Trump signs bill to force him to release more Epstein documents | Donald Trump
Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a bill ordering the Justice Department to release files investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in the face of combined pressure from Democratic opponents and the president’s conservative base.
The signing represents a sharp reversal for Trump, who had the authority as president to release the documents himself, but chose not to do so.
Democrats have bragged about the controversy surrounding the files and the possibility that they contain compromising information about Trump, who had a personal friendship with Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Trump sought to flip that scenario after signing the bill in a post on Truth Social that referenced Epstein’s ties to the Democratic Party.
Trump wrote on Wednesday evening: “Maybe the truth about these Democrats and their connections to Jeffrey Epstein will soon be revealed, because I just signed a bill to release the Epstein files!”
The Justice Department has 30 days to release all files related to Epstein, including the investigation into his death by suicide in a federal prison cell. The legislation allows for the redaction of victims’ identifying information, but specifically prohibits officials from refusing to release information due to concerns about “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
Trump vacillated on the issue for years before finally giving in to political pressure. During his election campaign, he pledged to release the Epstein files. Once in office, he changed his stance, calling the case a “hoax” and attacking those who wanted the documents made public.
But he reversed course in recent days after it was clear the House would approve the legislation, saying, “We have nothing to hide,” and that “it’s time to move on from this Democratic hoax perpetrated by radical left-wing lunatics in order to distract from the great success of the Republican Party, including our recent victory over the ‘shutdown’ Democrats.”
After Trump indicated his approval of the bill, Republicans quickly passed it through the House of Representatives and then the Senate. Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, had stalled the bill for several months, and after the House passed it, Johnson said he hoped the Senate would amend it, which it did not do.
The Justice Department said earlier this year that it had released all the documents it could about Epstein without hindering investigations or revealing information about his victims.
“Most materials are subject to court-ordered sealing,” the Justice Department memo dated July said. “Only a small portion of this material would have been made public had Epstein gone to trial, because the sealing was intended only to protect the victims and did not expose any additional third parties to allegations of wrongdoing.”
It is not clear what the department will release in response to the bill – the bill details a range of potential items that would need to be released, but provides exceptions for some items.
The bill calls for the attorney general to make unclassified documents related to Epstein available to the public “in searchable and downloadable form,” including all investigations into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, flight logs and travel logs, individuals referred to or named in connection with his crimes, entities associated with his business or financial networks, immunity deals and other plea agreements, internal communications about charging decisions, documentation of his detention and death, and details about any deletion of files.
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The department will have 30 days to deliver the documents. The bill provides some exceptions, including redacting victims’ identifying information or profiles, any depiction of child sexual abuse, releases that would jeopardize active investigations or prosecutions, and depictions of death or assault.
Members of Congress released tens of thousands of documents that have resurfaced and deepened Epstein’s relationships with prominent figures, including Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, and Michael Wolff, the writer and Trump biographer.
Trump and Epstein were once friends, and Trump’s name is in some of the documents released by members of Congress so far, though the references do not mean he was party to any of Epstein’s criminal activities.
The documents released by Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee included an email from Epstein to Wolf in which Epstein said of Trump: “Of course, he knew about the girls when he asked Ghislaine to stop.” In another tweet, he described Trump as “the dog that did not bark.”
Epstein sent emails to people about Trump regularly, usually insulting ones. “I have met some very bad people,” he wrote in one email. “There is no one as bad as Trump. There is not a single good cell in his body.”