US lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for releasing government files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after President Donald Trump dropped his opposition to opening the books on a scandal that has roiled politics, law enforcement and the country's elite.

The president had put allies in Congress under intense pressure not to make the material public, but the Republican leader threw in the towel over the weekend as it became clear that much of his party was poised to defy him.

Congress approved the Epstein Files Transparency Act almost unanimously -- compelling publication of unclassified documents detailing the investigation into the disgraced financier's operations and jailhouse death, which was ruled a suicide.

Lawmakers say the public deserves answers in a case with over 1,000 all

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