DoJ to release Epstein Files within 30 days, says Pam Bondi. Can Trump stop it from happening?

US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Wednesday that the country’s Department of Justice would release the infamous Epstein Files within 30 days. The announcement came after the US Congress voted nearly unanimously, demanding the release of files from the DoJ’s investigation into the late British financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The files in question are expected to shed more light on the activities of Epstein and who he used to socialise with. The calls for its release became intense because of his past association with the current US President, Donald Trump . The scandal has torn the Trump camp for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters.

Many Trump voters have held the belief that his administration has covered up Epstein’s ties to the powerful figures in the United States and presented obscured details surrounding his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he faced federal sex trafficking charges.

Files to be out in 30 days: Bondi

While speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Bondi confirmed that the DoJ will release its Epstein-related material within 30 days, as required by legislation that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate on Tuesday. “We will continue to follow the law and encourage maximum transparency,” she said.

However, many are sceptical about what the DoJ actually releases since the legislation passed by the US Congress allows the Justice Department to hold back personal information about Epstein’s victims and material that would jeopardise an active investigation.

Last week, Trump ordered the agency to investigate several Democratic figures who were associated with Epstein. However, officials decided at that time not to release any information tied to those people.

The department has regularly cited the need to protect ongoing investigations when withholding other information from the public. In the past, courts have rejected requests by Trump’s Justice Department this year to unseal transcripts of proceedings before grand juries that investigated Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell .

But will Trump release the files?

It is pertinent to note that the bill passed by the US Congress would first need to be signed by Trump, which he has said he will do, but has not as of Wednesday. According to the American Constitution, a president has 10 days after the White House officially receives the bill from Capitol Hill to sign the measure into law or veto it and send it back to Congress.

However, a veto from Trump in this case seems unlikely since the bill has been passed overwhelmingly in both branches of Congress. Overriding a veto takes only a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate.

Trump can choose not to sign the bill, in which case it would become law in 10 days (minus Sundays). If he does nothing, and lawmakers adjourn within 10 days, that is what’s called a “pocket veto,” something that hasn’t happened in decades. If that happens, supporters of the bill will have to start the process all over again.

If Trump signs the bill, the DoJ is obligated to release the files within 30 days. Trump’s own name is expected to be mentioned in the files. According to a CNN report published earlier this year, Bondi told Trump this year that his name appears in the Epstein files.

Not only this, emails and communications from Epstein’s estate released by the House Oversight Committee also mentioned Trump. His name also appeared in the files released by the Department of Justice in February. However, there was nothing that implicated Trump in wrongdoing at that time.

With inputs from Reuters.