—Updated

The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill to compel the Justice Department to release all of its case files tied to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The House voted 427-1 to advance the measure.

Republican Clay Higgins of Louisiana was the only member to vote against it, CNN reported.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where Republican leaders must decide if they will send it to US President Donald Trump to sign.

Earlier, the brother of Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre made a tearful plea to US lawmakers to vote yes to the release.

The vote followed Trump dropping his long-standing opposition, days after a House petition gathered enough support to force a vote, a rare instance of House Republicans defying Trump’s wishes.

As Trump hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday (US time), he was asked why he was waiting for Congress to release the files.

After a round of insults directed at the reporter, Trump said he had nothing to do with 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 said.

Trump went on to accuse former Democrat president Bill Clinton and former Treasury secretary Larry Summers of being with Epstein “every single night, every single weekend”, and going to Epstein’s island many times, while he “never did”.

Trump has repeatedly denied any connection to Epstein’s crimes and has begun calling the issue a “Democratic hoax”, despite some Republicans being among the loudest voices calling for the release of the records from criminal investigations of Epstein.

Before the vote, about two dozen survivors of Epstein’s alleged abuse joined Democratic and Republican lawmakers outside the US Capitol to urge the release of the records.

The women held photographs of their younger selves, the age at which they said they met Epstein, a New York financier who fraternised with some of the most powerful men in the country.

Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which New York City’s medical examiner called a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019.

“Please stop making this political, it is not about you, President Trump,” Jena-Lisa Jones, who said Epstein sexually abused her when she was 14, said outside the Capitol a few hours before the vote.

“I voted for you, but your behaviour on this issue has been a national embarrassment.”

Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts said justice for Epstein victims “starts with acknowledgment in the face of survivors that this happened, and this is true”.

“Your vote carries that weight. My sister is not a political tool for you to use,” he said ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

“These survivors are not political tools for you to use. These are real stories, real trauma, and it’s time for you to stop just talking about it and act. Vote yes.”

Saudi Prince grilling

At the White House, Trump dismissed questions about the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, saying “You don’t have to embarrass our guest”.

The crown prince said the issue had been painful for Saudi Arabia, which took all the right steps to investigate and had improved its system to be sure nothing similar happened again.

Tuesday’s meeting at the White House underscored a key relationship – between the world’s biggest economy and the top oil exporter – that Trump has made a high priority in his second term as the Saudi leader seeks to further rehabilitate his global image after the killing of US-based Khashoggi.

US intelligence concluded that bin Salman approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

On his first White House visit in more than seven years, the crown prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Trump on the South Lawn. It featured a military honour guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by US warplanes.

Talks between the two leaders are expected to advance security ties, civil nuclear co-operation and multibillion-dollar business deals with Saudi Arabia.

But there will likely be no major breakthrough on Saudi Arabia normalising ties with Israel, despite pressure from Trump for such a landmark move.

—with AAP