The House went ahead on Tuesday and passed a bill to require the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, but one lone Republican voted no on the measure, even after President Donald Trump called for it.

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) said he's always been a firm "no" on releasing the files, and he was forthcoming about his reasons for it on X.

“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,” Higgins said in an X post, for starters.

“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,” he continued.

"Due protections"

“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," he said.

The weird thing is, Epstein's victims are in support of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, calling it the first step toward justice.

“I am very pleased with the almost unanimous vote in the House to release the files. This is just the beginning, however, and the fight for full exposure, accountability, justice, and closure for Epstein’s survivors is just beginning,” lawyer Arick Fudali, who represents 11 Epstein victims, said.

Initially, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shared Higgins's concerns, but he voted for the legislation anyway.

"Truth will triumph"

The legislation was put forward by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), a bipartisan effort that was held back by Trump's opposition until some leaked emails made it look like he had something to hide.

The swearing-in of a new Democrat member made the passage all but inevitable, so Trump endorsed it and the opposition fell quickly into line.

“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.

“Some of them are victims. They’re no longer alive. Some have committed suicide. They share one thing in common. Their youth was robbed from them. Much of their lives were robbed from them. But they’re claiming it back.”

The measure still has to pass the Senate, but the overwhelming passage in the House makes that more likely.

It's all about to come out, and a lot of people could be exposed.