Trump Signs Epstein Files Bill After Fight That Split GOP

(Bloomberg) — US President Donald Trump signed legislation to compel the Department of Justice to release files on the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump said in a social media post that he signed the legislation Wednesday, approving a measure he had spent months trying to block in a fight that inflamed tensions in his own party and threatened to undermine his agenda.

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The president’s signature marked a stunning about-face for Trump, who had assailed the effort to require the release of the government’s files on Epstein — a convicted sex offender, who was facing federal charges of trafficking underage girls when he died in jail in 2019.

It followed a lopsided 427 to 1 vote in the House — where a lone Republican lawmaker provided the only no vote — and the Senate agreeing unanimously to send the measure to the president’s desk.

And it inflicts another political setback on the president, just two weeks after his party suffered defeats in state and local elections in which concerns about his economic agenda and affordability were front and center. The drawn-out fight over the Epstein files left Trump at times struggling to gain control of the political narrative and looking for ways to distract from the controversy.

A recent CNN/SSRS poll found 37% of Americans approve of Trump, a rating that makes it difficult for many incumbent Republicans to run next year on the president’s record and risks creating fissures within the party.

The Epstein files intensified some of those rifts as a group of dissident Republicans, including some of his staunchest allies, pushed for more transparency, ultimately forcing Trump and Republican leaders to accede to their demands. The president publicly broke with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia over the matter, withdrawing his support for a lawmaker who had once been one of his most loyal supporters.

Only four in 10 Republicans approved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein files, an October Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The president has repeatedly said he cut ties with Epstein nearly two decades ago and was not aware of the late financier’s activities. His signature is unlikely to end the controversy.

The legislation requires the release of all files and records, including investigations, flight logs, travel records, immunity deals, internal DOJ communications, and all records related to Epstein’s 2019 death in prison. But it is still unclear how and when those files may be released.