Because the Epstein files issue was hurting him. He has the congress and supreme court in his pocket along with the justice department. So, he is in a pretty good position to make sure nothing incriminating about him and the people paying him ever sees the light of day.
So, he has the republicans in congress vote for the bill even telling them publicly to do so which makes him seem to have nothing to hide. Republicans in congress vote yes to make points in their districts. A positive for them since they are taking heat for literally everything else they are doing or failing to do. Win win for all of them. Trump signs the bill and gives the justice department 30 days to release the files with some pretty significant loop holes. They can redact anything Bondi thinks will protect victims, possible victims and ongoing investigations. Which Trump just ordered them to start an investigation into the Democrats in the files because it’s all the Democrats.
So, they’ll end up releasing files that have already been released or so seriously redacted that they’ll be useless.
When questioned Trump can say he fulfilled his promise and released the Epstein files and also say that it’s the justice department “following the law” that hasn’t released them.
You’ll never see the real Epstein files while this administration is in power.
I figured it out! I’ll be honest, this one stumped me badly. I thought maybe they’d be redacted or there’d be some “rule” that would stop it.
The answer is remarkably simple: he had no choice because the MOST GENIUS political move EVER was pulled by 2 Congressmen. Ready for a ride?
Ok, so I am going to try to simplify this process here because Congress intentionally makes everything as difficult as humanly possible to slow their rivals.
So, Trump says during his campaign, he would release the Epstein files. Then Pam Bondi, the head the Department of Justice, says the files are “on her desk.” After months, there is no release and people begin to demand the release.
Finally, the DOJ releases a statement that says there are no Epstein files, which is hard to believe considering it was a Federal case. Quote
“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.” There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
-REMEMBER THIS
This, of course, led to a response in Congress. On 7/15/2025, Congressman Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, sponsored (introduced) H.R.4405 – Epstein Files Transparency Act. He soon found an ally in Republican Thomas Massie, representing Kentucky.
This act demanded that the DOJ release all files related to Epstein. Phone records, photos, flight logs, client lists, documents, letters, evidence of wrongdoing, statements- basically everything except
- Ongoing investigations
- National security
- Victim identities and names
Trump was LIVID at Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky. Trump responded by calling Massie a “Slow, lazy loser” and that he would find a challenger for Massie in the coming midterms.
To show you WHO Trump is. In June of 2024, Rhonda Howard Massie, Thomas Massie’s wife of 30 years and high school sweetheart, died from autoimmune disorders. Thomas remarried (on October 2025). To this, Trump said…
Our President…
Let’s get into the genius of this and why Trump changed his tune.
Massie and Khanna had a plan. You see, here is how bills in Congress usually work (and what they wanted to avoid).
→ Step 1: It goes to a special committee that holds hearings and debates and then votes on it. There is a defense committee, an education committee- basically everything. The committee has to agree on it before sending it to step 2.
- NOTE: A very common tactic it to kill an Act in committee. The Speaker loads it with allies who will endlessly debate, resist, stall, and kill the bill.
→ Step 2: It goes to the “Rules Committee,” which again debates and decides which parts to keep and eject, and so on. Does X part of Y act violate this or that rule, how should debates be done.
→ Step 3: The House of Representatives can now debate on it, amend it, change it, and then vote on it
The biggest obstacle was Mike Johnson. He is the Speaker of the House and a Trump loyalist. He could stack the special committee with Trump loyalists and stall the Act. They had to circumvent it.
So Massie and Khanna pulled off the most genius political move I have seen.
This is complex- stick with me, though.
Khanna and Massie want to release their big Epstein Transparency Act. They know Mike Johnson will kill it in committee. So they could use a “discharge petition.”
- A discharge petition is a petition (imagine that) to skip the special committee and rules committee and go straight to a vote. All you need is 218 signatures on the petition (a majority)
Ok, this is where it gets even MORE complicated
- H.R 4405 is the Epstein Act, and they could use a discharge petition for it to skip committee. However, even with a discharge petition, there is a 30-day period where the Act can be changed, debated, and stopped. Mike Johnson could amend it, add stuff, or water it down.
- Massie thus files a discharge petition for a RULE, not an ACT. If a discharge petition for a rule is passed, there is no 30-day waiting period. Discharge an Act = 30 day period. Discharge a RULE (not an act) = basically no waiting/debate period (I think 7 days are allotted for study).
- A rule is chosen. This rule- H. Res 581 basically states that they should allow House Resolution 185 (unlreated bill) to skip committee and debate and go straight to a vote unchanged. This Act (HR 185) is popular and unrelated to Epstein.
- This is the genius. Embedded within H. Red 581 (the rule for the discharge perition) is the ability to amend which Act is being voted on. Massie will immediately amend H. Res 581 to vote on the Epstein Act instead of HR 185.
- Basically, this “rule” is written to say that Congress will vote on HR 185 without debate or delay but later in the “rule” it states that the Act being voted on can be amended by the person sponsoring the rule. In other words Massie would stand up in Congress, immedately “amend” which Act is being voted on, and they would vote on the Epstein act right then and there- no change or delay.
The GOP figured out what was going on here (they are not that dumb). It didn’t matter, though, because since it was a Rule and not an Act being “dicharged” via a petition, there was no room for Mike Johnson or MAGA to amend or water it down. There was not 30 day debate period, not committee shannigans, and no ability to make changes because the rule Massie was pushing said as much.
Now the issue was votes since the GOP knows the game. They needed a 218 majority, and so far, they had all 213 Democrats plus Massie (214). So Massie went back to work and kept in mind that this Congress is unusually loyal to Trump- freakishly loyal. He finds
- Lauren Boebert
- Nancy Mace
- Majorie Taylor-Greene
- Whoever thought I’d give her a thumbs up
- This is why Trump is suddenly attacking her in the media
Now there were 217, just one more was needed. Trump was livid and is reported to have called Boebert into the situation room to convince her to change her vote, but she held firm.
Then, in a special election in Arizona, Democrat Adelita Grijalva was elected to replace her recently deceased father. She would sign the discharge, and suddenly, there were 218 signatures- it was done.
→ THIS IS WHEN TRUMP CHANGED HIS TUNE AND SAID VOTE YES- he was forced to.
Trump had been outplayed BIG TIME. So had Mike Johnson. This Congress is MAGA to the core, yet an alliance of a few Republicans and Democrats played the system in genius fashion to force this very important issue to the floor, AND IT WORKED. With no options left, Mike Johnson scheduled the vote. and it passed with only 1 “no” vote.
Then it went to the Senate, where it was expected to be voted down by the Republican majority. Yet there again, it passed without a single no vote.
Now Trump could veto it, BUT a veto can be overridden with a 2/3rd majority, and considering that literally everyone in the House (minus 1) and Senate voted Yes, a veto would make him look weak and more guilty.
There is 1 catch. The Epstein Act does allow certain things to be withheld, like…
- Information for ongoing investigations
- Names of victims and details about them
- Violent images or videos of the acts Epstein and his conspirators committed
- Anything that would violate national security
Pam Bondi had been ordered by Trump to launch an investigation into Democrats implicated in the Epstein files. She could use this to withhold a lot. Remember that the Epstein Act requires the DOJ to hand over all documents on Epstein and that Pam Bondi runs the DOJ.
Also, remember that Pam Bondi denied there were “Esptein files” at all. She said in a public release
“This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.” There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
However, Messie and Khana saw this coming. The Epstein Act states that if anything was withheld, it still needed to be sent to Congress with a justification, and if anything was deemed classified, a redacted version must still be made public.
Time will tell how she responds, but it’s at least a victory against Trump
Pam Bondi will almost certainly redact, stall, or obfuscate documents that incriminate Trump. Massie and Khanna were both clever enough to realize that this could happen.
If the DOJ redacts anything, the Bill orders
“(2) All redactions must be accompanied by a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress.”
In plain English: Bondi still has to report what she found and then explain why she is redacting it. All of which makes Trump look more guilty. In the absence of hard facts, people will assume the worst.
Further, the Epstein Bill covers cases where Bondi and Trump decide to “classify” something with
“(A) If the Attorney General makes a determination that covered information may not be declassified and made available in a manner that protects the national security of the United States, including methods or sources related to national security, the Attorney General shall release an unclassified summary for each of the redacted or withheld classified information.
This puts them in a tough spot. If they redact or classify anything, explanations of WHAT was redacted/classified must still be released. Also, the fact that something is redacted will lead people to think that it was redacted for Trump and thus make Trump look more guilty.
Imagine a DOJ release like
“At ____ Tower in New York, a man indentified by vicitms as _____ __ ______ was seen with 12 females. Of them 4 appear to be underage and all had been trafficked by _________. Video confirms that _______ _ _____ knew this and still engaged in ______ acts with ____ of the victims. The person identified as _____ __ _____ is heard saying “_____ my friend, good friend, best ever, fantastic” before ______ inside a ______ then horse was _______ to ______ the ______ of the ______ _____ ______ lawnmower.
Does that make Trump look more innocent?
Here is something else to consider. Regardless of what is released, this IS a hit against Trump
- The GOP will lose an election, and all of the “redacted” files will surface.
- In the meantime, all of this slows Trump. He has to expend political influence, leverage, and capital to try and protect himself instead of using that capital on deporting citizens or some other nonsense.
- In the process of getting the GOP majority in Congress to support him, he will upset some people. There will be defections, anger, demands for justice, and politicians’ grandstanding on this issue.
- Midterms are coming, and if Bondi wants to drag this out and keep it in the news cycle for 6 months, that is great! It will imply that the GOP is people who protect predators, and that the President is a predator.
Even if nothing comes to light, it ties down the President, undermines him, and forces him to expend his political power on what is a rather small issue. I am not saying the Epstein files are small- but would you rather have Trump use up his political power withholding documents that will be released regardless, OR starting a war/destroying the USA?
The Epstein files WILL come out. The public will not let it go.
