Overview
- The House passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act 427-1, with Rep. Clay Higgins as the lone no vote, and the Senate agreed to pass it by unanimous consent.
- President Donald Trump reversed months of opposition and said he will sign the bill requiring public release of unclassified DOJ materials on Jeffrey Epstein.
- The law mandates a searchable, downloadable posting of records and communications related to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and it bars redactions for embarrassment or political sensitivity.
- Redactions are permitted to protect victims’ identities and to avoid jeopardizing ongoing federal investigations, leaving uncertainty about how much will be disclosed.
- Survivors joined bipartisan sponsors Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna after a discharge petition forced the vote, as prior FBI reviews found no predicate to charge uncharged third parties and AG Pam Bondi assigned a New York U.S. attorney to review new leads.