{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-statement-on-senate-passing-bill-to-release-the-epstein-files", "Durbin Statement On Senate Passing Bill To Release The Epstein Files", "2025-11-19", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Richard J. Durbin", "D000563", "www.durbin.senate.gov", "durbin", "https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the Senate unanimously passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed the House of Representatives in a 427-1 vote and now heads to the President\u2019s desk:\n\n\u201cFirst and foremost, this vote is in tribute to and honor of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell\u2019s horrific crimes\u2014and any victim or survivor of sexual abuse. Never in America can we tolerate such atrocious crimes.\n\n\u201cPresident Trump and his MAGA allies spent years peddling lies on the campaign trail about the \u2018Epstein files\u2019\u2014only to conduct a massive cover-up once they got into office.\n\n\u201cNo more. No more lies, no more secrets. It\u2019s time to provide true transparency to the American people about one of our country\u2019s most extreme sex traffickers and the extent of his horrifying crimes\u2014so we can work to prevent it from ever happening again.\n\n\u201cNow, it\u2019s time for President Trump to sign this bill into law, support transparency, and stand with victims.\u201d\n\nEarlier today, Durbin joined his Senate Democratic colleagues in calling on Leader John Thune (R-SD) to immediately bring the Epstein Files Transparency Act to the Senate floor for a vote, without delay or unnecessary process distractions.\n\nThe legislation requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to \u201cto publish \u2026 all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in DOJ\u2019s possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein,\u201d including materials that relate to Ghislaine Maxwell, flight logs and travel records, and individuals named or referenced (including government officials) in connection with the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.\n\nThe bill includes protections for victims, stating that \u201cDOJ is permitted to withhold certain information such as the personal information of victims and materials that would jeopardize an active federal investigation.\u201d\n\nIn July, Durbin revealed that FBI whistleblowers had disclosed that personnel were instructed to \u201cflag\u201d any Epstein records in which President Trump was mentioned. When pressed on this during her oversight hearing, Attorney General Bondi stonewalled, saying, \u201cI\u2019m not going to discuss anything about that with you.\u201d\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-statement-on-senate-passing-bill-to-release-the-epstein-files"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0865611732006073, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}