US President Donald Trump has signed a bill requiring the Justice Department to release investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, a disgraced financier convicted of sex offences in 2008 and charged again in 2019 with trafficking minors and running an underage sex ring. The decision followed months of political maneuvering, with Trump initially opposing the measure, citing claims that Democrats were weaponizing the issue to harm his presidency.
Epstein, who was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019, was ruled to have committed suicide. However, the incident has sparked speculation that he may have been killed to prevent him from testifying about numerous wealthy and influential figures that could have used his services. Trump labeled Epstein as “a lifelong Democrat” and recalled that several Democratic figures, including former President Bill Clinton, had ties to him.
Trump suggested that “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!” He accused Democrats of using the issue to distract from what he described as his administration’s achievements, adding that the Biden administration “did not turn over a, single file or page” related to Epstein. Trump also claimed the Justice Department had already provided Congress with tens of thousands of documents at his direction.
Trump’s move marked a shift from his earlier position, having previously urged House Republicans to block the measure, arguing that Democrats were pushing the release to damage his presidency. Trump has been mentioned in several Epstein-related materials, including an email in which the financier claimed Trump “knew about the girls.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the emails as “proving absolutely nothing.”
Following the revelation, Trump ordered a probe into Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats and urged House Republicans to vote for releasing the Epstein files, “because we have nothing to hide.” The House approved the bill 427–1, and the Senate passed it unanimously.