Trump’s signature was expected because the president, although he had previously refused to release the documents, promised to sign the legislation if approved by Congress. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives supported the proposal with an overwhelming majority of 427 votes. The only congressman who voted against was Republican Clay Higgins. The Senate, the upper house of the US Congress, subsequently expressed unanimous approval.
Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee released several emails last week in which Epstein mentioned current President Trump. According to Democrats, the correspondence seems to indicate, among other things, that Trump spent hours at Epstein’s house with one of the victims of sexual abuse. The committee eventually released over 20,000 pages of documents obtained from Epstein’s estate, now the law passed by the House refers to the files available to the Department of Justice in connection with Epstein’s investigation.
According to Reuters, American Justice Minister Pam Bondi already stated that her office is ready to publish the files within 30 days, as required by the adopted law. “We will continue to comply with the law and promote maximum transparency,” she said. Reuters noted that the files may not be released in their entirety, the Justice Department can anonymize personal information about Epstein’s victims, and also withhold content whose release would jeopardize the investigation.
The rift disrupted relations
Trump claims he had nothing to do with Epstein’s sex crimes, and although they were photographed together decades ago, the president said they fell out before Epstein’s conviction. He describes the public effort to publish investigative documents as manipulation by the Democrats, who, according to him, divert attention from the real problems of the country, which his government is successfully solving. He supported the publication only when a number of Republicans made it clear that they would vote for the declassification of the files regardless of Trump’s will.
Cases involving Epstein attract considerable media attention not only in the US, as the financier also maintained close ties with former American President Bill Clinton and British Prince Andrew. In addition, the public and increasingly heated rift among Republicans over the Epstein files has strained relations between Trump and some of his staunchest supporters.
In 2019, Epstein committed suicide in prison, where he was awaiting trial on charges of abusing underage girls. Already in 2008, Epstein was sentenced to 18 months for sexual abuse as part of a controversial secret agreement with the prosecution.
