."

The official cause of Epstein's 2019 jail death was ruled a suicide; however, conspiracy theories arose claiming that Epstein was murdered as part of a plot to protect his wealthy and powerful inner circle.