‘Truth about Democrats will soon be revealed’: Trump approves release of Jeffrey Epstein case files
US President Donald Trump officially signed the bill to release files on convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday, amid strong political pressure.
Announcing the bill's signing, Trump said on social media that Democrats were using the "Epstein issue" to divert attention from "our AMAZING Victories". Interestingly, he claimed the issue impacted Democrats more than Republicans.
Trump's move to sign the bill comes days after both the Senate and House of Representatives voted for the release of the files. The House of Representatives passed the legislation with a vote of 427 to 1. The only person who disagreed was Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana, who believed the bill might reveal details about innocent people mentioned in the federal investigation. The Senate later approved the bill without any opposition, choosing not to hold a formal vote.
The new law now mandates that the Justice Department must release all files and communications linked to Epstein, including any information from the investigation into his death in a federal prison in 2019, within 30 days. Though the bill allows the redaction, or blacking out, of certain details about Epstein's victims, especially if it relates to ongoing federal investigations, the Justice Department cannot keep information private just because it might cause embarrassment, damage reputations, or be politically sensitive.
Trump had resisted the move for months, but did a U-turn last week after facing resistance from Epstein's victims and members of his own Republican party. The Trump administration had even called Republican Representative Lauren Boebert from Colorado, who was in favour of the files’ release, to the Situation Room to discuss the matter, but she remained firm.
However, once it became clear that Congress would act, Trump abruptly changed his position on the files, saying the Epstein matter had become a distraction to the Republican agenda and that he wanted to move on. "I just don't want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we've had," he wrote on social media.
Trump was once friends with Epstein, who was close to several powerful global personalities. However, the US president has always maintained that he was unaware of Epstein's crimes and had ended their friendship a long time ago.
Before Trump campaigned for a second term in the White House, some of his closest political supporters spread theories suggesting that the government was covering up potentially damaging information within the Epstein case files.
World