On Tuesday, the House passed the bill to release the Epstein Files in a 427-1 vote. Donald Trump did everything he could to stop the vote and to attack the handful of Republicans planning to vote for the release of the files, and those Republicans stood their ground. Just before the vote, Trump suddenly changed course and said he would sign any bill which released the files. That’s why the vote was so lopsided. Later in the day on Tuesday, the Senate unanimously passed the House’s “release the files” bill. On Wednesday, Trump signed it.
President Donald Trump has said that he’s signed legislation ordering the release of files related to the investigation of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and alleged sex trafficker.
“I have just signed the bill to release the Epstein files,” he wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post on Wednesday, Nov. 19, adding, “This latest Hoax will backfire on the Democrats just as all of the rest have!”
Trump’s statement follows a unanimous decision by the Senate on Tuesday, Nov. 18, to send the House’s version of the legislation directly to Trump’s desk. The House passed its bill earlier that day in a rare 427-1 vote, with only Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins opposing the release of the files.
The legislation comes after months of pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to release the files, including calls from Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican who has been increasingly willing to break with Trump while escalating her efforts to make the documents public in recent months.
The bill calls on the Justice Department to publish “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in DOJ’s possession that relate to the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein,” according to an official House summary.
Despite the legislation, the DOJ will not be required to divulge every detail related to Epstein, receiving permission from Congress to withhold information that is classified, would identify victims, or interfere with a federal investigation.
“…Or interfere with a federal investigation.” You might ask yourself: is there any ongoing investigation within Pam Bondi’s DOJ or Kash Patel’s FBI? Patel and Bondi both shut down any and all Epstein-related investigations on Trump’s orders months ago. But we’re forgetting that, in the past week, Trump ordered Bondi and Patel to investigate DEMOCRATS’ links to Epstein. Trump has long claimed that the Epstein situation is a “Democrat hoax.” Now his volte-face is: it’s not a Democratic Party hoax, Democrats have been trying to cover up their associations with Jeffrey Epstein! That’s why Democrats have been trying to release the files! Logic has no place in the MAGA cult.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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- Washington, DC Chris Klomp, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S secured deals with the Trump administration to slash prices for their blockbuster weight-loss drugs in exchange for tariff relief and wider access for Medicare patients. Pictured: Trump BACKGRID USA 6 NOVEMBER 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Washington, DC Chris Klomp, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S secured deals with the Trump administration to slash prices for their blockbuster weight-loss drugs in exchange for tariff relief and wider access for Medicare patients. Pictured: Trump BACKGRID USA 6 NOVEMBER 2025 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- United States President Donald J Trump meets with with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Tuesday, November. 18, 2025. Featuring: Donald J Trump, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 18 Nov 2025 Credit: Nathan Howard/POOL via CNP/INSTARimages.com
I’m sure they scrubbed his name and any part that mentions him. It will be fake news (as the dummy is always complaining about). It will be innocuous for him and his cult will believe it. Trump goddamn (borrowed from the fabulous Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddamn),
We know they had apx. 1000 FBI agents working 24 & 48hr shifts to look for trump’s name–that was earlier in the year. Congress–or whichever committee it is that’s been working on this–has stated they want those documents, too. We’ll see.
And for the ‘why didn’t Biden release the files’ people–because there actually was an active investigation into the Epstein/Maxwell connections. Plus it’s not normal for a president to direct the DOJ to do anything.
I’m sure they’ve been tampered with.
They probably used the entire shutdown time to scrub the files of everything Trump and Republican related.
Trump has been so all over the place on this that I have enjoyed watching him sweat bullets. Whatever they try to pull to continue the cover up, rest assured the Dems on House Oversight have anticipated it and will be prepared.
Yeah I actually believe Adam Schiff when he says that it’s all gonna come out eventually. We’re so used to the GOP being one step ahead but I think this will be an exception. And of course the GOP and Executive will continue their cover-up attempt but Dems seem really confident that the dam will eventually break.
Also, as Trump enters into his Lame Duck phase, you will start to see more Republicans break from him. It won’t be as many as we want but GOP House members in unsafe seats are starting to see the writing on the wall.
Did you see how shook Mike Johnson was? He and Drump thought they’d have a chance to put amendments on the bill. Thune didn’t cooperate on slowing down. I’ll take it.
I’m sure they’re trying to scrub it as much as possible, but too many people are involved. Over 1,000 fbi agents pulled in to look through the files, when they were being culled at whim? There’s probably 800 copies of small pieces out through that alone. France is confirmed as having a full set of the files, because of their Epst*in connected pdf file who also magically committed su*c*de in jail.
I didn’t hear that about France but that’s awesome lol. I watched that Mike Johnson video so many times because I love watching that guy squirm.
And I’ve been saying the same thing since we FIRST heard about 1,000 FBI agents combing through those files looking for Trump’s name. That’s a helluva lot of people involved– a LOT of exposure there and a lot of opportunity for leaks.
@Lucy & @Kitten: there was also a training video made for those FBI agents. That video still exists.
Who wants to bet that Trump’s name will be scrubbed from the files?
I mean they can’t “scrub” as in “erase” his name. They can redact it, but it’s a serious violation of Federal Law to alter or destroy any part of these files. I think it’s more likely that Bondi will just not release the portions that contain references to Trump citing “ongoing investigations”. That allows her to block the release of anything related to people who are not being criminally charged. The optics are still terrible for him because every American knows Trump could direct his DOJ to fully release the files in their entirety tomorrow if he wanted to.
Spot on, Kitten. The law technically prohibits redaction for purely political or reputational reasons — but Pammy and Kash can almost certainly invoke “ongoing investigations” to withhold any references to Trump or his inner circle. My bet? We’ll see plenty of Democrats implicated (and if they’re guilty, so be it), but conspicuously little mention of Trump’s own allies.
And when people inevitably ask whether those “active investigations” touch Trump, they’ll fall back on the usual deflection routine — Democrats are never satisfied, they’re inventing conspiracies, nothing will ever be enough, etc. The script writes itself.
Do you think we’ll see “plenty” of Democrats implicated, though? I’m pretty skeptical of that. They tried to censure Plaskett based on her association with Epstein but failed (probably a trade-off for Corey Mills) and even then, if you read the actual exchange it was a complete nothingburger.
Besides Clinton, I don’t expect a ton of Dem politicians to be in the files because if they were, Trump would have just released the redacted version of the files immediately. I DO think we could see at least some rich people who donate to Dems being implicated though.
It’s really up to all of us to be very critical of what they release. They will definitely ratchet up a “but her emails” type scandal over even the most banal association with Epstein. We need to remind them that when they shifted the goalposts a million miles away from moral center, Dem voters have become just as desensitized to scandal as MAGA is. We need to be careful to not jump to eating our own if it’s not warranted and keep the focus on our corrupt President.
I guess when I say “Democrat,” I’m just referring to any public figure who Trump can plausibly label as one — not necessarily a politician. My brother works in an industry with several folks in the Epstein circle (it’s real estate — go figure!), and they’re just super-wealthy investor types.
But because they have so much money and are high-powered donors, I’m guessing the Trumpier ones will be protected, too. War chest and all…
Cool so they can continue the investigations into the Democrats as planned AND release the portion of the files that implicate Trump, any/all Republicans and their donors. No conflict there whatsoever actually.
It’s really hard to imagine any politician handling a scandal more poorly than Trump & Klan have handled the Epstein files. For all the media fawning over Trump’s “great political instincts” I think we can now conclusively say that he’s coasted on a combination of amazing luck and political incompetency rather than some masterful political talent.
FWIW, I do think we’ll know what’s in the Epstein Files eventually. I just do not see any scenario where he gets out of this unscathed.
Virginia’s ghost writer has released a statement that he has all the notes, names, and recordings of her. A couple of Congresswomen have promised to read the entire list on the House Floor if the list has been redacted. “If.” Yeah, right. The pedophile train has left the station, and we will get the names. One way or another.
I think so too. I am guessing some journalist has a copy, some foreign governments, there will be a whistleblower. Most never thought it would get this far, someone is going to lean into this full stop.
Well, I guess when they had 2 months off while still getting paid, they were actually still working…to scrub Trump and other Republicans’ names off the list, like everyone else here said. I trust this as far as I can throw Trump.
Even if the files have been scrubbed, there are multiple copies of everything. Plus most of the survivors are still alive.
I don’t know that he will ever face real consequences, but something feels different this time.
I agree it feels different.
“The files don’t exist” didnt hold up. They couldnt keep them concealed. They don’t have the control they think they did.
No one knows if any real repurcussions will come through but, things are moving. The fact that they haven’t been stopped is so wild. Something is different.
Pam Bondi will heavily redact Republicans involvement with Epstein in the files. It’s obvious Trump ordered his name to be scrubbed clean.
The difference here is Trump can’t have it both ways. If it’s a hoax (as he keeps insisting) then how is it possible that the files don’t name him and other prominent Republicans? Only Democrats – in a hoax created by Democrats? Sure, Jan. True Ride or Die Trumpers may buy this fantasy but no one else will.