President Donald Trump signed legislation requiring the Department of Justice to release more than 100,000 pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein investigations within 30 days.
The move came after overwhelming bipartisan votes in both chambers of Congress.
The House approved the measure by a vote of 427-1 on Tuesday.
The Senate followed with unanimous passage.
Trump said he personally requested Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune to push the bill through their respective chambers.
“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 stated on Truth Social.
He added that the votes were almost unanimous because of his request.
Only one Republican, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), voted against the bill in the House. The Senate vote saw no opposition.
Trump said the Justice Department has already provided close to 50,000 pages of documents to Congress at his direction.
He criticized the previous administration for not releasing any files related to Epstein.
“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 wrote.
He suggested the matter would backfire on Democrats.
The president hinted the files could expose Democrats who had associations with Epstein.
“Perhaps the truth about these Democrats, and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed,” he said. However, significant concerns emerged about potential loopholes in the legislation.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) expressed deep skepticism about whether the Justice Department would provide complete disclosure.
“I have no trust, no confidence whatsoever that this Justice Department will be even-handed or fair in the disclosure of these files,” Blumenthal said on CNN. He indicated Democrats have other tools and techniques available and have begun oversight efforts.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned there must be no interference with the legally mandated release. “There must be no funny business from Donald Trump,” Schumer stated.
“This bill is a command for the president to be fully transparent, to come fully clean, and to provide full honesty to the American people, even if he doesn’t want to,” Schumer added, according to the Daily Mail.
Attorney General Pam Bondi provided limited assurances when asked about the release.
She told reporters her department would follow the law and protect Epstein victims.
Bondi revealed she began an investigation into Democrats mentioned in emails from the Epstein estate after Trump ordered her to do so.
“Information. Information,” Bondi said when pressed about the new probe. “There’s information that, new information, additional information.”
The Justice Department previously stated withheld files contained images of victims and videos of illegal child sex abuse. However, survivors have been seeking full disclosure to bring closure to years of suffering.
“I’m hoping that they’re going to do the right thing and release everything,” Sharlene Rochard, a victim of Epstein’s abuse, told CNN.
“We just want proof that this happened to us. … And we want to help other girls (so) that — that this doesn’t happen again.”
Mark Epstein, the late sex offender’s brother, made explosive claims earlier Wednesday.
He alleged Republicans’ names are being removed from the files before release, according to the Daily Mail.
“Jeffrey definitely had dirt on Trump,” Mark Epstein said.
He claimed it is provable that Trump visited Jeffrey Epstein’s house, despite presidential denials.
“Jeffrey told me that if he said what he knew about the candidates, they’d have to cancel the [2016] election,” Mark Epstein added.
