US President Donald Trump announced he has signed a bill ordering the release of files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
President Trump made the announcement on social media late Wednesday after months of pressure on his administration to reveal the full extent of Epstein’s crimes and ties to political, business and entertainment elites.
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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters earlier that the administration would “follow the law” and “promote the utmost transparency” in the case.
The Epstein File Transparency Act, passed by Congress this week with overwhelming bipartisan support, requires the U.S. Department of Justice to release all non-classified materials related to the disgraced financier in a “searchable and downloadable format” within 30 days.
The law includes provisions allowing authorities to withhold material related to child sexual exploitation, identifying details of victims, as well as information related to active investigations or “national defense or foreign policy.”
However, the same text also states that records may not be withheld for reasons of “embarrassment, defamation, or political considerations, including for government officials, public figures, and foreign dignitaries.”
Thousands of files related to Mr. Epstein have been made public, but the judge who presided over a case involving the financier earlier this year said the files totaled about 100,000 pages.
Epstein’s numerous elite connections, vast wealth and mysterious history have fueled speculation and conspiracy theories for years.
Official briefings, including a joint memo from the Trump Justice Department and FBI concluding that there is no evidence to support prosecution of Epstein associates, have repeatedly failed to quell public intrigue over the case.
Trump, who has resisted calls for greater transparency in the case, sought to place more responsibility for the controversy over Epstein on Democrats than on his fellow Republicans in announcing the move to release the files.
In an op-ed on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Epstein a “lifelong” Democrat and cited his relationships with other prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton and Lawrence Summers, who took a leave of absence from teaching at Harvard University on Wednesday amid leaked emails detailing his friendship with the late financier.
Neither Clinton nor Summers were implicated in any criminal activity in their association with Epstein, who died in a New York prison in 2019 on sex trafficking charges.
“Perhaps the truth about these Democrats’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein will soon be revealed, because I just signed a bill to release the Epstein files!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Mr. Epstein’s associates were spread across the political spectrum, including not only Democrats but also prominent Republicans.
Trump himself was friendly with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, and his name featured prominently in Epstein’s emails released by US lawmakers this month.
In a 2011 email, Epstein told his ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, that Trump had “spent hours” with sex trafficking victims at his home.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly claimed he knew nothing about Epstein’s crimes.
After Trump’s announcement, critics questioned whether the Trump administration would follow through on its commitment to transparency in the case.
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, who represents California, said he had “no confidence” that the bill would be implemented as written.
“If the past is any indication, what we can expect is more obstruction, more cover-ups, and more subtle explanations of why they cover up,” Schiff said in an interview with MS NOW host Chris Hayes.
“When this chapter of history is written, I think it will be a test case for how we respond to a crisis.”
