The controversial ex-cop who was the only ‘no’ in the Epstein vote
Both Democrats and Republicans readied for a unanimous vote this morning to pass a bill that would force a release of the case files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
But in the end, one man stood alone in opposition: Republican Representative Clay Higgins.
Higgins, who is in his fifth term representing a congressional district in south-west Louisiana, explained in a lengthy statement that he was “a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning”.
Representative Clay Higgins speaks to reporters about the Epstein files during a recess in a congressional hearing in July. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/File via CNN)
He raised some of the same objections that House Speaker Mike Johnson, another Louisiana Republican, had with the bill, yet even Johnson said 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.
He refused to give in to the building pressure, both within the Republican base and from survivors of Epstein’s abuse, to pass the bill, even as both President Donald Trump and Johnson relented in their opposition to the legislation.
He said that his concern with the bill was that it “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.”
Higgins suggested he would be open to voting for the bill if the Senate amended it to protect the privacy of those “who are named but not criminally implicated”.
But the bill’s main sponsors have warned that was only a measure to protect people in Epstein’s orbit from embarrassment, and Senate leaders have shown no interest in taking up the proposed changes.
Jeffrey Epstein (centre) in court in 2008. (AP)
Yet Higgins is also no stranger to controversy. As a former law enforcement officer, he faced a series of allegations of misconduct and became politically involved after achieving viral fame by creating brash Crime Stoppers videos.
In Congress, he chairs the subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee that initiated a subpoena of the Department of Justice for the Epstein case files.
But even when Democrats on the subcommittee convinced several Republicans to vote with them to issue the subpoena, Higgins was one of the few who stood opposed. He also pressed to have the subcommittee subpoena former president Bill Clinton.
“I’ve never handled a subpoena like this. This is some fascinating stuff,” Higgins said at the time. On Tuesday, he pointed to the oversight panel’s work to investigate the government’s handling of the Epstein, saying that it was being done “in a manner that provides all due protections for innocent Americans.”
US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington. (Bloomberg)
Last year, Higgins also faced an attempt by Democrats to censure him for racist comments he had made about Haitian immigrants after Trump’s own comments about the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio.
In a social media post, Higgins called Haitians “wild. Eating pets, vudu, nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters.”
But after members of the Congressional Black Caucus, a group of Democratic lawmakers, confronted him about the post, Higgins deleted it and partially walked back the comments, saying they were intended for gang members.
At the time, Johnson defended Higgins, calling him “a very frank and outspoken person.”
