The United States Senate approved a bill that pressures the Department of Justice (DOJ) to disclose additional information related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reported, according to the Sputnik news agency on Wednesday (19).
“I just asked for unanimous consent to pass the Senate bill that releases the Epstein files. There were no objections,” Schumer wrote on X.
Schumer added that the bill will be approved immediately after being received by the House of Representatives.
The United States House of Representatives approved on Tuesday (18), almost unanimously, a bill that pressures the DOJ to disclose additional information related to the case.
U.S. President Donald Trump had criticized Republicans who supported the release of new documents about Epstein. However, he recently changed his position and urged the House to vote in favor of releasing the material, emphasizing that Republicans have nothing to hide.
On Monday (17), Trump promised to sign the bill if it is approved by Congress.
In 2019, Epstein was charged in the United States with sex trafficking of minors — a crime that could result in up to 40 years in prison — and conspiracy to commit that type of trafficking. Prosecutors stated that he sexually abused dozens of teenagers between 2002 and 2005, paying them money and using some to recruit others, with victims as young as 14. In July 2019, a Manhattan court denied him bail, and at the end of that month, he died by suicide in his cell, according to Sputnik.
Public interest in the Epstein case resurfaced in the United States after the Trump administration failed to disclose new materials, despite Republican campaign promises to declassify the files. A flood of criticism, including from supporters, fell on Trump after the FBI and the Department of Justice released a joint statement asserting that Epstein was not involved in blackmailing influential people and that there was no client list.
Source: brasil247.com