Donald Trump has signed a bill compelling the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, after it was passed almost unanimously by Congress.
So what? The president spent months trying to block the publication of the files, which he has described as a Democratic hoax. But members of his own party, including some of his most ardent supporters, joined the Dems to push for more transparency. The saga has
•
exposed cracks in Trump’s Maga base;
•
brought rare unity to Capitol Hill; and
•
begun to haunt the president’s second term.
Unity. The House passed the bill by 427 votes to 1. It was unanimously fast-tracked through the Senate without a formal vote. Now that it has received Trump’s signature, the Department of Justice has 30 days to release the files.
Potential revelations. The files are from the two criminal investigations into Epstein. They include flight logs, visual evidence and communications between the disgraced financier and his associates, as well as statements by victims and witnesses. Most Americans believe the files contain damaging information about wealthy and powerful people.
About-turn. Trump tried to prevent the House vote, privately lobbying and publicly attacking Republicans in favour of releasing the files. When it became clear a vote was inevitable, he urged his party to back the bill, saying: “We have nothing to hide.” If he had wanted to, Trump could have ordered the release of the files without Congress.
Related articles:
Fault lines. Last week Trump split with Marjorie Taylor Greene over her calls for disclosure. The representative for Georgia was one of his fiercest supporters, but the president called her a “traitor” ahead of Tuesday’s vote. Greene said the Epstein issue had “ripped Maga apart” and claims she is now receiving death threats from people “egged on” by Trump.
Fragile front. The very public spat demonstrates that Maga is not a cult of personality that backs its leader at any cost. It is a coalition of competing egos and different agendas. Trump is struggling to maintain control over this base, parts of which also criticised his decision to bomb Iran and the tax cuts in his domestic spending bill.
Under threat. Recent polling won’t help. The Democrats have a 14-point lead over the Republicans on the generic ballot, when in November last year they were neck and neck.
In the past. Trump and Epstein were once friends who partied together in Miami and New York. The president says he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for being a “creep” and ended the relationship in 2004, before Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution. Trump is not accused of wrongdoing, but the release of the files could still be politically damaging for him.
Exhibit A. Last week the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the disgraced financier, released more than 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate. They include a 2019 email in which Epstein claimed Trump “knew about the girls”. The White House said the messages were “selectively leaked” to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”.
Rumour mill. Attorney General Pam Bondi is reported to have told Trump that his name appears numerous times in the Epstein files, although it’s not clear within what context.
Meanwhile, several prominent individuals have already faced reckonings over their ties to Epstein. Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers has stepped back from public life after his close relationship with the financier was revealed, while Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of his royal titles. Peter Mandelson resigned as British ambassador to the US.
Next steps. Trump’s sign-off on the bill does not guarantee full disclosure. The DoJ could hold back some information on the basis that it would identify victims or interfere with other investigations, including one that Trump ordered last week into Epstein’s links with Democrats. If there are heavy redactions, this could prompt a backlash from elements of the Maga base.
What’s more… The one “no” in the House was from the Republican Clay Higgins, who said “this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt”. Safeguarding victims ought to be essential.
Photograph by Heather Diehl/Getty Images.