Trump signs bill ordering release of Jeffrey Epstein files

President Donald Trump says he has signed legislation mandating the release of government files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This marked a major turning point in the months-long debate over the document.

The Justice Department now has 30 days to publicly share all information from the federal investigation into Epstein. However, we may withhold files that are relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation or that we deem to be an invasion of privacy.

President Trump withdrew his opposition to the bill last weekend after opposition from Epstein’s victims and Republican lawmakers.

With his support, the resolution won a landslide victory in both houses of Congress.

Until recently, President Trump had dismissed the need to release the documents, calling them a Democratic-led “hoax” to divert attention from his party’s work. That position itself was a change from the position he took ahead of the 2024 elections.

“Maybe the truth about these Democrats’ connection to Jeffrey Epstein will come out soon, because I just signed a bill to release the Epstein files!” he wrote

Although a congressional vote was not needed to release the files (Trump could have ordered them released himself), House lawmakers passed the bill by a vote of 427 to 1. The Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill upon arrival and sent it to President Trump for his signature.

The only vote against the resolution in the House of Representatives, the House of Representatives, came from Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins, who opposed the scope of information that could be made public. He said it could expose and threaten “thousands of innocent people” who may have spoken to investigators about the allegations against Epstein.

Now, under the law signed by Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi must release the documents within 30 days.

The files to be released come from the criminal investigation into Epstein, including transcripts of interviews with victims and witnesses and items seized during raids on his properties. These materials include internal Justice Department communications, flight records, and people and entities linked to the deceased financier.

However, there are exceptions.

The resolution allows the Justice Department to withhold any documents related to a criminal investigation. After the estate documents were released last week, Trump said he would ask Bondi to investigate Epstein’s ties to people who had been in contact with him. Bondi immediately said the Justice Department would “pursue this matter with urgency and diligence.”

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the bill’s authors, said he was concerned the move would hold up some federal files.

“I’m concerned that (Trump) is launching numerous investigations and I think they might try to use those investigations as a prerequisite for not releasing the files. That’s my concern,” he said.

Bondi also may not release information that could identify victims or reveal medical files, leading many to speculate that some portions of the files may be redacted. However, it is not yet clear how big the editing will be.

Christine Dunn of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, a sexual assault and victims’ rights attorney, said, “I’m glad they included specific language that strengthens victims’ privacy rights in the act itself.”

“It is important to ensure that victims’ privacy is protected and that they do not experience re-traumatization,” she said.

Trump promised to release the files during his 2024 presidential campaign, and earlier this year his administration released thousands of pages of documents from the Epstein investigation, many of them flight records. Trump said more documents were coming, but Bondi later announced in July that no more would be released.

This led lawmakers from both parties to introduce a resolution to force the files to be released. One of the resolution’s main supporters was Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump’s strongest political allies. She has publicly fought with Trump in recent weeks, as the US president remained opposed to the resolution until days before the vote.

After the resolution passed, Greene posted that she would read aloud on the House floor the names of powerful figures implicated in the released files.

The expected files differ from the more than 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate released by Congress last week, including some that mentioned Trump.

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

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

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

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

The family of Virginia Giuffre, who committed suicide earlier this year, said in a statement that Trump’s signing of the bill was “nothing short of a monument” to Giuffre and other survivors.

Her brother and sister-in-law, Skye and Amanda Roberts, said, “As we look to the next chapter, we remain vigilant. This work is not over. All names must be made public, regardless of power, wealth or party affiliation.”

Epstein was found dead in a New York prison in 2019. The coroner ruled it a suicide. He was arrested on charges of prostitution. He was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

The once famous financier had relationships with numerous celebrities, including Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, brother of King Charles and a former prince. erase; Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon; Other characters from the media, politics, and entertainment world also appear.

On Wednesday, former Harvard President Larry Summers took a leave of absence from teaching at the school while the school investigated his links to Epstein, a series of flirtatious email exchanges revealed.

Kayla Epstein contributed to this report.