A dramatic vote on the House floor brought an ending to this chapter in the long-running Epstein Files Saga. But the Elitist Media continued to cover for Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett getting coached by Epstein in the middle of a congressional hearing.
Most emblematic of the coverage, David Muir’s lengthy and overwrought opening which could have well served as a brief:
DAVID MUIR: Good evening, we begin tonight here with the breaking news, Congress passing a bill demanding the release of all the Jeffrey Epstein files, the House vote nearly unanimous, 427-1. Republicans joining Democrats and tonight, just moments ago, we learned the Senate has now agreed to quickly clear the bill as soon as the House sends it to the Senate, meaning it then goes to President Trump’s desk. In the House today, after months of roadblocks, that rare moment in today’s politics- a vote that was nearly unanimous. Just one Republican voting no. And in that chamber the moment, as the vote unfolded the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse watching from the House gallery above, marking the victory they have long fought for. President Trump,when pressed in the last 24 hours will he sign the bill, he’s said yes.
The networks led with the Epstein vote- it was the consensus top story across the dial. Coverage across the board was similar, with few variations. Of note and in keeping with their history of hyperpartisanship, ABC World News Tonight was the only network nightly newscast to omit coverage of Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers’ revealed relationship with Epstein. As a result, Summers apologized and vowed to scale back his public activities. Not good enough for ABC, one supposes.
There were varying times of coverage of the Epstein survivors. CBS’s Nikole Killion interviewed a survivor, whereas ABC and NBC did not. Runtimes were about the same, and the reports were about the same. The progression was: the vote, reaction to the vote, Trump’s reaction to the vote, Trump will sign the bill. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Nowhere was Plaskett mentioned. The real-time coaching by a Member of Congress by a convicted sex offender (and accused child trafficker) is significantly newsworthy if the networks insist on leading off every night with Epstein slop. As was the case with the Sunday shows, there was a collective omertá when it came to Plaskett.
As the documents go public, how much longer will the media insist on covering for Plaskett? Time will tell.
Click “expand” to view the full transcripts of the aforementioned reports as aired on their respective newscasts on Tuesday, November 18th, 2025:
ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
11/18/25
6:33 PM
DAVID MUIR: Good evening, we begin tonight here with the breaking news, Congress passing a bill demanding the release of all the Jeffrey Epstein files, the House vote nearly unanimous, 427-1. Republicans joining Democrats and tonight, just moments ago, we learned the Senate has now agreed to quickly clear the bill as soon as the House sends it to the Senate, meaning it then goes President Trump’s desk. In the House today, after months of roadblocks, that rare moment in today’s politics- a vote that was nearly unanimous. Just one Republican voting no. And in that chamber the moment, as the vote unfolded the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse watching from the House gallery above, marking the victory they have long fought for. President Trump,when pressed in the last 24 hours will he sign the bill, he’s said yes. ABC’s Rachel Scott leading us off from The Hill tonight.
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, a nearly unanimous vote in the House.
HOUSE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Yeas are 427, the nays are 1.
SCOTT: An extraordinary moment as dozens of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims watched and cheered in the gallery. Republicans and Democrats demanding the Justice Department release the FBI files into the sex offender.
HOUSE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: The bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.
SCOTT: It was a vote President Trump tried to prevent for weeks assisted by House speaker Mike Johnson, who kept the House out of session for 54 days, stalling it. When it became clear the Republicans were going to defy the president,Trump reversed course and told them to vote yes.
MIKE JOHNSON: He’s been very clear and he has nothing to hide, and that’s why he endorsed the vote today.
SCOTT: For survivors of Epstein’s abuse, a moment of victory.
SURVIVOR: We’re ready for the next step and we’re ready to finally release the files.
SURVIVOR: All the files.
SCOTT: The Senate wasting no time, pledging to pass the bill and send it to the president’s desk.
JOHN CURTIS: Without objection. So ordered.
SCOTT: Individual survivors getting word of the news.
SURVIVOR: The Senate has passed the bill.
SCOTT: President Trump has pledged to sign that bill into law, but tonight even some Republicans sounding skeptical that the files will be released.
Do you take the president at his word when he says he’s going to sign the bill and do you have confidence these files will actually be released?
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I only take people’s actions seriously. No longer words.
JACKSON: The fact is the president doesn’t need Congress to release the Epstein files. He can do it on his own. Our Mary Bruce asking, why wait for Congress? Why not just do it now?
DONALD TRUMP: I had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.
SCOTT: The president has been asked again and again why he doesn’t just release these files. What do you think is stopping him?
THOMAS MASSIE: He could release them. He should release them today.
SCOTT: But the President has not ordered the Justice Department to release the files. Instead, he demanded that they investigate Epstein’s ties to Democrats. Critics say it’s to get the spotlight off himself. Epstein victims, including Jenna Lisa Jones, who says Epstein molested her, influriated.
JENNA LISA JONES: I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. Show some class. Show some real leadership and show that you care about people other than yourself. I voted for you but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment. It is time to take the honest, moral ground and support the release of these files.
SCOTT: A senior White House official tells us tonight the president will sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk. But there are still big questions about how or when the Justice Department would release these files, and just how transparent they will be. That is what the victims are waiting for, David,.
MUIR: Rachel Scott leading us off from The Hill tonight. Rachel, thank you.
CBS EVENING NEWS
11/18/25
6:31 PM
JOHN DICKERSON: We are closer to seeing what’s in the Justice Department’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender and alleged sex trafficker of minors. The House voted 427-1 today to force the Department to release them.
MAURICE DuBOIS: That one no vote was from Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins, a staunch supporter of President Trump. The Senate then passed the bill unanimously before sending it to the present for his signature.
DICKERSON: Nikole Killion is on Capitol Hill for us. Nikole?
NIKOLE KILLION: Good evening. The Senate moved to pass this bill as soon it’s received from the House, putting it one step closer to the president’s signature. One Epstein survivor told me this is the most hope she has had in a long time.
A mix of emotions on the House floor.
PRAMILA JAYAPAL: We will vote to release all the Epstein files.
CHIP ROY: We should be motivated by truth and justice for all, not politics.
KILLION: Lawmakers applauded the survivors looking on from the gallery as they overwhelmingly approved the bill compelling the Justice Department to fully release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
What does this vote mean to you?
JENA-LISA JONES: Well, this vote means so much. I mean, we have been waiting for so long for the release of these files and for the government to actually listen to us.
KILLION: Jena-Lisa Jones was one of several women who shared her story on Capitol Hill.
JONES: This was me at 14 years old. I was a child.
KILLION: Recounting when she was introduced to Epstein at his Palm Beach home more than two decades ago.
JONES: I was abused. Horrifically. Like, it was my first encounter with a man, and… in that manner. And it set the tone for the rest of my life.
KILLION: The vote breaks a months-long stalemate in Congress.
MIKE JOHNSON: We stated our opposition as long as possible, but we are also for maximum transparency.
KILLION: And it marks a reversal from President Trump, who tried to dissuade some GOP lawmakers from supporting the measure, including conservative ally Marjorie Taylor Greene.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: He called me a traitor for standing with these women.
KILLION: He ultimately agreed to sign the bill when it comes to his desk.
DONALD TRUMP: I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein.
KILLION: Thousands of pages of documents have already been released, including email exchanges mentioning the president. There were also separate conversations between Epstein and former Democratic Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who announced he would step back from public activities.
RO KHANNA: It was just jarring to see him in those files and to having a conversation and friendship with Jeffrey Epstein long after it was known that Epstein was a convicted sex offender. So he should have that accountability.
KILLION: The bill gives the Justice Department 30 days to make the Epstein files public once it becomes law. The president recently ordered the DoJ to investigate Democrats’ ties to Epstein, but some legal experts warn that could limit any potential release.
DICKERSON: Nikole Killion on Capitol Hill. Thank you.
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
11/18/25
6:32 PM
TOM LLAMAS: And good evening. As we come on the air tonight, the Epstein files are on the verge of release after a dramatic day on Capitol Hill. Just moments ago, the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would force the Justice Department to release unclassified files related to the convicted sex offender. Many of Epstein’s victims emotional- you see them right here, gathering on Capitol Hill and hugging as the bill passed. It comes after the bill cleared the House overwhelmingly this afternoon. The final tally in the lower chamber 427-1. The bill could head to President Trump’s desk as soon as this week. And he said yesterday that he would sign it into law. The big question tonight, what’s inside the files and how soon could they be public? Hallie Jackson has been tracking it all and starts us off tonight.
SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: The bill is passed.
HALLIE JACKSON: What hooked like a long shot, tonight just one step from becoming law. The House nearly unanimously passing a bill to force the release of Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein with only one Republican voting.
RO KHANNA: It’s time for the Epstein class to go, to be held accountable.
JACKSON: Then the Senate passing it quickly, too. House lawmakers acknowledging some Epstein abuse survivors in Washington to witness the moment, including the family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of the most prominent Epstein accusers who died by suicide earlier this year.
SKY ROBERTS: She did it. She did it. She paved the way for the survivors to continue to come forward and to continue to fight.
JACKSON: At the Capitol a candlelight vigil for survivors. President Trump resisted backing the bill for months before a surprising political pivot, now saying he will sign it into law. In an oval office meeting with the Saudi crown prince the president bristling at a series of questions, including about Epstein.
MARY BRUCE: Mr. President, why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?
DONALD TRUMP: You know, it’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. As far as the Epstein files is, I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert. But I guess I turned out to be right. He gave me none, zero, no money to me, but he gave money to Democrats.
JACKSON: That coming just days after the president snapped at a Bloomberg reporter attempting to ask a question about Epstein
REPORTER: (UNINT).
TRUMP: Quiet, quiet, piggy.
JACKSON: The White House saying the reporter last week behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way, but Bloomberg saying they ask questions without fear or favor. President Trump directed the DoJ to investigate Democrats connected to Epstein after the Justice Department suggested it closed the case this summer. Any active investigation could let the Justice Department withhold certain documents.
JACKSON: What makes you think you would actually, if this bill passes, see these files, that the public would see them?
THOMAS MASSIE: There are a thousand survivors. They can’t open enough investigations to cover up everything that’s in these files.
JACKSON: President Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein. His allies in Congress blasting Democrats.
JAMES COMER: They don’t care about the victims. They only care about one thing, and that’s trying to embarrass Donald Trump. They hope and pray there is something in the documents that will embarrass Trump.
JACKSON: Now fallout growing from the Epstein scandal with Larry Summers, the Treasury Secretary under former president Bill Clinton saying he is stepping back from public commitments after emails showed extensive correspondence between Summers and the sex offender, saying he is deeply ashamed of his actions.
LLAMAS: Hallie joins us now live. Hallie, these documents could be released as early as this week. Do we know what is in these Epstein files?
JACKSON: Tom, the bill directs the DoJ to release things like travel records, internal DoJ communications. But remember, victims’ privacy and active investigations will be a factor. A senior White House official says the bill will be signed once it gets to the President, and that will start the 30-day clock got the Justice Department. Tom.
LLAMAS: All right. Halle, thank you.
