How Trump could still keep Epstein files secret, despite House and Senate votes

Despite an overwhelming vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, lawmakers believe U.S. President Donald Trump could skirt the bill's intent and avoid disclosing material about the notorious sex trafficker's activities.

President's call to investigate Democrats' links to Epstein opens loophole to withhold material

A man in dark blue suit and red tie with uniformed soldiers saluting on either side of him

Despite overwhelming votes in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to pass a bill forcing the release of files about Jeffrey Epstein, some lawmakers believe President Donald Trump could still skirt the bill's intent and avoid disclosing material about the late sex trafficker's activities.

Their concern is the Department of Justice (DOJ) may withhold key documents related to its investigations into Epstein's sexual abuse of underage girls through a legal loophole that Trump opened last Friday.

The president ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to open an investigationinto Epstein's connections to three prominent Democrats: former president Bill Clinton, former treasury secretary Larry Summers and the billionaire founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman.

The text of the the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed Tuesday by Congress allows the DOJ to withhold or redact any records that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution."

Republican Thomas Massie, who co-sponsored the bill in the House, said he's concerned about Trump's move to open what he called "a flurry of investigations" after months of the White House downplaying the Epstein case.

"I believe they may be trying to use those investigations as a predicate for not releasing the files. That’s my concern,” Massie told reporters outside the Capitol on Monday evening.

Thomas Massie stands in a crowd of reporters outside the U.S. Capitol building.

"These files implicate billionaires and friends of [Trump] and political donors that he's trying to protect," Massie said. "That's why there's so much effort in trying to stop this."

Once Trump signs the bill, which is expected to happen Wednesday, the DOJ has 30 days to release all unclassified materials that relate to its investigations into Epstein’s crimes.

Trump balked at release for months

That's something the Trump administration could have done on its own, without an act of Congress, but has been resisting since July.

That's when the DOJ announced it would release no more files related to the Epstein investigation anddeclared it had no list of his clients.

Trump then began telling Republicans to stop talking about Epstein and dismissing calls for transparency as a Democrat hoax.

The Republican Speaker Mike Johnson also kept the House on a lengthy recess since summer, delaying Massie's push to get the Epstein bill on the floor.

WATCH | Survivors of Epstein's sexual abuse call for release of the files:

Epstein survivors speak ahead of U.S. vote on releasing documents

November 18|

Duration3:20

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on a bill to force the Justice Department to release its files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. At a morning news conference, Epstein abuse survivors called for transparency and accountability in the case. CORRECTION: An earlier version of the title on this video erroneously omitted the word 'files.' It has been corrected.)

On Sunday, when Trump finally threw in the towel and gave Republicans his permission to approve the bill, he continued to dismiss the content of the Epstein files as insignificant.

"It’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party," he wrote on social media.

'An ulterior motive'

Advocates for disclosure see that pattern as evidence the Trump White House will continue to look for ways to stall full release of the files.

Spencer Kuvin, an attorney for some of Epstein's sexual abuse victims, says he's particularly concerned about the investigations that Trump ordered last week.

"There may be an ulterior motive to what the president is doing here so that he can keep additional materials away from the American public by saying that there's still an open investigation," Kuvin told CNN on Tuesday.

If the Trump administration attempts to do that, Kuvin says he believes some survivors will sue to try to compel the DOJ to release the material.

WATCH | House of Representatives vote to release Epstein files passes 427 to 1:

The moment the House voted on releasing the Epstein files

November 18|

Duration0:30

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously in support of a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The bill will now go to the Senate.

The act says any withholding of material related to an ongoing investigation must be "narrowly tailored and temporary."

Jena-Lisa Jones, a survivor of Epstein's abuse who says she voted for Trump, warned the president not to use the files as a weapon against his political enemies.

"Sexual abuse is not a Republican issue, or a Democratic issue. It is also not a hoax," Jones told a news conference Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

"I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political," Jones said. "It is time to take the honest moral ground and support the release of these files."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Crawley

Correspondent

Mike Crawley is a correspondent for CBC News, based in Washington. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in B.C., spent six years as a freelance journalist in various parts of Africa, then joined the CBC in 2005. Mike reported on Ontario politics for 15 years. He was born and raised in Saint John, N.B.