Clay Higgins: The sole Republican who voted 'no' to releasing the Epstein files

Representative Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana, was the sole no vote against releasing government records on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It comes after President Donald Trump changed his position, after months of opposition to opening the case file tied to one of the US' most notorious scandals.

"I'm a vote against," Higgins earlier told CNN.

"My understanding and I've looked into it extensively is that the president didn't like that guy, he had no friendly relationships with him. You can't control who takes a picture with you," he said.

In a post on X, Higgins further explained his vote, saying he has "been a principled "NO" on this from the beginning. What was wrong with this bil three months ago is still wrong today".

"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."

Higgins is also a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is currently investigating the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein case, ABC Australia reported.

Before Trump changed his stance, Republicans had argued the panel should be solely responsible for releasing files as they sort through them. It was this panel that released 20,000 pages of documents obtained from Epstein's estate last week, ABC reported.

More to come....