On Wednesday, Nov. 19, President Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act that directs the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, according to a Nov. 19 CBS article.
The signing of this bill effectively gives the Department of Justice and FBI 30 days to make its Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell related communication and investigative materials public according to a CBS article from Nov. 19. Before making its way to the presidents desk, the bill passed through the House in a vote of 427-1 and through the Senate unanimously, according to a CNN article from Nov. 18.
Recent public and political pressure to release the files began to mount after 20 thousand of Epstein’s emails were released into the public domain by the House Oversight Committee, according to New York Times articles from Nov. 12 and Nov 16. Democrats on the Committee expressed that these emails were chosen to be released since they raised questions concerning the relationship between the president and Epstein.
Originally, and very set in his stance against the release of the files, President Trump denounced calls for the release of the files as a Democratic hoax. However, eventually he reversed his position calling on House Republicans to vote in favor of releasing the files, according to a New York Times article from Nov. 17. It is unclear when the files will actually be released as of Nov. 25.
