Trump says he signed Epstein bill
President Donald Trump said he signed the Jeffrey Epstein files bill Wednesday night in a post on his social media platform.
Two Senate aides told ABC News on Wednesday that the bill passed Tuesday by Congress was transmitted to the White House at 4:38 p.m. Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi faced questions on how the administration will release documents in the Epstein files.
"We have released over 33,000 Epstein documents to the Hill, and we will continue to follow the law and to have maximum transparency. Also, we will always encourage all victims to come forward," Bondi said at a news conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and other officials on an unrelated law enforcement action.
Last week, Bondi announced the Justice Department was initiating a renewed investigation into the files and potential ties between high-profile Democrats and Epstein just hours after Trump ordered her to on his Truth Social account.
ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas pressed Bondi on Wednesday about what changed from the department's memo in July in which they said they planned to make no future public disclosures related to their review of Epstein's case and no further charges were expected.
"There's information, new information, additional information," she said in response to the question from Thomas. "And again, we will continue to follow the law to investigate any leads. If there are any victims, we encourage all victims to come forward. And we will continue to provide maximum transparency under the law."
It's unclear whether the DOJ will seek to cite the new investigation as exempting much of the files from public disclosure due to their relevance to the new investigation, despite DOJ and FBI stating unequivocally in a July statement that it uncovered no evidence in a review of the files that would support a predicated investigation against any uncharged individuals.
It's unlikely the Justice Department would release the entire Epstein file, according to sources. Any materials related to ongoing investigations or White House claims of executive privilege will likely remain out of public view.
Earlier Wednesday, the Senate officially approved the Epstein bill passed by the House on Tuesday. The Senate agreed to do so by unanimously, which meant there were no amendments or changes to the bill as House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of his Republican leadership team had urged.
Johnson on Wednesday said he was "surprised" that no amendments were made.
"I made clear for months that I thought there were serious flaws in the underlying bill, and I had hoped that the Senate would work to fix and correct those. They decided to go a different direction. That's their prerogative. I was surprised and disappointed by that," Johnson conceded.
Still, the speaker said he does not expect Trump to veto the measure.
"The Congress has spoken," Johnson emphasized. “You know that the president will process that, and there's no delays in this at all. I mean, it's moving forward, so I'm going to check the progress right now."
