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US President Donald Trump announced that he had signed a bill directing the Department of Justice to publicly release all its Jeffrey Epstein-related files, calling the step a major push for transparency.
Trump made the announcement in a lengthy social media post, using it to criticise Democrats over their associations with Epstein. He said, "Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged by the Trump Justice Department in 2019 (Not the Democrats!), was a lifelong Democrat, donated Thousands of Dollars to Democrat Politicians, and was deeply associated with many well-known Democrat figures," naming former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Building on this criticism, he added, "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!" The bill, known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, gained overwhelming bipartisan support, passing the House with a 427-1 vote and later clearing the Senate through unanimous consent. However, uncertainty remains about how the Justice Department will disclose the files or whether some of the material will remain tied to ongoing investigations. Trump further used the moment to address what he called years of politically motivated investigations into him, while also highlighting what he described as the achievements of his administration. "This latest Hoax will backfire on the Democrats just as all of the rest have! Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he said. The strong congressional backing for the bill followed renewed attention on Epstein-linked communications, which resurfaced in recent days. Rep Clay Higgins, the sole lawmaker to vote against the measure, warned that releasing the documents would "absolutely result in innocent people being hurt". Trump had earlier urged Republicans to support the release, saying "it's time to move on." His post came shortly after a resurfaced email chain involving Mark and Jeffrey Epstein referenced Donald Trump. In a 2018 message to Steve Bannon, Mark speculated whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had a photograph of "Trump blowing Bubba." The email exchange had begun as a routine conversation, in which Jeffrey mentioned he was with Bannon, who at the time served as chief strategist in Trump's first administration. The "Epstein files" themselves consist of extensive records gathered during federal cases involving Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and associated individuals, comprising over 300 gigabytes of data and additional media stored in the FBI's case management system. Among the material is Epstein's so-called "client list", which includes references to several prominent figures, including Donald Trump, former president Bill Clinton and Andrew from the British royal family. (ANI)
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