Hotly debated cases involving disgraced former financier and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein passed a major milestone Tuesday when Congress voted overwhelmingly to release them.
After months of deliberate delays and maneuvers House of Representatives The vote was 427 to one in favor of the Epstein File Transparency Act, legislation that, if passed, would require the Justice Department to release all unclassified material about Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The Senate unanimously agreed to quickly pass the bill, which will then be sent to the White House for Donald Trump's signature.
Tuesday's abrupt transition became almost inevitable after the president's speech on Sunday. inverted himself called for the files to be made public, saying “we have nothing to hide” and calling the controversy over the files a “Democratic hoax.”
Trump's U-turn Follows Hard Work at White House efforts persuade two Republican women members of Congress, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, to withdraw their names from the dismissal petition in order to force House Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote on releasing the files.
Faced with the prospect that numerous Republicans would defy his wishes by voting with Democrats to release the files, the president decided to cut his losses by bowing to the inevitable. Before Trump changed his tune on the documents, Thomas Massie, a Republican independent from Kentucky who co-sponsored the bill with Democrat Ro Khanna, predicted that 100 Republicans would vote for the exemption.
In fact, Trump's green light appears to have freed even more GOP members from their previous bans on joining all 214 House Democrats. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a close Trump ally, was the only House member to vote against the measure; five representatives did not vote.
How did it get through the Senate so quickly?
As of this weekend, the bill appears to have met at least some resistance in the Senate. John Barrasso, the Republican majority leader, said he would “take a look” at the bill if it passes the House, but also said in an interview with NBC Meet The Press that he believes Democrats are more interested in turning Trump into a “lame duck president” than in achieving accountability and transparency.
But that resistance faded in the face of an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives. The lopsided vote helped Democrats pass the measure through a fast-track unanimous consent process that does not require a formal roll call vote.
“The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein's victims have waited long enough,” Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a speech Tuesday. “Let the truth come out. Let transparency reign.”
Will Trump sign it?
Trump told reporters Monday that he would sign the bill if it reached his desk. Yet despite that promise and his belated U-turn on releasing the files, Trump could still use his presidential veto to block passage – although doing so at this late stage would likely fuel suspicions that he has something to hide.
Is it possible to overcome such a veto?
Yes. A presidential veto can be overridden if both houses vote in favor of a two-thirds majority. Both chambers have already surpassed this figure impressively. The only member of Congress to vote against the bill was Clay Higgons, a Republican representative from Louisiana.
What cards might Trump play if an overwhelming majority in Congress forces the Justice Department to release the files?
Even if Trump signs the bill — either by choice or by force as majorities in the House and Senate override his vetoes — his recent announcement of a Justice Department investigation into prominent figures other than himself, mentioned last week in Epstein emails released by the House Oversight Committee, has heightened concerns that any version of the files released may be incomplete or selective.
Last Friday, Trump ordered US Attorney General Pam Bondi open investigation via links between Epstein and former President Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary and ex-president of Harvard University, Reed Hoffman, a venture capitalist known for funding Democrats and liberal causes, and JPMorgan Chase. The investigation may allow the Justice Department to withhold some documents on the grounds that their release would be harmful.
Ultimately, Trump could end all the uncertainty by ordering the files to be released without waiting for Congress to pressure him.
