Epstein victims and states can sue for hidden records
H.R. 9694 — Epstein Files Transparency Act II · Filed by Thomas Massie (R-KY) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill lets victims, state attorneys general, and Congress sue the U.S. Attorney General. They can sue if records about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell are hidden or blacked out. The bill removes legal rules that let the DOJ keep documents secret. It adds criminal penalties for DOJ workers who hide or fake records.
Who it affects
Victims of Epstein crimes gain the right to see records about their cases. State law enforcement can investigate and prosecute crimes.
One thing to notice
The bill removes legal rules that the DOJ used to keep some documents secret. This could change how the DOJ handles other cases.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
7 cosponsors: 6 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Jul 15, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 15, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Attorney General — The head of the U.S. Department of Justice
- DOJ — The U.S. Department of Justice, which enforces federal laws
- criminal penalties — Punishments like fines or prison time for breaking the law
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (17,598 characters) on Sep 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,985 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-25.
“Epstein victims and states can sue for hidden records” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9694/simple Report an error