The bill would require the Justice Department to release all information obtained in the Epstein investigation in a “searchable and downloadable format” within 30 days.
Trump had previously opposed the release of the files, but reversed course last week in the face of backlash from Epstein’s victims and his own Republicans.
With his support, the bill passed both chambers of Congress with overwhelming majorities on Tuesday.
“Perhaps the truth about these Democrats’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein will soon be revealed, because I just signed a bill to release the Epstein files!” he wrote.
Although no vote in Congress was needed to release the files, which President Trump could have ordered on his own, House members passed the bill by a 427-1 vote. The Senate unanimously agreed to pass the bill on arrival and sent the bill to President Trump for his signature.
The Epstein files, which are subject to release under the bill, are documents from the criminal investigation against the financier, including interviews with victims and witnesses and items seized in searches of his property. These materials include internal Justice Department communications, flight records, and people and entities associated with Epstein.
These files are different from the more than 20,000 pages of Epstein estate documents released by Congress last week, some of which directly address President Trump.
They include messages from 2018 in which Mr. Epstein said of Mr. Trump, “I’m the one who can beat him” and “I know how dirty Donald is.”
Trump was a longtime friend of Epstein, but the president said they had a falling out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein was first arrested. President Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing regarding Epstein.
President Trump told reporters Monday night that the Republican Party “has nothing to do with Mr. Epstein.”
“This is really a Democratic issue,” he said. “All the Democrats were friends of Epstein.”
The family of Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, said in a statement that President Trump’s signing of the bill is “nothing short of a monument” to Giuffre and other survivors.
“We remain vigilant for the next chapter. This work is not done yet. All names must be cleared, regardless of power, wealth or political affiliation,” said her brother and sister-in-law, Skye and Amanda Roberts.
Epstein was found dead in his New York prison cell in 2019, and a coroner ruled it a suicide. He was being held on sex trafficking charges. He was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor.
A former high-profile financier, he was linked to a number of famous people, including King Charles’ younger brother, former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Trump. Steve Bannon, former advisor to President Trump. and a cast of other characters from the worlds of media, politics, and entertainment.
Former Harvard University President Larry Summers has taken a leave of absence from his teaching position at the university while the school investigates his relationship with Epstein, a series of amicable email exchanges revealed Wednesday.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is required to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days of the law’s enactment. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
However, under the terms of the law, some of it could be withheld if it is deemed to violate a person’s privacy or is related to an active investigation.
The bill would give Bondi the power to withhold information that would prevent the federal government from actively investigating or identifying victims.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massey, one of the bill’s authors, said he was concerned that some files were being seized.
“I’m concerned that (President Trump) is opening investigations one after another, and I think he’s trying to use those investigations as a pretext for not releasing the files. That’s my concern,” he said.
MNA