Trending badgeTrendingPosted 1 hour agoSubscribe to BuzzFeed Daily NewsletterCaret DownHere's The 1 US Representative Who Voted Against Releasing The Epstein FilesHmm.by Larry FitzmauriceBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink Well, it seems like we finally found something that unites most of our US politicians. Kypros In case you haven't been following the news over the last week or two, the push to release files related to late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein - who died in prison back in 2019 after facing sex trafficking charges - has made it all the way to the House of Representatives, who just voted on the matter. Bloomberg / Bloomberg via Getty Images A large part of this push stems from current US President Donald Trump's alleged connections to Epstein. Last week, new documents were released allegedly depicting facets of US President Donald Trump's relationship with Epstein - including an allegation that documented, in CNN's words, "Epstein's claim that Trump 'spent hours' with a trafficking and rape victim inside his home." Davidoff Studios Photography / Getty Images In response, the US Justice Department confirmed over the weekend that, at Trump's request, they'd be investigating Epstein's ties to former US president Bill Clinton, as well as the banks JP Morgan and Chase, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman (who is a donor for the Democratic Party). Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images What's more, after constant attempts by Trump to push back against the files being released, he recently did a complete about-face and called for House Republicans to vote in favor of releasing the files. Bill Pugliano / Getty Images And as it turns out, that's exactly what happened, as the House voted nearly unanimously on a bill that would authorize releasing the Epstein files. Now, the bill in question heads to the Senate for a vote as well. Adam Gray / Getty Images Let's get into the specifics of the vote for a second: Overall, 427 Representatives - specifically, 211 Democrats and 216 Republicans (!) - voted in favor of the bill. Five Representatives - 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans - abstained from voting entirely. Davidoff Studios Photography / Getty Images Only one Representative, across both parties, voted against releasing the Epstein files - and that Representative in question is the man below, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana. It will probably not shock you to find out that he is, indeed, a Republican. Kayla Bartkowski / Getty Images Clay explained the reasoning behind his vote on - where else? - Twitter (no, I'm not going to call it "X"). "I have been a principled 'NO' on this bill from the beginning," he wrote. "What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America."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 @RepClayHiggins / Via x.com "As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people - witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. 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. 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." Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images The Representative also claimed that "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." Whatever you say!