On Wednesday, Biggs was one of just two Republicans on a House subcommittee who voted against demanding that the Department of Justice release the so-called Epstein files. Three Republicans joined the five Democrats on the panel in an 8-2 vote. Kate LaBorde, Biggs’ chief of staff, did not respond to a request for comment.
Biggs had been hot after getting a look at the Epstein files, at least until now.
Since Epstein’s apparent suicide in August 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges, Biggs has alleged that the Washington, D.C., elite were part of a “deep state” covering up a client list of politicians and celebrities who visited Epstein’s island and raped minors. As recently as December, Biggs called for more information to be released about Epstein.
“Americans deserve transparency from the corrupt FBI — starting with Epstein’s client list,” Biggs tweeted in December.
“Where is Epstein’s client list?” he tweeted again later that month.
Even beyond the Epstein scandal, Biggs has cast himself as Very Concerned about child sex trafficking. In February, Biggs chaired a House subcommittee meeting on the subject, vowing to root out pedophiles wherever they are.
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant, it has been said. It is the best way to read the world of these predators who abuse and exploit victims,” Biggs said at the beginning of the meeting. “We will continue our work to deliver hope to those who need it most.”
As the famous “The Dark Knight” line goes, you either die a crusader against child sex crimes or live long enough to vote to keep them under wraps.
After promising to release all the Epstein files, Donald Trump has begun claiming they're a hoax.
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
U-turn
What changed Biggs’ tune? It doesn’t take a graphic calculator to add up that Trump is backpeddling like crazy on his promise to release more Epstein documents and that Biggs is basking in Trump’s endorsement for Arizona governor.Trump recently started referring to the Epstein files as a “hoax” and called his supporters who want them released “weaklings.” “I don’t understand why it keeps going,” Trump told reporters on July 15. “Really only bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going.”
Lawmakers who don’t need Trump’s endorsement to win office, Republicans and Democrats, have pushed for the release of the files.
GOP Rep. Eli Crane, who won’t need Trump’s help to win a solidly red northern Arizona district in 2026, has called on the government to release the files. Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego noted that the MAGA movement has long rallied around conspiracy theories of child sex trafficking rings. But now that there’s a real one — though not everything in the Epstein files may be incriminating, and there may be no actual “client list” — the movement’s king is suddenly uninterested in the issue.
“For years, Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have railed on about the Epstein files. They’ve told the American people that they were going to release the files and expose the elites,” Gallego said on the floor of the Senate on July 17. “Trump’s own people have told us a million times that they have it, and that they’ve promised to make it public — so bring it out. It doesn’t matter who is implicated in that. The American people are done with these games, these lies, and the two systems of justice: one for the elites and one for everyone else.”
As Biggs continues his run for governor, this dilemma may keep coming up. He’ll have to ask himself what Arizona voters care about more: Trump’s endorsement, or flushing out any powerful sex predators who may be implicated in the Epstein files. Considering Biggs has already swallowed his deficit hawk convictions to pass Trump’s debt-exploding budget bill, it’s not hard to predict where the longtime Republican will land.
