New Mexico Democratic Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan on Thursday denounced their Republican Senate colleagues for voting down an amendment that would require the U.S. Department of Justice to release all its files on alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted 51-49 to table a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 that directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicly release all files related to Epstein, a disgraced financier accused of being at the heart of a sex trafficking operation, who died in 2019.
All Senate Democrats, along with Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Josh Hawley of Missouri, voted against the tabling motion.
“The American people and the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s heinous crimes deserve justice and transparency. I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues blocked this motion and have once again denied the American people answers. We must provide the public with full transparency relating to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and his associates to deliver justice for the survivors,” Lujan said in a statement issued on Thursday.
Heinrich lambasted Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump, who was known to have associated with Epstein before the sex trafficking allegations became publicly known, for opposing the disclosure of documents related to the case.
“If Donald Trump has nothing to hide, he should release the files. The American people deserve answers. It’s ridiculous that my Republican colleagues voted to protect Epstein and his enablers instead,” Heinrich said in a statement.
The defeat of the Senate amendment comes as Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) have actively worked to minimize Republican support for similar measures in the U.S. House of Representatives.
A discharge petition led by U.S. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY-04) and Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) is also on the verge of getting the signatures needed to bypass Johnson and bring legislation to force disclosure of the Epstein files to the House floor for a vote. Four Republicans have joined 217 Democrats, including New Mexico Democratic Reps. Melanie Stansbury, Gabe Vasquez, and Teresa Leger Fernandez, in signing the petition.
More attention was drawn to the Epstein saga on Monday, when a trove of documents was released by the Justice Department and the Epstein Estate in response to a subpoena from Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Accountability Committee. The materials enclosed included a message that featured a drawing of a woman’s body and Trump’s signature, which was included in a 2003 birthday book for Epstein.
Trump previously denied the existence of any such drawing, and since it was made public, the White House has questioned the authenticity of the signature on it.
Speaking on the House floor, after the birthday message was released, Leger Fernandez referred to it as disgusting and degrading. A member of the House Rules Committee, Leger Fernandez, also assailed Republican colleagues on that committee for previously voting against legislation to release the files when it came before the committee.
In her statement on the floor, Leger Fernandez accused Trump of engaging in a cover-up and implored more House Republicans to sign the discharge petition and expose “the rich and powerful monsters who were part of the Epstein sex circle.”
“Covering up the files just protects the criminal activity of pedophiles and the people who participated in those heinous acts,” she said.
Stansbury, who sits on the Oversight Committee, also blasted Trump in a video posted on X on Tuesday for working to persuade Republican lawmakers from supporting efforts to force disclosure of the Epstein documents, as a Sept. 30 government shutdown deadline looms.
“We are two weeks out from a government shutdown, and Trump has seemingly spent more time calling members of Congress to threaten against disclosure of the Epstein files than he has trying to pass a budget. Mr. Trump — what are you trying to hide?” she asked in a message posted on X that accompanied the video.