On Tuesday, the House passed the bill to release the Epstein Files in a 427-1 vote. Donald Trump did everything he could to stop the vote and to attack the handful of Republicans planning to vote for the release of the files, and those Republicans stood their ground. Just before the vote, Trump suddenly changed course and said he would sign any bill which released the files. That’s why the vote was so lopsided. Later in the day on Tuesday, the Senate unanimously passed the House’s “release the files” bill. On Wednesday, Trump signed it.
President Donald Trump has said that he’s signed legislation ordering the release of files related to the investigation of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and alleged sex trafficker.
“I have just signed the bill to release the Epstein files,” he wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post on Wednesday, Nov. 19, adding, “This latest Hoax will backfire on the Democrats just as all of the rest have!”
Trump’s statement follows a unanimous decision by the Senate on Tuesday, Nov. 18, to send the House’s version of the legislation directly to Trump’s desk. The House passed its bill earlier that day in a rare 427-1 vote, with only Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins opposing the release of the files.
The legislation comes after months of pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to release the files, including calls from Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican who has been increasingly willing to break with Trump while escalating her efforts to make the documents public in recent months.
The bill calls on the Justice Department to publish “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in DOJ’s possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein,” according to an official House summary.
Despite the legislation, the DOJ will not be required to divulge every detail related to Epstein, receiving permission from Congress to withhold information that is classified, would identify victims, or interfere with a federal investigation.
“…Or interfere with a federal investigation.” You might ask yourself: is there any ongoing investigation within Pam Bondi’s DOJ or Kash Patel’s FBI? Patel and Bondi both shut down any and all Epstein-related investigations on Trump’s orders months ago. But we’re forgetting that, in the past week, Trump ordered Bondi and Patel to investigate DEMOCRATS’ links to Epstein. Trump has long claimed that the Epstein situation is a “Democrat hoax.” Now his volte-face is: it’s not a Democratic Party hoax, Democrats have been trying to cover up their associations with Jeffrey Epstein! That’s why Democrats have been trying to release the files! Logic has no place in the MAGA cult.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
