Journalism of Courage
Trump Epstein files bill: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the bill that compels the Justice Department to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after both the houses of US Congress cleared the bill earlier with an overwhelming majority as the US president reversed his course on the release of files and indicated that he would sign it.
Both the houses of Congress passed the legislation with an overwhelming majority as the House of Representatives cleared the bill with a 427-1 vote while the Senate agreed to approve the bill unanimously on the call of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Trump had earlier called on the House Republicans to vote in favour of the bill’s passage as he called the Epstein files controversy a “Democratic hoax” and said it was affecting the GOP agenda.
In a post on Truth Social as he announced the signing of the bill, Trump wrote, “Democrats have used the ‘Epstein’ issue, which affects them far more than the Republican Party, in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories.” The Justice Department has a countdown of 30 days to release the files.
The bill signed by President Trump and passed by both the houses of Congress compels Attorney General Pam Bondi to release files and communications related to Jeffrey Epstein that have been collected by the Justice Department over multiple federal investigations related to Epstein and his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for luring teenage girls for the deceased financier.
According to a federal judge who has reviewed Epstein’s case, the records related to Epstein and Maxwell total around 100,000 pages. The Justice Department would also have to release files and internal communications related to Epstein and his associates when he died in a prison cell in Manhattan in 2019 as he awaited charges for sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of teenage girls, AP reported.
A trove of documents released by US Congressional Democrats and further expanded by Republicans earlier this month from the emails of Epstein detailed more than 20,000 pages and has shown how the convicted financier corresponded with public figures.
Among the notable names that have till now come up in the Epstein files apart from Donald Trump include:
