US President Donald Trump called the Epstein files a “Democratic hoax” for months, but now his Justice Department has been ordered to publicly release them – and it’s just his signature that stands in the way.
But what does that actually mean, and what comes next in the Jeffrey Epstein saga?
The US House of Representatives voted 427-1 in favour of publicly releasing all Justice Department investigative files into the convicted sex offender on Tuesday (US time).
Just hours later, the Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill.
Trump, who railed against releasing the Epstein files before suddenly changing his tune this week, said he would sign the bill if it passes both chambers of Congress.
Now that the Senate has agreed to pass the House-backed Epstein Files Transparency Act, it will pass to Trump himself.
The legislation will be transmitted to his desk as soon as it arrives to the Senate.
When that will actually happen remains unclear.
The Senate has yet to receive the bill from the House and it typically takes some time to transmit legislation from one chamber to another.
It could still be hours before Senate receives the bill and can pass it on to the president.
Trump wrote on social media that he “doesn’t care” when that happens.
“I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future,” he said.
“I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had.”
Once the bill hits his desk, it will be up to Trump to actually sign it into law.
Despite previously calling the whole issue a “Democratic hoax”, the president has said that he would sign the measure if it passed both houses of Congress.
When will the Epstein files be released?
Once Trump signs the act into law, the US Justice Department will have just 30 days to release all of the Epstein files.
Some sensitive documents and details may be withheld or redacted, including:
- personal information about victims
- explicit depictions of child abuse
- anything that could jeopardise ongoing federal investigations
- depictions of death or injury
- information that has been classified to protect national security
Once the files have been released, the Justice Department will have 15 days to provide Congress with a full list of what has been released and what has been withheld.
It will also be required to provide a report on any redactions and a full list of government officials and “politically exposed persons” named in the files.
How would the material be released?
It’s unclear at this stage how the Epstein files will be released.
Some documents that have already been made public by the administration have been released via the House Oversight Committee.
Additional files may be handed over to the Committee to release, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Who voted against the Epstein files being released?
All but one member of the US House of Representatives voted in favour of releasing the Epstein files.
The one holdout was Congressman Clay Higgins, who voted against passing the bill.
“I have been a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning,” Higgins said in a post on X after the vote.
“What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today.
“It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America.”
Higgins voiced concern with the legislative language of the bill and claimed that if enacted in its current form, it could reveal and injure “thousands of innocent people”.
“This type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt,” he said.
The congressman said he would change his vote if the Senate amended the bill to “properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated”.
What are the Epstein files?
The so-called Epstein files are a collection of documents from multiple investigations into disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.
One case is from 2008 and involved a 14-year-old girl.
Her parents alleged that Epstein had molested her at his Palm Beach home and photos of girls were later found in the home.
Epstein was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor and was registered as a sex offender, but a plea deal allowed him to escape a jail sentence.
Then in 2019, Epstein was charged with running a network of underage girls for sex.
He was arrested but died by suicide in prison before going to trial.
Over the years, the US Justice Department collected countless documents and other pieces of evidence pertaining to these and other investigations into Epstein, including victim interview transcripts, items taken in raids, and photographs.
Until now, most of these documents have been kept from the public.
Some have been put into the public domain in the years since Epstein’s death, either through official releases or leaks.
Several of the released documents have mentioned Trump, including one email released this month in which Epstein wrote “I know how dirty Donald is”.
Trump has repeatedly downplayed his connection to Epstein.