Donald Trump approves bill for release of Epstein files

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed into law a measure compelling the Department of Justice to release the investigative files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, hoping to shift the narrative in a scandal that has weighed on his second term in office.

The move comes after the House and the Senate almost unanimously approved the Epstein Files Transparency Act at the end of a lengthy political fight that saw House Speaker Mike Johnson refuse to bring the bill to a vote until he was forced to do so by breakaway members of his own Republican Party.

Mr Trump is one of many prominent, wealthy men named in the files, and he had long resisted their release. Being named in the files does not necessarily imply any wrongdoing. He came out in support of the measure after it became clear Republicans would vote in favour of it.

In a lengthy post on Truth Social announcing that he had signed the bill, Mr Trump again sought to portray the Epstein scandal as a Democrat-led hoax.

Democrats want to “distract from the great job that Republicans, and the Trump administration, are doing”. “This latest hoax will backfire on the Democrats just as all of the rest have,” he wrote.

Epstein was a well-connected financier who died in jail in New York while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges that he sexually abused and trafficked minors. He was previously convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution and soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Survivors of Epstein's trafficking ring say the government must release all files in the case, which exploded back into the headlines this month after Democrats released a series of emails from Epstein, including one that said Mr Trump “knew about the girls”.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said he terminated his friendship with Epstein because he was a “sick person”.

Now that the President has signed the bill, there's a 30-day countdown for the Justice Department to produce the files.

The bill compels Attorney General Pam Bondi to release essentially everything the Justice Department has collected over several federal investigations into Epstein, as well as his long-time confidante and girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for luring teenage girls for the disgraced financier.

Those records total around 100,000 pages, according to a federal judge who has reviewed the case.

Expanding fallout

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