President Trump signs bill directing DOJ to release Jeffrey Epstein files
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday night directing the Justice Department to release all files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, completing a dramatic reversal after fighting the proposal just last week.
Trump announced on Truth Social that he signed the Jeffrey Epstein Transparency Act, which cleared both chambers of Congress on Tuesday with only one Republican lawmaker voting against it.
"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 president said in the announcement on his social media platform. Trump has pointed to Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, proclaiming: "This latest Hoax will backfire on the Democrats just as all of the rest have!"
With the legislation signed, the Justice Department has 30 days to publicize "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" from the investigation into the disgraced financier and indicted sex trafficker who died by suicide in 2019.
“We'll continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier in the day.
Whether the Justice Department will release all the documents remains to be seen. The DOJ is permitted to withhold documents that could jeopardize ongoing investigations or violate the privacy rights of Epstein victims.
Two days before Trump changed his tune by calling for House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, the president ordered the Justice Department to investigate Democrats linked to Epstein, who died by suicide in a federal prison in 2019.
Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has been tapped to lead the investigation.
What happens after Trump signed the Epstein files bill?
The Justice Department has 30 days to publicize "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" from the investigation into Epstein, according to the legislation.
The legislation compels the Justice Department to release the files to the public in a "searchable and downloadable format," the bill says. Files related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. that Trump ordered to be released were made available on the National Archives website.
According to the Epstein files bill, certain information can be withheld, including the identity of victims, "child sexual materials," and anything that might jeopardize an ongoing investigation. The attorney general will be required to provide to Congress a summary of redactions made and legal justifications for withholding information.
A former Trump White House lawyer has said he believes the president will use the provision limiting information related to ongoing investigations to keep Epstein files from being released.
— Michael Loria
How did the bill pass?
Trump’s signing of the bill comes after months of controversy over what more information the federal government might have about Epstein.
Americans, and the politicians who represent them, have clamored to know more about the disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker's relationships with the rich and powerful, including the president.
All that scrutiny came to a head on Tuesday when both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly agreed to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The legislation was sent immediately to the president's desk after an abrupt about-face to support the measure despite initially opposing it.
The success of the measure was a remarkable show of bipartisan force. It was also the culmination of a rare rebuke from congressional Republicans of Trump, whose decades-old ties to Epstein have recently come back to haunt him.
It's unclear how the Justice Department will immediately respond to the new bill. In the short term, the bill represents a win for Epstein's many victims, and potentially, a growing willingness among congressional Republicans to buck the president — at least on some issues.
— Michael Loria
Larry Summers will leave his role at Harvard amid Epstein probe
Former Harvard President Larry Summers will immediately step down from his role as an instructor at Harvard as the Ivy League school investigates his ties to Epstein, according to the Harvard Crimson, the university's student newspaper.
"His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester," a spokesperson for Summers told The Crimson on Nov. 19.
Earlier in the day, Summers announced that he would be stepping back from his public duties at the university amid new revelations about his relationship with Epstein. He also resigned from the board of tech company OpenAI days after announcing he was stepping away from public commitments due to his connection to Epstein.
"In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress," Summers said in a statement to USA TODAY on Wednesday.
OpenAI's board said in a statement, "Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision. We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board."
— Swapna Venugopal Ramaswam and Melina Khan
Epstein vote showed a rare bipartisan Trump rebuke
Tuesday's bipartisan support in Congress for passing the bill to release the full Epstein files came at a particularly polarized time in Washington.
The government had just reopened after closing for a record 43 days. GOP lawmakers have been increasingly enraging Democrats by ceding congressional spending powers to the White House. And Democrats have felt all the more emboldened to stand up to Trump on the heels of big off-year election wins.
Despite all that, Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, told USA TODAY he was surprised at how quickly the Epstein vote came together. Asked why Republicans felt comfortable voting with their political enemies, he said, "I don't know. But I'm glad we did."
But some Democrats are skeptical that the vote was a green light for Republicans to buck Trump more often, even in his second term.
They only signed on because "they got permission to support it, which is sad in and of itself," Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, told USA TODAY. "Protecting children from pedophiles should not be hard," he said.
— Zachary Schermele
Thune says Congress wants DOJ to 'get the information out there' on Epstein
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said the “clear intent” from the House and Senate is to “get the information out there” after both chambers voted overwhelmingly for the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.
Thune made the comments on Wednesday as Democrats have called for scrutiny of Bondi to ensure she follows the directive in the bill to release all the documents from the Epstein investigation within 30 days.
"I trust the judgment of the Justice Department to ensure that whatever files they release protect the victims, clearly," Thune said in response to a question from a reporter, adding the DOJ will have to "make some decisions" about releasing documents that were presented to the grand jury to convict Epstein. “But I think they’ll make the right decisions.”
— Joey Garrison
Bondi says 'new information' led to new Epstein investigations targeting Democrats
After closing the Epstein case in July, Bondi on Wednesday said “new information” obtained by federal authorities prompted the Justice Department to launch the new investigation targeting prominent Democrats’ ties with Epstein.
“There’s information, new information, additional information,” Bondi said, without expounding. “Again, we’ll follow to follow the law to investigate any leads. If there are any victims, we encourage any victims to come forward.”
Bondi announced the new investigation in the Southern District of New York at the direction of Trump, who singled out Trump, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman as subjects of the probe.
When Bondi announced the administration’s decision not to release the Epstein files in July, the Justice Department and FBI said investigators found no evidence to prompt an investigation into uncharged third parties in the Epstein case.
Under the new Epstein files bill that passed Congress, the Justice Department can withhold documents if they jeopardize ongoing investigations.
— Joey Garrison
AG Bondi pledges to 'follow the law' after passage of Epstein files bill
Bondi said the Justice Department will “follow the law” after both chambers of Congress approved legislation compelling the full release of the files in the Epstein investigation.
“We'll continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims,” Bondi said Wednesday. “The law passed both chambers last evening. It has not yet been signed, but we will continue to follow the law.”
Under the bill, the Justice Department has 30 days to publicize “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” from the investigation.
But the Justice Department is permitted to withhold documents that could jeopardize ongoing investigations or violate the privacy rights of Epstein victims.
— Joey Garrison
Epstein survivor hopes Trump invites them to bill signing
Having some Epstein survivors present when Trump signs the Epstein files bill would honor their experience and their push for justice, Teresa J. Helm told USA TODAY on Tuesday. Helm was sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein in the early 2000s.
"Every family knows a survivor of sexual violence," she said. "I truly hope that we are further seen and honored, not for anything political, but for our experience and our pursuit of justice, because it's hugely important. We are directly contributing to our democracy because anything built on corruption always crumbles eventually."
The signing has not yet been scheduled. Many bills are signed into law without a public ceremony.
– Sarah D. Wire
Lawmaker who texted with Epstein avoids censure
The House on Tuesday evening narrowly voted against formally reprimanding Del. Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat who represents the United States Virgin Islands in the House of Representatives, for communicating with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.
In a 209-214 vote, all House Democrats, along with three Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Lance Gooden of Texas, and Dave Joyce of Ohio — voted against the measure. Three other Republicans — Reps. Andrew Garbarino of New York, Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, and Jay Obernolte of California — voted present.
Thousands of documents released last week included copies of text messages that Plaskett exchanged with Epstein during an Oversight Committee hearing. Plaskett was going to question Michael Cohen, a former friend of Epstein’s, during the hearing.
During a floor speech on Tuesday, Plaskett denied wrongdoing and said that Epstein was a constituent at the time, as he was a resident of the Virgin Islands. She said it was “not public knowledge at that time that he was under federal investigation” and that she was just seeking information.
“I know how to question individuals,” she said. “I know how to seek information. I have sought information from confidential informants, from murderers, from other individuals because I want the truth."
— Rebecca Morin
Who is Clay Higgins? Meet the only House member to vote against releasing the Epstein files
Rep. Clay Higgins, a former police officer, was the lone vote against the legislation on Tuesday. For the Louisiana Republican, who typically votes with other conservatives, it was a politically unusual choice. But he said it came down to privacy concerns.
Safeguarding the personal information of Epstein's many victims was his primary issue with the deal, even though most GOP lawmakers, following President Donald Trump's lead, joined with Democrats to support the measure in recent days.
The bill's bipartisan authors – Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, D-California – have stressed that the legislation will not expose victims. It stipulates that the Justice Department is permitted to withhold certain information, such as personal details about victims and materials that would jeopardize any active federal investigations.
Epstein accusers present for House vote
A group of the estimated 1,000 women and children who have made accusations against Epstein were in the House gallery during the chamber's vote on Tuesday.
They cheered and hugged as the vote ended. Some representatives applauded.
“My sister, Maria Farmer, first reported Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to federal authorities nearly three decades ago. Since then, survivors – myself included – have been left in the dark about how our reports were investigated, who was involved in our abuse and trafficking, and why Epstein and Maxwell were able to get away with inflicting pain on so many women and girls for years," said Annie Farmer, who met Epstein at age 16, in a statement after the vote.
