<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> signed legislation today that compels his administration to </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/epstein-files-what-happens-next-everything-we-know-explained/592dcdd7-bd99-4dba-a547-72cf792fea69" rel="" target="" title="release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein"><span>release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein</span></a><span>, bowing to political pressure from his own party after initially resisting those efforts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump could have chosen to release many of the files on his own months ago.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“Democrats have used the ‘Epstein’ issue, which affects them far more than the Republican Party, in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories,” Trump said in a social media post as he announced he had signed the bill.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/owner-charged-after-ute-with-dog-dead-inside-found-on-street-queensland/1532d732-7402-48d7-a35d-bb183d84e7ca" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Bizarre twist as owner charged over death of Arnie the German shepherd</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Now, the bill requires the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in a federal prison in 2019, within 30 days.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It allows for redactions about Epstein’s victims for ongoing federal investigations, but DOJ cannot withhold information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was a remarkable turn of events for what was once a far-fetched effort to force the disclosure of case files from an odd congressional coalition of Democrats, one GOP antagonist of the president, and a handful of erstwhile Trump loyalists.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/trump-signs-bill-to-release-jeffrey-epstein-case-files-after-fighting-it-for-months/e6f68aea-4da7-4aef-8086-fc36a4c94ca2" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As recently as last week, the Trump administration even summoned one Republican proponent of releasing the files, Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, to the Situation Room to discuss the matter, although she did not change her mind.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/uber-driver-pay-ride-transparency-petition-exclusive/cd63986a-6e37-4264-82c3-50560343ab85" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussies are being forced to accept jobs with no clue what they'll be paid</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But over the weekend, Trump did a sharp </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/epstein-files-many-house-republicans-will-back-a-bill-to-release-epstein-files-leaders-of-the-effort-say/9f3f5b65-5861-4336-a421-416f21bcdc14" rel="" target="_blank" title="U-turn"><span>U-turn</span></a><span> on the files once it became clear that congressional action was inevitable. He insisted the Epstein matter had become a distraction to the GOP agenda and indicated he wanted to move on.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had,” Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday afternoon, explaining the rationale for his abrupt about-face.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The House passed the legislation on a 427-1 vote, with Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/epstein-files-release-why-republican-clay-higgins-was-only-no-vote-in-us-house/dcb58958-c9c5-44f6-93e2-34e439777327" rel="" target="_blank" title="being the sole dissenter"><span>being the sole dissenter</span></a><span>. He argued that the bill’s language could lead to the release of information on innocent people mentioned in the federal investigation. The Senate later approved it unanimously, skipping a formal vote.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It’s long been established that Trump had been friends with Epstein, the disgraced financier who was close to the world’s elite. But the president has consistently said he did not know of Epstein’s crimes and had cut ties with him long ago.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Before Trump returned to the White House for a second term, some of his closest political allies helped fuel conspiracy theories about the government’s handling of the Epstein case, asserting a cover-up of potentially incriminating information in those files.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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