The long-buried secrets of Jeffrey Epstein’s depraved empire are finally clawing their way into the light.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, a new piece of US legislation aimed at unveiling the secrets surrounding Epstein’s notorious operations, passed with overwhelming support in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday. The higher legislative house, the Senate, quickly followed, approving the bill unanimously. On Wednesday, the bill landed on Trump’s desk, where he’s since signed the order to release the files.
What makes this remarkable is the person at the centre: Trump himself, who for months had labelled calls for disclosure a “Democrat hoax”, with Republicans who dominate both houses largely backing him. But he couldn’t get all party faithful behind him on the issue. Super conservative representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, in particular, has been a vocal advocate of the bill. (Trump has since pulled his endorsement of her and dubbed her “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene”). On Monday, faced with the bill’s impending success, he publicly stated he would sign the bill if it reached his desk, saying, “we have nothing to hide”.
It’s the culmination of deep divides within Trump’s MAGA movement over the files. While Trump has repeatedly tried to bury his association with Epstein, it just won’t go away. But Trump is still trying to detract from his role in the scandal, and last Friday, he tasked Attorney General Pam Bondi with investigating alleged Epstein ties to Democrats.
So what does this Act actually mean? It forces the US Department of Justice to release all unclassified records related to Epstein’s network, including flight logs, internal communications, and investigation materials, all within 30 days. The financier turned sex-trafficking monster, who rubbed elbows with the global elite before his suicide in 2019, left behind a Pandora’s box of documents.
Importantly, no redactions will be made for reputational harm or embarrassment—unless the material involves Epstein’s victims or ongoing federal investigations. There’s been a steady trickle of redacted docs before, but this will be the full reveal. Last week alone, over 20,000 pages spilled out: flight logs to the infamous “Lolita Express”, and emails implicating the powerful – including innocuous Trump mentions he insists prove his innocence. As CNN analyst Stephen Collinson put it, this “Washington humiliation” has left Trump more exposed than ever. Washington may be shaken by whatever finally crawls out of Epstein’s long-sealed vault.
