Trump signs bill directing DOJ to publicy release entire Epstein case file

by · UPI

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday night signed a bill that directs the U.S. Department of Justice to publicly release all files involving sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump posted on Truth Social: "I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES."

The Justice Department hasn't said how it would release the information, or if any of it would be delayed because of ongoing investigations.

On Wednesday, U.S. Senate formally approved the bill. The move was a formality, as the chamber approved the bill on Tuesday. The Senate unanimously approved the measure hours after the House voted 427-1 in favor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

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"As everyone knows, I asked Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, to pass this Bill in the House and Senate, respectively," Trump wrote. "Because of this request, the votes were almost unanimous in favor of passage. At my direction, the Department of Justice has already turned over close to fifty thousand pages of documents to Congress. Do not forget -- The Biden Administration did not turn over a SINGLE file or page related to Democrat Epstein, nor did they ever even speak about him."

Trump has described it as a "Democratic hoax." When he was a close friend of Epstein from the 1980s to the early 200s, he was registered as Democrat. They both lived in Palm Beach County, Fla.

In his Truth Social post, Trump listed numerous Democrats associated with Epstein, including former President Bill Clinton and Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

"Perhaps the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed," he wrote.

Trump urged the Justice Department to investigate Deocrats, and Attorney General Pam Bondi said her agency would look into them.

On Tuesday, the Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill after it was sent over by the House. Thune, of South Dakota, formally sent it to the president on Wednesday morning.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called it a "good victory for victims, for the American people, for transparency."

"Democrats fought and fought and fought to have this happen. It took too long, but we persisted and persisted and got it done," Schumer said.

Johnson, R-La., said he was disappointed that the Senate didn't change anything about the bill.

"I made clear for months that I thought there were serious flaws in the underlying bill. And I had hoped that the Senate would work to fix and correct those. They decided to go a different direction. That's their prerogative. I was surprised and disappointed by that," he told reporters.

"But overall, I mean, the bill has passed. Congress has spoken, and, you know, we did what was necessary. I hope it brings comfort to the victims and the survivors," he added. Johnson fought against the bill for months.

Haley Robson, Epstein survivor and Republican, told CNN's Pamela Brown that she lost respect for Johnson when he delayed swearing in Rep. Adelita Grijalva to prevent the bill from passing and called Democrats' actions a political show.

"Well, I was present in the room when they were doing the votes, as well as all the survivors. And I can say the only theatrics I saw was from him," Robson said. "This is not a hoax. There is no theater coming from us or the survivors on our end. I'm appalled by him in general, and I've lost a lot of respect by him."

Robson was also critical of Trump and lawmakers who campaigned on releasing the files, and then didn't.

"You lose all credibility when you go back on your promises to the American people and the survivors that you campaigned on in 2024. You lose all credibility when you play the flip-flop game and you start intimidating people in your own party, like [Reps.] Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, that are on the right side of things," she said.

Epstein-abuse survivor Alicia Arden told CNN that the passage of the bill made her feel "vindicated." She filed a report against Epstein in 1997.

"I feel a little vindicated and very, very happy to see that that passed 427 to 1," Arden told CNN's Kate Bolduan, saying that she hoped Trump would sign it into law on Wednesday.

She said she felt a "weight lifted" for her. "I wasn't even thinking it was going to go that far," she said.

Survivor Annie Farmer, who was 16 when she suffered abuse from Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, told CNN that having a large group of survivors and supporters has helped her.

"Every time a large group gathers, it completely changes the dynamic and the experience," she said. "It really does move us from feeling fearful to feeling like we are feared. We have power together."