What happens next following congress' decision to release Epstein files after email exchange made public
A landmark decision has just been made in the United States House of Representatives, as politicians from across the country have overwhelmingly voted to pass the Epstein Transparency Act, which moves to release the Epstein files following a shocking email dump involving President Trump last week.
Despite his death in prison over six years ago, Jeffrey Epstein has been a key feature of Donald Trump's return to the Oval Office, and was even involved in a major campaign promise as he was gearing up for the election late last year.
There has been countless speculation surrounding potential high-profile names that might have been involved with the operations of the convinced child sex offender, but the 'files' surrounding his horrific acts have remained confidential and hidden from the public.
Trump, being a former close associate to Epstein and fellow convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, has been at the center of many allegations over the years, with Elon Musk even claiming in June that the president is present in the Epstein files, vowing that the 'truth will come out'.
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There has since been a strong effort but the Republican Party and key Trump officials to block any attempt to release the files, with Attorney General Pam Bondi even once claiming that they don't exist, but the flood gates have finally been opened after a major piece of information was revealed last week.
House Democrats revealed emails sent between Epstein, Maxwell, and author Michael Woolf that claimed Trump 'spent hours' at the former's house with a trafficked victim, that he 'knew about the girls', and that he was 'the dog that hadn't barked'.
Despite statements from the White House that attempted to downplay this reveal, Trump appeared to be dodging any accusations, even firing a derogatory remark at a journalist who pressed him on the 'criminality' of the emails.
Now, survivors of Epstein's abuse have finally got what they've been requesting for months, as the Epstein Transparency Act has passed in both the House of Representatives and Senate, with the former ending in a vote of 427-1.
What happens now is that the bill will officially pass through Congress on Wednesday, November 19, leaving the Justice Department 30 days to release all files related to both Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as per the BBC.
However, that doesn't necessarily mean that all will be laid bare, as the Attorney General can decline to release certain pieces of information if it's deemed to pose a risk to underage victims, or if it could interfere with an ongoing investigation.
Despite his promise to now sign the bill into law, Trump could have released the files at any point during his presidency, but only recently has decided to favor the process that would see all (or most) of the information exposed.
Sky Roberts, the brother of Virginia Giuffre who prominently accused Epstein and tragically died by suicide earlier this year, revealed to BBC Newsnight that the decision "means everything," and that he wishes that "our sister was here to see it herself."