The upper chamber of Congress on Tuesday passed without delay to legislation that will mandate the disclosure of case documents concerning the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, following a near-unanimous vote in the lower house and a change of position by Donald Trump and his GOP allies. Trump's team relented after months of trying to block the bipartisan effort involving a case that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.
Unanimous Approval in Congress
The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which needs acceptance from each senator but does not require a individual voting process, accelerating the process. Hours earlier, the House passed by a huge margin the bill on a massive majority.
Citizens have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have waited patiently,” the top Senate Democrat said in a address to the chamber on Tuesday, before asking the Senate to approve it without opposition. “Reveal the truth. Let transparency reign.”
Future Action
The measure next will be sent to the president for his endorsement. The president indicated on the previous day that he would approve the bill.
Although Trump has for an extended period dismissed the uproar over the authorities' approach of the investigation as a “false narrative”, he signalled his support for the House bill over the past few days, and announced he would approve it if it comes to him.
Response
Democrats, along with victims and their representatives who were watching from a public section, broke into applause after the bill was approved. The only opposition came from a GOP representative, who said he worried the measure would make public identifying details of witnesses, potential suspects and others involved in the investigation.
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