HOUSTON, United States

A US House of Representatives Oversight subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release files related to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to news outlets.

The motion to subpoena the DOJ for all records related to the Epstein investigation passed 8-2, with Republican Reps. Nancy Mace, Scott Perry and Brian Jack joining with the subpanel’s five Democrats to approve the subpoena.

Political experts called it a defiant move of House Republican leadership, which wanted to leave the handling of the Epstein files to the Trump administration's Justice Department.

The DOJ is in the midst of several court battles on whether it should be required to release any Epstein-related documents or grand jury testimony related to his sex trafficking investigation.

Epstein, who once had a public friendship with Donald Trump prior to his presidency, hanged himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

"Yes, I think the American people want transparency," Rep. Summer Lee, the subcommittee’s top Democrat, told CNN.

"At the end of the day, we have to send a message that whether you are the littlest guy or you are the most powerful person in this nation, that if you commit a crime, if you do things that we aren’t supposed to do, that there will be some accountability.

"Right now, if we don’t vote on this, or if we don’t release these files, we’re sending a message that if you are a powerful abuser, then you will have, you’ll be covered, right," she added.

House Oversight Chair James Comer, a Republican, will be required to sign the subpoena before it can officially be issued, according to committee rules.