Description: The two major government bodies in the US have overwhelmingly voted in favor of releasing the so – called Epstein files potentially concluding months of anticipation and uncertainty. The criminal case against the convicted sex offender has become a major problem for US President Donald Trump who has come under severe scrutiny in the past couple of months due to his reluctance to release all the files pertaining to the investigation and conviction of Jeffrey Epstein. The US President only last week reversed course and called for his colleagues in the Republican party to support the release of the files. Both the House of Representatives and the Congress have passed the vote for releasing the controversial files, Trump is now expected to sign the voted bill into law.
Impact: The two largest political camps in the US have seemingly reached a compromise regarding the release of the controversial files by overwhelmingly supporting the initiative. The move, reportedly made in the name of transparency, would potentially disclose information regarding high level politicians, businessmen and influential people that had ties with the convicted sex offender. The bipartisan support for the bill signals that both the Republicans and the Democrats were reassured to some degree that the ripple effects of the Epstein files would cause relatively low damage to both political parties. The files would most probably be subjected to heavy redaction in order to protect the identities of the victims and the investigative methods of the services involved in the case, which would make the disclosure of the information a form of publicity stunt instead of a move towards transparency. Trump is expected to sign the bill into law which could have bruising effects on his presidency and the entire political and business echelon in the US and beyond.