Trump signs bill to release Epstein files after fighting it for months

3 months ago 9

Washington: US President Donald Trump said he had signed a bill compelling the release of the Epstein files, capping a dramatic three days in which he reversed course on one of the most persistent sagas of his second term.

The decision clears the way for the Department of Justice and FBI to make public tens of thousands of records relating to the criminal investigation into deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Donald Trump took credit for the move, even though he has fought it for months.

Many Trump supporters, believing the files would embarrass prominent Democrats who associated with Epstein over the years, have long clamoured for the full suite of files to be released, and were led to believe that Trump would do so after winning the election.

But the Justice Department and FBI decided in July against publishing any more material, saying there was nothing relevant left to release, and no credible evidence that Epstein was murdered or kept a “client” list.

Since then, however, Democrats – joined by many Republicans – put enormous political pressure on Trump to release the files, asserting they were being “covered up” by the White House due to Trump’s own associations with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s.

The pair were friends and mixed in the same New York social circles, but had a falling out in the 2000s, which Trump has recently said was due to his discovery that Epstein was “taking” or stealing young female staff from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Trump has always denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

In a lengthy post on his Truth Social page, Trump announced he had signed the bill into law and predicted the release of the files would backfire on the Democrats. He named former president Bill Clinton, who has also denied wrongdoing and knowledge of Epstein’s activities, along with other high-profile Democrats and donors.

“Perhaps the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed, because I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!” Trump wrote on Wednesday night (Thursday AEDT).

In the post, Trump took credit for the move, even though he has fought it for months. He changed course on Sunday, Washington time – when it was clear the measure had the numbers to pass the House of Representatives – and told Republicans they should vote for it.

The bill requires the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death, within 30 days.

It allows for redactions about Epstein’s victims for ongoing federal investigations, but the department cannot withhold information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm or political sensitivity”.

There are concerns that the release of some, perhaps many, documents could be stymied by the fact that Trump last week ordered Attorney-General Pam Bondi to open new investigations into Epstein’s links with high-profile Democrats, including Clinton and Clinton’s treasury secretary, Larry Summers.

Bondi immediately tasked a US attorney in New York, Trump appointee Jay Clayton, to lead the investigations and said he would act “with urgency and integrity”.

Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has spectacularly fallen out with Trump over Epstein and other issues, said on Wednesday: “Will the Department of Justice release the files or will it all remain tied up in investigations … will that list of names come out? That’s the real test.”

Even before the bulk of the so-called Epstein files have been released, documents obtained by the US Congress from his estate have humiliated high-profile individuals who maintained their friendship with Epstein after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution.

For example, email exchanges between Epstein and Summers, some of them containing crass observations about women, featured prominently in the 20,000 pages of documents released last week.

On Thursday (AEDT), it was confirmed that Summers would immediately take leave from his teaching post at Harvard University, where he holds the highest professorial distinction, while administrators investigated his ties to the disgraced financier.

Leading artificial intelligence company OpenAI also announced Summers had quit the firm’s board.

“Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI board of directors, and we respect his decision,” OpenAI said in a statement. “We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the board.”