And now what?
The drama, emotion and shock caused by Congress’ sudden demand for transparency over the Jeffrey Epstein case has given way to uncertainty and suspicion that President Donald Trump will try to evade political responsibility.
The victims of Epstein, accused of sex trafficking, had already seen justice delayed on other occasions. After the unprecedented Republican revolt against Trump on Tuesday, they quickly warned that this was just another step in their long fight for vindication. His wisdom became evident once the euphoria of his triumph began to dissipate.
Washington waited all Wednesday to learn that Trump had signed the bill passed with a 427-1 majority in the House of Representatives and passed unanimously in the Senate, which did not want to be involved in the political crisis that the president himself had caused.
The measure requires the Justice Department to release all investigative files, documents and other materials related to Epstein, with some exceptions, within 30 days of taking effect.
It is not surprising that Trump did not rush to sign it, since despite his belated support for the legislation, it rejected his weeks-long attempt to keep the evidence secret.
Trump was between a rock and a hard place. Any presidential veto would likely be overridden, judging by the majorities in Congress in favor of the bill. But now his Justice Department—at least in theory—is obligated to implement it.
Any delay or obstruction would undoubtedly worsen the already disastrous public disapproval of his handling of the matter and would only fuel the question that got him into this mess: what is he trying to hide?
Epstein survivors and Trump critics are now focused on the next phase of the political battle over the documents, but there is almost no clarity on if, when and how much evidence will come to light.
Lawmakers who supported the bill seemed unclear about what would happen if Trump simply ignored it. And Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, gave a nervous public performance that generated little confidence that she would obey Congress or that the administration had a coherent policy plan.
New signs also emerged of the depth of the bipartisan quagmire surrounding Epstein and the likelihood that the release of the Justice Department files could cause deep embarrassment to many prominent business and political leaders, entertainment stars and even royals who associated with him.
Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary and senior White House official during Democratic administrations, resigned from OpenAI’s board of directors following the release of emails revealing his friendly correspondence with Epstein.
Summers will also not finish the semester as a professor at Harvard University, a spokesperson for the institution confirmed Wednesday.
And Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands in Congress as a non-voting delegate, struggled to give a convincing explanation for why she exchanged text messages with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.
No one can predict the direction this extraordinary scandal with far-reaching consequences will take. But one thing is clear: It is deeply harming Trump, both in general public opinion and because of the unprecedented division it has caused in the MAGA movement.
A recent Marquette University poll—conducted Nov. 5-12, before many of the latest developments in the saga—found that 74% of adults disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Epstein case. Only 43% of Republicans approved.
Marquette’s question, which asked Americans to choose their top concern, did not include Epstein on the list.
However, the poll found that Americans were deeply concerned about the economy and the cost of living, areas on which they gave Trump an overwhelmingly negative rating.
Such is the reputation of Trump’s Justice Department—a completely co-opted branch of his political machine—that few observers in Washington expect Bondi to follow Congress’s newly established law to the letter.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer warned that his party would be ready to hold Trump accountable.
This shows that Democrats believe that Trump’s exposure to the Epstein scandal will outweigh any embarrassment the revelations could bring to other prominent Democrats.
“Donald Trump should not cheat in any way,” Schumer said. “This bill requires the president to be completely transparent, to be completely honest, and to be completely honest with the American people, even if he doesn’t want to be.”
Schumer raised the possibility that the Justice Department would try to get around the law. He could cite the investigations into prominent Democrats and Epstein, ordered by Trump last week, to oppose the release of evidence.
Another possibility is that the evidence is disclosed, but censored in such a way that it is practically useless, under the pretext that the authorities are protecting victims, witnesses or innocent people.
Some Democrats fear that the Justice Department will remove any references to the president himself in the files.
There has been no evidence that Trump committed any crimes in relation to Epstein. However, emails released by Congress revealed multiple mentions of him by Epstein and his imprisoned associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told CNN’s John Berman on Wednesday that he had “no confidence, absolutely no confidence, that the Justice Department acted impartially in releasing these files.”
He added: “It will be up to us in Congress, and we hope it will be a bipartisan effort, to examine and oversee this process.”
The Republican rebellion against Trump over the Epstein files—an issue that obsesses part of the conservative base—is a fact. But it’s unclear whether Republican lawmakers would risk oversight as rigorous as they have ever applied to Trump to force him to comply with the law. Pressure from Epstein’s victims could be important in this regard.
Several senators on Wednesday expressed hope that the government will act in good faith.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said he would be very surprised if the Justice Department refused to release all of the requested information, given the broad bipartisan support for the measure.
The other member of the Upper House from Missouri, Eric Schmitt, declared that all credible information that can be published should be disclosed. And Democratic Senate member Dick Durbin of Illinois told CNN’s Manu Raju that he hoped Trump would not disobey congressional law.
Bondi was asked at the Justice Department why she agreed to Trump’s demand to investigate Democrats over Epstein — what critics see as an ostentatious political maneuver — after arguing earlier this year that evidence suggested no new investigations were necessary.
“Information. Information. There is information, new information, additional information,” Bondi said, without offering any clarification on the situation. And he repeated before journalists: “We will comply with the law, we will continue to comply with it, protecting the victims and offering maximum transparency.”
This only underlined the great uncertainty about what will happen next.
Given the extraordinary development of this saga so far, it seems impossible to believe that the files will not come to light, one way or another, sooner or later. If the administration delays the process or obstructs the investigation, whistleblowers may emerge from the Department of Justice.
Republican lawmakers eager to distance themselves from Trump on this issue before the midterm elections could find political incentive to join colleagues like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in demanding transparency.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky warned that he would be willing to add aspects of the evidence related to Epstein to the House record.
Furthermore, a delay could allow Democrats to exploit the issue ahead of the midterm elections.
The survivors will be waiting.
“I hope they do the right thing and publish everything,” Sharlene Rochard, a victim of Epstein’s abuse, told CNN’s Audie Cornish. “We just want proof that this happened to us… And we want to help other girls so this doesn’t happen again.”
The-CNN-Wire
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