These Fort Worth area members of Congress will vote to release Epstein files
At least four Tarrant County lawmakers are expected to vote for the release of the Epstein files when the issue is brought up before the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
Pressure for the Department of Justice to release case files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation has mounted in recent months, cumulating in a vote that’s expected Tuesday, according to Politico. The closely-watched development comes after four Republican House members joined with Democrats to approve a discharge petition, according to USA Today, bypassing House leadership and forcing a vote on the issue.
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Willow Park Republican, Rep. Craig Goldman, a Fort Worth Republican, and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, all said they’ll support the documents’ release when it comes time for a floor vote. A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat, confirmed Tuesday that the congressman also plans to vote for the files’ release.
Other members of Congress representing parts of Tarrant County — Republicans Jake Ellzey and Brandon Gill — did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday.
“My colleagues in the House are leading the most transparent investigation into Epstein, following the Oversight Committee’s release of over 65,000 pages of documentation,” Williams said in a statement. “While the upcoming vote is completely unnecessary and distracting, I plan to vote for their release and applaud Speaker Mike Johnson for working to get this over with as quickly as possible so we can get back to work for the American people.”
Goldman said he has “always stood with survivors of sexual assault” in a written statement shared Monday.
“In the Texas Legislature, I authored one of the strictest laws in the state to find and capture sexual predators,” Goldman said. “Now in Congress, I have consistently called for the public release of the Epstein files and I supported the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into this matter. I will vote in favor of releasing all the files.”
Republican Beth Van Duyne of Irving didn’t say how she plans to vote in a Monday statement but did support the public release of more information related to the investigation around Epstein.
“Following years of the Biden Administration suppressing the release of information concerning Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes against an untold number of women, the Trump Administration has been steadily sharing more information with the American public,” Van Duyne said. “With this vote tomorrow, hopefully all information that doesn’t needlessly expose other victims will be released for the American public to review and scrutinize for themselves.”
President Donald Trump on Sunday said that House Republicans should vote in favor of the files’ release, reversing his previous position.
“As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,’” Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump’s connections to Epstein have been scrutinized, including after the recent release of Epstein emails naming Trump.
In his Truth Social post, Trump said the Department of Justice has “already turned over tens of thousands of pages to the public” related to Epstein and is “looking at various Democrat operatives,” like former president Bill Clinton, and their relationship to Epstein.
Crockett — a former criminal defense attorney who serves on the Judiciary Committee and its subcommittee on oversight — said many survivors are looking for transparency.
“Typically, as a criminal defense attorney, this is something that, in my mind, belongs in the courts,” Crockett said in a Monday interview.
But the Department of Justice isn’t instructed in prosecuting “actual crime,” she said.
“And so, this is some semblance of justice to allow these people who perpetrated these heinous acts to be put out there publicly,” Crockett said.
She later added, “As somebody who did criminal defense, I can tell you that when you have a sophisticated situation, usually one person isn’t enough to break it, because it is a system. And so, I am not positive that this is not still going on. It’s just that Jeffrey Epstein isn’t part of it. And so I do want to be able to give some clarity to the American people that this is something that’s been broken, and if it has been broken, I want to know where the loopholes were that allowed for this to happen to make sure that we can prevent it from happening in the future.”
The legislation on the files’ release must pass in the House before going to the Senate for a vote.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, was not available for an interview Monday. A spokesperson for fellow Texas Republican, Sen. Ted Cruz, directed the Star-Telegram to a Monday episode of Cruz’s podcast, “The Verdict.”
While Cruz didn’t directly say how he’d vote if the files’ release were considered in the Senate, Cruz did say he was glad to see Trump’s Sunday post and expressed support for the information being made public.
“I assume somewhere in the vast files there is something that is embarrassing to some Republican somewhere,” Cruz said. “I assume that, because there was clearly some hesitancy to release this information. They haven’t done so. But everything we know about it is the overwhelming weight of the evidence is a bunch of corrupt Democrats who were on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane, were on the Lolita Express, who went to his island and presumably participated in assaulting underage girls. And I’ve said for a long time, release that all. Make it public if anyone has sexually assaulted an underage girl. Prosecute them.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2025 at 4:51 PM.
