(AP) — The Senate immediately passed a bill Wednesday morning to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In an unusual move, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate agreed Tuesday evening to pass the bill as soon as it was sent over from the House, which passed it 427-1 earlier in the day.
Formerly a fierce opponent to the proposal, President Donald Trump in recent days bowed to political reality, saying he would sign it into law.
The decisive, bipartisan effort showed the pressure mounting on lawmakers and the Trump administration to meet long-held demands that the Justice Department release its case files on Epstein, a well-connected financier who killed himself while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.
The bill forces the release within 30 days of all files and communications related to Epstein, as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison.
It allows redactions about the victims or ongoing investigations but not information due to “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”
