In response to political pressure from his own party, US President Donald Trump signed a legislation on Wednesday that requires his administration to release all files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which he has initially opposed.
The Epstein files could have been made public by Trump months ago.
In a social media post announcing his signing of the law, Trump said, “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 Epstein bill now mandates that the Department of Justice (DOJ) provide all files and documents pertaining to sex-offender within 30 days, along with any details on the inquiry into his 2019 death in a federal prison. For ongoing federal investigations, it permits redactions about Epstein’s victims; however, DOJ is not permitted to suppress information on the grounds of “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
The attempt to force the release of case files from an odd legislative coalition of Democrats, one GOP opponent of the president, and a few former Trump supporters was an incredible turn of events. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a Republican supporter of the documents’ release, was called to the Situation Room by the Trump administration as recently as last week to debate the issue, but she remained unconvinced.
But once it became apparent that congressional action was unavoidable, Trump made a dramatic U-turn on the Epstein files over the weekend. He expressed his desire to move on and maintained that the issue had become a diversion from the GOP agenda.
Trump explained his sudden change of heart in a social media post on Tuesday afternoon, saying, “I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had.”
Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, was the only member to vote against the legislation, which was passed by the House 427-1. He contended that the language of the bill might result in the disclosure of details on innocent individuals mentioned in the federal probe. Later, without holding a formal vote, the Senate accepted it unanimously.
Trump’s ties with the disgraced financier Epstein, who was close to the world’s elite, have long been known. However, the US president has often stated that he had severed his relationship with Epstein long ago and was unaware of his crimes.
Some of Trump’s closest political allies contributed to the spread of conspiracy theories over the government’s handling of the Epstein case prior to his second term in office, claiming that potentially damaging information in those files had been concealed.