Ever since Trump announced he was running for president in 2024, he has proposed that he would release the notorious Epstein files and expose the corrupt and evil elite who were taking trips to his island and involved with him personally. Initially, this gained Trump a lot of popularity and helped him play into the role of protector of working-class Americans against rich elitists. However, throughout his first year in office, Trump has dodged questions and accountability regarding these files. He has delayed the release of these files and tried to disregard them as a conspiracy theory created by the Democratic Party to distract people from the “success” he has had in office.
On Nov. 19, Trump signed a bill to release the Epstein files after a few emails had surfaced. The bill received 427 votes in the House of Representatives, with the only vote cast against it being related to the victims’ privacy. In the Senate, it was unanimous and only needed the president’s signature to officially go into effect. With immense support from the legislative branch, it was highly expected that Trump would sign this bill into law, as he wants to fulfill his campaign promises and demonstrate his commitment to transparency. Some people speculated that Trump was less enthusiastic about releasing the Epstein files earlier in the year because he was involved with Epstein, and the files may contain incriminating information about him. Although Trump and Epstein had strong ties, Trump claimed that he cut him off before he knew about Epstein’s despicable crimes.
A lot of people know about Epstein and his infamous legacy as a child sex offender, but don’t truly know the gravity of the situation. Despite being accused of predatory behavior earlier, Epstein was finally arrested in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York. Epstein was incredibly rich and knew a lot of super-influential people, such as presidents, sports players and Bill Gates. He allegedly gained this high social status because of his wealth and the fact that he managed money for the extremely rich.
Specifically, the bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump compels the Justice Department to release all unclassified documents into a searchable and downloadable database. The Department of Justice has a deadline of 30 days from the date the bill was signed to release these files. However, not all the files will be released because the law allows the Department of Justice to release only the files that don’t include explicit content or content that breaches people’s privacy. The bill is intended to release around 300 gigabytes worth of files, a lot more than was released earlier in the year.