Trump signs Epstein files bill, setting 30-day clock for public release
Justice Department to release unclassified Epstein-related material after the US president spent months trying to block it
US President Donald Trump signed legislation on Wednesday that compels his administration to release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, bowing to political pressure from his own party after initially resisting those efforts.
Trump could have chosen to release many of the files on his own months ago.
“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,” Trump said in a social media post as he announced he had signed the bill.
The president’s signature marked a stunning about-face for Trump, who had assailed the effort to require the release of the government’s files on Epstein who was facing federal charges of trafficking underage girls when he died in jail in 2019.
It followed a lopsided 427 to 1 vote in the House - where a lone Republican lawmaker provided the only no vote - and the Senate agreeing unanimously to send the measure to the president’s desk.
And it inflicted another political setback on the president, just two weeks after his party suffered defeats in state and local elections in which concerns about his economic agenda and affordability were front and centre.