Epstein Files Release Live Updates: After House, US Senate unanimously approves bill to release Epstein files; bill heads to Trump’s desk

Larry Summers, the former president of Harvard University who once served as US treasury secretary, says he will step back from public commitments after the release of emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.

Summers did not detail exactly what stepping back would entail, saying in a statement that he would continue to teach and promised to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers said.

- AP

The House of Representatives on Tuesday night rejected an effort by the Republicans to censure US Virgin Islands Democratic Delegate Stacey Plaskett over her texts sent to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing in 2019.

Both Democrats and Republicans alike readied for a unanimous House vote Tuesday to pass a bill to force the release of the c ase files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But in the end, one lawmaker stood alone in opposition: Republican Rep. Clay Higgins.

Higgins, who is in his fifth term representing a congressional district in southwest Louisiana, explained in a lengthy statement that he was “a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning.” He raised some of the same objections that House Speaker Mike Johnson, another Louisiana Republican, had with the bill, yet even Johnson said Tuesday he would vote for it because, “None of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency.”

For Higgins, a fervent Trump supporter and a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, that wasn't a problem. (AP)

Even as the bill cleared his chamber, House Speaker Mike Johnson pressed for the Senate to amend it to protect the information of “victims and whistleblowers.” But Senate Majority Leader John Thune quickly shut down that notion.

As senators gathered in the chamber Tuesday evening for the first votes of the week, it became clear no one would object to passing the bill as written.

Just before Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called to pass the bill by unanimous consent, Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, a Republican who is close to President Trump, walked in the chamber and gave Schumer a thumbs-up. He then walked over to Schumer and shook his hand.

- AP

US President Donald Trump has reacted to the Epstein bill as it was introduced on the Senate floor by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and said he "don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill."

In a post on Truth Social, the US president wrote, "I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future, I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had, including THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, Closed Borders, No Men in Women’s Sports or Transgender for Everyone, ending DEI, stopping Biden’s Record Setting Inflation, Biggest Tax and Regulation Cuts in History, stopping EIGHT Wars, rebuilding our Military, being RESPECTED by every Country in the World."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called on the House Speaker Mike Johnson to transmit the Epstein files bill from the House to Senate "right now" as he vowed that the "fight continues" to release all the files related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

"Good victory today, the fight continues until the American people see all of the documents," Schumer said. Talking about Democrats, the Senate minority leader said "we will make sure all of it comes to light, and they don’t hide evidence against anyone who might be incriminated by these documents," CNN reported.

After the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the bill to release Epstein files, the US Senate has also approved the measure with a unanimous agreement among the senators, eventually sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature to force the Justice Department to release the files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.