Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
Audio By Carbonatix
Andy Biggs seems to have gotten the message. Now drivers in his the GOP congressman’s district seem to be getting it, too.
On Monday, the anti-human trafficking nonprofit World Without Exploitation unveiled a new billboard on State Route 202, between Elliot and Warner roads and just before Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. “Courage is Contagious,” it reads. “Release ALL The Epstein Files.”
“We’re calling on our members of Congress to please show the leadership, humanity and courage the American people deserve,” World Without Exploitation director Lauren Hersh said in a press release about the billboard. “This moment belongs to the survivors, who are demanding justice and access to information that’s haunted their lives for decades.”
The billboard’s location is no coincidence. It’s smack inside Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which Biggs has represented since 2017. Notably, Biggs, who is now running for governor, has waffled on whether he’d vote to release the federal government’s investigative files on deceased convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
When news happens, Phoenix New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
The House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill compelling the Department of Justice to release the files today. The vote is set for 12 p.m. Arizona time. The vote was forced after Democratic Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn in earlier this month. Grijalva became the final, deciding signature on a discharge petition to release the files, public snippets of which mention President Donald Trump.
Biggs has a long record of calling for the files’ release, until he pulled a 180. When Joe Biden was president, Biggs alleged that the Washington, D.C., elite were part of a “deep state” who worked to cover up a list of Epstein’s famous and wealthy clients who visited his private island to rape minors. But once it was revealed that the files contained Trump’s name — hardly surprising, given the president’s long association with Epstein — Biggs changed his tune.
Courtesy of World Without Exploitation
In July, as Trump was decrying the Epstein files as a “hoax,” Biggs was one of just two Republicans on a House subcommittee who voted against compelling the DOJ to release them. But with enough votes in the House in favor of releasing them, Biggs has once again hopped on the bandwagon. Last week, Biggs told KJZZ that he plans to vote in favor of forcing the DOJ to release the files.
“There’s nobody here that can define what the Epstein files is, not even myself,” Biggs told KJZZ. “I don’t know what the Epstein files are, but what I’m in favor of is releasing and being transparent with all the documentation that they have that they can release.”
When Phoenix New Times reached out to Biggs’ office for comment, communications director Rae Hidgon directed New Times to a Tuesday social media post from Biggs, in which he attempted to direct blame toward Democrats for not releasing the Epstein files during the Biden administration.
“For four years, it was myself and a handful of Republicans that were asking that the Epstein records be released,” Biggs said in a video. “The Biden administration sat on its hands and did nothing.”
Other Republicans have joined Biggs after resisting the files’ release. Arizona Rep. Eli Crane has also said he’ll vote for releasing the files after not signing the discharge petition to that effect. Rep. David Schweikert, who is also running for governor, told the Arizona Republic on Monday that he’ll vote yes.
Biggs’ district isn’t the only one with a new billboard. The Epstein files billboards have appeared nationwide, including in Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Similar billboards from World Without Exploitation were also deployed last month in Colorado, Illinois, Florida and Louisiana.
The Louisiana billboard was aimed at Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, whom many felt held up Grijalva’s swearing-in to delay the files’ release. Johnson has also now said he’ll vote to release the files.
“This is not a political issue, but rather a crime,” stated Liz Stein, an Epstein-Maxwell survivor and policy expert, in the World Without Exploitation press release. “I hope our elected leaders show the courage to stand with survivors and join the call for the full release of the Epstein Files.”
