Jeffrey Epstein (left) and real estate developer Donald Trump as they pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida on 22 February, 1997. Photo: Getty / Davidoff Studios Photography
The US Justice Department will release files from its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday (US time).
The announcement came after Congress voted nearly unanimously to force President Donald Trump's administration to make them public.
The material could shed more light on the activities of Epstein, who socialised with Trump and other notable figures before his 2008 conviction on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
The scandal has been a thorn in Trump's side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epstein's ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he faced federal sex trafficking charges.
At a news conference, Bondi confirmed that the Justice Department will release its Epstein-related material within 30 days, as required by legislation that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday.
"We will continue to follow the law and encourage maximum transparency," she said.
But that release may not be comprehensive, as the agency may have to hold back material that could impact Trump-ordered investigations of Democratic figures who associated with Epstein.
The department also will protect the identities of any sex-trafficking victims whose names appear in the documents, she said.
-Reuters
