On Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump announced via his social media platform that he had signed a bill concerning the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
In his post, Trump alleged that Democratic politicians have connections with the disgraced financier, Jeffrey Epstein.
“The truth about these Democrats and their ties to Jeffrey Epstein might soon be uncovered, as I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!,” Trump declared.
The former president reiterated his claim that the Epstein files are being used as a distraction from his political agenda, labeling the issue as a “Democratic hoax” that he predicts will ultimately “backfire on the Democrats, just like all the others have!”
According to two congressional aides who spoke with ABC News, the bill reached the White House at precisely 4:38 p.m. on Wednesday.
Earlier that day, Attorney General Pam Bondi was questioned about the administration’s plans for the public release of documents contained in the Epstein files.
“We have released over 33,000 Epstein documents to the Hill, and we will continue to follow the law and to have maximum transparency. Also, we will always encourage all victims to come forward,” Bondi said at a news conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and other officials on an unrelated law enforcement action.
Last week, Bondi announced the Justice Department was initiating a renewed investigation into the files and potential ties between high-profile Democrats and Epstein just hours after Trump ordered her to on his Truth Social account.
ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas pressed Bondi on Wednesday about what changed from the department’s memo in July in which they said they planned to make no future public disclosures related to their review of Epstein’s case and no further charges were expected.
“There’s information, new information, additional information,” she said in response to the question from Thomas. “And again, we will continue to follow the law to investigate any leads. If there are any victims, we encourage all victims to come forward. And we will continue to provide maximum transparency under the law.”
It’s unclear whether the DOJ will seek to cite the new investigation as exempting much of the files from public disclosure due to their relevance to the new investigation, despite DOJ and FBI stating unequivocally in a July statement that it uncovered no evidence in a review of the files that would support a predicated investigation against any uncharged individuals.
It’s unlikely the Justice Department would release the entire Epstein file, according to sources. Any materials related to ongoing investigations or White House claims of executive privilege will likely remain out of public view.
The Senate on Wednesday morning officially approved the Epstein bill passed by the House on Tuesday. The Senate agreed to do so by unanimous consent, which meant there were no amendments or changes to the bill as House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of his Republican leadership team had urged.
Johnson on Wednesday said he was “surprised” that no amendments were made.
“I made clear for months that I thought there were serious flaws in the underlying bill, and I had hoped that the Senate would work to fix and correct those. They decided to go a different direction. That’s their prerogative. I was surprised and disappointed by that,” Johnson conceded.
Still, the speaker said he does not expect Trump to veto the measure.
“The Congress has spoken,” Johnson emphasized. “You know that the president will process that, and there’s no delays in this at all. I mean, it’s moving forward, so I’m going to check the progress right now.”
Trump said on Monday that he will sign the bill should it reach his desk. A senior White House official later told ABC News that the bill will “be signed whenever it gets to the White House.”
Trump did not need to wait for Congress to act — he could order the release immediately.
The legislation compels the release of federal records on Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as other individuals, including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s “criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity, plea agreements or investigatory proceedings,” according to the legislation text. Victims’ names and other identifying information would be excluded from disclosure, as would any items that may depict or contain child sex abuse material, according to the text of the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, warned Trump against selectively releasing Epstein documents and said Democrats would hold him to account if the bill isn’t faithfully executed.
“This is not an invitation for Donald Trump to pick and choose his version of the truth. 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 said. “So I want to be clear: Anything less than full transparency will be unacceptable in the eyes of the American people. If Donald Trump refuses to comply, if he refuses to obey the law, Senate Democrats will hold him accountable.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he trusts the discretion of the Justice Department to release the appropriate Epstein files.
“I trust the judgement of the Justice Department to ensure that whatever files they release protect the victims, clearly. And I think there are other items, perhaps materials that were acquired through grand jury trials that perhaps they will have to make some decisions about, but I think they’ll make the right decisions,” Thune said.
Thune was pressed on the public split with Johnson over not amending the bill. He said he and Johnson have an “incredibly strong working relationship and work closely with the White House.”
Some Republican senators on Wednesday said the think the Justice Department will comply and not slow-walk the release.
“Well, we voted on it today. The president will sign it. And this shouldn’t be a new issue, so they should be ready to go. I’d hope, I hope they release them immediately,” Republican Sen. John Husted said.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley — who said he was “sure” Trump would sign the bill — said he doesn’t think the administration will use investigations into Democrats or court seals as ways to delay releasing the files.
“I don’t think they’ll do that,” Hawley said. “I think I’d be really surprised if they tried that, given the huge bipartisan support for this and the president’s support, so I don’t think they’ll do that.”
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said even if the Justice Department were to use the investigation as a pretext to not release the files, he said he believed they will be made public eventually.
“There are ways to track and trace what’s in those files, and we should have bipartisan commitment that every part of those files will be disclosed unless there is a real criminal investigation that justifies withholding it and then an explanation for when those files will be disclosed,” Blumenthal said.
“At the end of the day, it will all come out, because those investigations will be concluded at some point, and then the present leadership of the Department of Justice will be held accountable if it fails to disclose what needs to be revealed,” he added.
ABC News’ John Parkinson, Lauren Peller, Rebecca Gelpi, Michelle Stoddart, Fritz Farrow, Luke Barr and Alex Mallin contributed to this report.
