Congress votes to release the Epstein files
Image: Graeme Sloan
Yesterday, the House and Senate both overwhelmingly voted to compel the Justice Department to release all of its case files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The votes were held after a group of Republican lawmakers bucked party leaders and joined with Democrats to force the matter.
- President Trump, who socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, had blasted the Democrat-led effort to release the Epstein case files for months, framing it as a campaign to embarrass Republicans and distract from recent GOP policy wins.
- But he abruptly reversed course late Sunday, saying he now supports passage of the bill and would sign it into law if it reaches his desk (though still calling it a “Democrat Hoax”).
How we got here
After years of promising to release the “Epstein files”—an all-encompassing term covering files, images, and documents related to federal investigations and probes into Epstein and associates—the DOJ in July said there was nothing to release.
- The agency also concluded that Epstein died by suicide, and that there’s no evidence he ever blackmailed powerful figures or kept a secret "client list" of people to whom he trafficked young girls.
- The DOJ’s findings run counter to the belief among many Americans that Epstein’s crimes also implicated some of the world’s most influential people, and that he was killed to cover it up.
A group of House lawmakers introduced a petition to force the DOJ to disclose the full Epstein files soon after. But it didn’t garner enough support until last week, when Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was sworn in nearly two months after winning her special election. Democrats allege the extended delay by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was meant to forestall a vote on releasing the Epstein files.
Looking ahead…President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law shortly, which would give the DOJ 30 days to make public all files related to Epstein's case.
📊 Flash poll: Do you think the DOJ’s upcoming release of its Epstein files will reveal that Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, and/or kept a secret client list?
See a 360° view of what pundits are saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that despite what Trump publicly claimed in his latest flip-flop on the Epstein files, the public shouldn’t expect to see what is in those files any time soon, if ever, due to obstruction by the President.
- Others contend that the full release of the Epstein files may end up helping Trump as opposed to hurting his image, since the slow drip of information thus far has kept the scandal running and made it look—rightly or wrongly—as if he has something worse to hide.
- “With Epstein files, Trump looks like a loser” –Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
- “The truth about Maga and its conspiracy theories” –The Guardian Editorial Board
- “The Democrat Who Split MAGA Over the Epstein Files” –Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and David Leonhardt, NY Times
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the discourse surrounding the Epstein files is a ridiculous distraction and has always been a divide-and-conquer bid by Democrats to disrupt the Republican majority in Congress with a media circus.
- Others contend that the complication for the Democrats demanding “transparency” is that the Biden Justice Department had all of these Epstein documents for four years and could have released them, but chose not to do so and not to prosecute anyone other than Ghislaine Maxwell.
- “Dems’ Epstein obsession is a scandalmongering charade” –NY Post Editorial Board
- “The Epstein Follies Return” –WSJ Editorial Board
- “Do Epstein files make Venezuela military action likelier?” –Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner
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