Epstein files bill to be sent to Trump after approval from Congress

Both houses of the US Congress have agreed to order the US Department of Justice to release its files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure by a vote of 427 to 1. The Senate said it would take up the bill before formally receiving it.

President Donald Trump must ultimately approve the measure, which he has promised to do. He recently reversed his position and urged his fellow Republicans to vote to release the documents, following reluctance from many of his supporters.

Earlier Tuesday, Epstein survivors spoke in favor of the measure at the U.S. Capitol. One said he had suffered “institutional betrayal” for years.

The “Epstein files” refer to the vast trove of documents that were gathered during criminal investigations into the financier, including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as items confiscated during searches of his various properties.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN he expected the upper chamber to receive the bill from the lower chamber Wednesday morning, after which the bill would be passed and then sent to Trump for his presidential signature.

Trump said the timing didn’t matter to him and continued to present the issue as a distraction. “I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all the victories we’ve had,” he wrote Tuesday afternoon on social media.

The historic relationship between Trump and Epstein made headlines again recently after US lawmakers released more than 20,000 pages of documents about Epstein’s estate – some of which mention Trump and other prominent figures, without indicating any wrongdoing on the part of those individuals.

Trump’s turnaround this weekend — moving from an attack on those on Capitol Hill who wanted the records made public to an assertion that there was “nothing to hide” — surprised some in Washington.

Republican congressional leaders were caught off guard after aligning their message with the president’s in recent weeks and opposing the release of the records.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly called the attempt to release the Epstein files a “Democratic hoax.” But on Tuesday he voted in favor of release.

Republican Clay Higgins of Louisiana expressed concern that “innocent people would be harmed” when the information was released.

The measure was expected to take a few days to reach the U.S. Senate, but after the resounding afternoon vote in the House, the timeline quickly accelerated.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the bill in the Senate through a procedure called unanimous consent. Because no one opposed it, there was no debate and no amendments were added to the bill.

A congressional vote was not required to release the records — Trump could have ordered the release on his own.

The bill requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to disclose “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell no later than 30 days after the law is signed into law.

These documents include internal communications from the Department of Justice, flight logs, and individuals and entities linked to Epstein.

But there are obstacles to releasing the files, even if Trump signs the bill as he promised to do.

For example, the bill gives Bondi the authority to withhold information that would jeopardize any active federal investigation or identify victims. Trump recently asked the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s alleged ties to major banks and several prominent Democrats.

Epstein was found dead in his New York prison cell in 2019 in what a coroner ruled was a suicide.

He was detained on sex trafficking charges, after being convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

During two criminal investigations into Epstein, thousands of documents were collected, including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses.

Trump and Epstein had previously run in similar circles, but the president has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein many years ago, before Epstein’s conviction in 2008. The president has also said he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activities.

Last week, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three email chains, including correspondence between Epstein and Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.

Some of them mention Trump and other prominent figures. In a 2011 email, Epstein wrote to Maxwell: “I want you to realize that this dog that didn’t bark is Trump… [VICTIM] I spent hours at home with him.

The White House said last week that the victim mentioned in the email was Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.

Giuffre, who died in April, said she never saw Trump participate in abuse and that there was no implication of wrongdoing by Trump or the other high-profile figures mentioned in the emails.

Speaking after the vote, Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts praised his sister’s role in seeking justice for Epstein’s survivors.

“She did it, she paved the way… She paved the way for us to come forward as advocates, for her sister survivors to come forward, and we will not stop,” Roberts said.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding Epstein. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the emails were “selectively leaked” by House Democrats to “liberal media to create a false narrative aimed at defaming President Trump.”

The push to release investigative files held by the Justice Department was led by Republican Thomas Massie, a Kentucky congressman who is sometimes at odds with his party, and Democrat Ro Khanna, a California congressman, who both introduced the legislation.

Massie was criticized by Trump for his willingness to release the files, but he stood firm.

“In 2030, he’s not going to be president,” Massie told ABC News over the weekend. He added that Republicans who voted against release “will have voted to protect pedophiles.”

Another Republican who has pushed for the release of the records is House Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. She was a staunch Trump supporter before the two fell out over the issue, with the president now calling her a “traitor.”

At a news conference earlier Tuesday, Greene said she was speaking on behalf of Epstein survivors.

“Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American who serves foreign countries and himself; a patriot is an American who serves the United States of America and Americans like the women who stand behind me,” Greene said.

She said the row over Epstein was one of the “most destructive things” for Trump’s Make America Great Again movement since his 2016 election.

Survivors of Epstein’s abuse also spoke at the news conference, urging lawmakers to release the records and pushing Trump to do the same.

Epstein survivor Annie Farmer said keeping the files secret amounted to “institutional betrayal.”

“Because these crimes were not properly investigated, many more girls and women were harmed,” Ms Farmer said.