Trump signs bill ordering release of Jeffrey Epstein files

US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has signed a bill ordering the release of government records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The bill requires the Justice Department to release all information from its investigation into Epstein within 30 days, although some could be withheld if it relates to an active investigation or is considered invasive of privacy.

With Trump’s support, the bill was overwhelmingly approved by both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, on Tuesday.

After facing retaliation from Epstein victims and members of his own Republican Party, he changed his opposition to the release of the files last week.

Until recently, Trump had dismissed the need to release the documents, recently calling it a “hoax” carried out by Democrats to “distract” from his party’s work.

“Maybe the truth about these Democrats and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein will soon be revealed, because I JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!” he wrote.

Although a congressional vote was not needed to make the records public — Trump could have ordered the release on his own — House lawmakers passed the bill by a vote of 427 to 1. The Senate gave unanimous consent to pass it upon arrival, sending the bill to Trump for his signature.

The Epstein files subject to disclosure under the legislation are documents from criminal investigations into the financier, including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as items seized during searches of his properties. These documents include internal communications from the Department of Justice, flight logs, and individuals and entities linked to Epstein.

The files are different from the more than 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate released by Congress last week, some of which directly mention Trump.

These include messages from Epstein from 2018 in which he said of Trump: “I’m the one who can take him down” and “I know how dirty Donald is.”

Trump was a friend of Epstein’s for years, but the president said they had a falling out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein’s first arrest. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding Epstein.

Speaking to reporters Monday evening, Trump said Republicans had “nothing to do with Epstein.”

“This is really a Democratic problem,” he said. “The Democrats were all Epstein’s friends.”

The family of Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, said in a statement that Trump’s signing of the bill was “simply monumental” for Giuffre and other survivors.

“As we look to the next chapter, we remain vigilant. This work is not finished. Every name must be revealed, regardless of power, wealth or party affiliation,” said his brother and sister-in-law, Sky and Amanda Roberts.

Epstein was found dead in 2019 in his New York prison cell in what a coroner ruled was a suicide. He was detained for sex trafficking. He had already been convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

The once high-flying financier had links to a number of high-profile figures, including Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, King Charles’ brother and former prince; Asset; former Trump adviser Steve Bannon; and a cast of other characters from the world of media, politics and entertainment.

Former Harvard President Larry Summers took a leave of absence from teaching at the university on Wednesday while the school investigated his ties to Epstein, revealed in a series of email exchanges between friends.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is required 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. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

But according to the text of the law, certain parts could still be refused if they are considered invasive of privacy or related to an active investigation.

The bill gives Bondi the authority to withhold information that would jeopardize any active federal investigation or identify victims.

One of the architects of the bill, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, said he was concerned about the withholding of some records.

“I fear that [Trump is] opening a wave of investigations, and I think maybe they’re trying to use these investigations as a predicate for not releasing the records. That’s what concerns me,” he said.