Trump signs bill to release the Epstein files: What's next

Epstein Files Bill Update: Passes in Senate, sent to Trump

The Senate on Wednesday quickly passed a bill requiring the Justice Department to release its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has signed a bill requiring the Justice Department to release its files on the late financier Jeffrey Epstein — legislation that Republican leaders and the president himself sought for months to block.

The president reversed course earlier this week, however, writing in a Truth Social post that the files should be released because "we have nothing to hide."

What we know:

Prior to Trump's signing, the bill moved quickly through Congress. In a show of unity, Senate Republicans and Democrats agreed Tuesday night to pass the bill immediately after it arrived from the House, which approved it 427-1 earlier in the day. Rep Clay Higgins, (R-La.) was the only lawmaker to vote against the release of the files. 

The president's signature comes after months of mounting pressure on Congress and the Trump administration to meet long-standing demands that the Justice Department release its files on Epstein. 

Last week, House Democrats released emails which seem to indicate that Trump knew more about Epstein's sex-trafficking operation than he'd previously let on. These emails specifically accuse the president of spending "hours" at Epstein’s house with one of his sex trafficking victims. 

Shortly after the release of those emails, House Republicans released 23,000 pages from the Jeffrey Epstein estate. These files were obtained earlier this year via subpoena by the House Oversight Committee, according to The New York Times. These files also include "numerous references" to the president, The Times says. 

Who was Jeffrey Epstein?

FILE - effrey Epstein attends Launch of RADAR MAGAZINE at Hotel QT on May 18, 2005. (Photo by Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

The backstory:

Epstein was charged in 2019 with sexually abusing dozens of underage girls in a case brought more than a decade after he secretly cut a deal with federal prosecutors to dispose of nearly identical allegations.

He died by suicide in August 2019. He was found unresponsive in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

When will the Epstein files be released? 

What's next:

The Justice Department will now be tasked with releasing all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison. Information about Epstein’s victims or continuing federal investigations would be allowed to be redacted, per the bill.

The department, however, would not be allowed to redact information due to "embarrassment, reputational harm or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure or foreign dignitary."

As noted by Axios, the bill's language gives the Trump administration "broad cover" to redact certain parts of the documents, especially in relation to "national security" and "active investigations." 

The Epstein Files Transparency Act says that records that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or prosecution" can be concealed or redacted. And since the DOJ launched an investigation into Epstein's ties with several high-profile individuals last week, Trump officials may take advantage of this stipulation.

Now, the Justice Department has 30 days to produce the Epstein files, according to The Associated Press.