After long opposing it, Donald Trump announced legislation Wednesday night forcing his government to make public all authorities’ documents related to Epstein’s dealings. However, the extent of the expected disclosure remains unclear. “I just signed a bill to make the Epstein files public!” », wrote the American president in a long message on his Truth Social network.
The text voted on Tuesday in Congress gives the Justice Department one month to provide all classified documents it has about the New York financier, who died in prison in 2019 before being tried for sex crimes, about his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a twenty-year prison sentence, and about everyone involved in related legal proceedings.
Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide in his cell has sparked countless conspiracy theories, which suggest that the financier, who had extensive connections in politics, business and entertainment, was murdered to prevent embarrassing revelations.
After using this affair for years for political purposes, promising to declassify everything when he returned to power, Donald Trump saw this unpinned grenade explode in his face, his MAGA camp having taken these promises at face value and not wanting to continue.
Documents can be edited
Figures from the New York jet set, these two entrepreneurs were close from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. The American president, who has never been accused by a court in the case, has for months opposed proposed legislation for “transparency in the Epstein file”.
But on Sunday, when it became clear that the bill would be adopted without incident in Congress, Donald Trump publicly made changes. The bill was ultimately approved on Tuesday with 427 votes in favor and 1 against in the House, and the Senate used a special procedure to approve it without debate and unanimously.
By enacting the law, Donald Trump started a 30-day countdown. Previously, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, had warned against any “crimes committed by Donald Trump”, and called on him to “enforce” the signed text.
A new law passed by Congress authorizes the Justice Department to withhold or reduce case materials under certain circumstances, including to preserve victims’ privacy or because of “an ongoing federal investigation or prosecution.”
Republican elected official Thomas Massie, one of the authors of the bill and a frequent critic of Donald Trump, said he fears the investigation is just a “smokescreen” and “a last-ditch effort to prevent publication of the Epstein files.”
However, on Wednesday in
