The text of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, overwhelmingly passed Tuesday by the U.S. House and Senate, allows the Department of Justice to withhold or redact any records that 'would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution.'

New York

Both chambers of the U.S. Congress have approved legislation mandating the release of Justice Department documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, with President Donald Trump expected to sign the bill into law. However, the law allows the Department of Justice to withhold certain materials, including those related to ongoing investigations, victim identities, and sensitive content.

Concerns have been raised by survivors, their lawyers, and transparency advocates that the administration may use these exceptions to limit the release of information. The recent launch of a new DOJ investigation into Epstein's connections with prominent Democrats has heightened fears that the files could be withheld under the pretext of protecting an ongoing probe.

Why passing Epstein bill is no guarantee all files will be released

President Donald Trump could sign a bill into law today that calls for the release of the Justice Department documents on sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Both chambers of Congress have approved that move but right now there's no word from the White House on when exactly Trump might add his signature to the legislation. It is, however, expected to happen in front of cameras and we now have an idea of what he might say. This here is a post from Trump's social media platform. He is sticking to his message from earlier this week writing that the focus on the Epstein files is a distraction from what he wants to highlight as his government's achievements. Those are some Epstein survivors and their supporters celebrating Congress approving the bill. Their hopes are now closer than ever to being realized. But despite the votes in Congress, Trump could still keep the Epstein files secret. The CBC's Mike Crawley has an article up on cbcnews.ca that looks into that possibility and I urge you all to take a look at it. He joins us now live from Washington to tell us a little bit more about that also. Let's start with when we might see the files and what we're gonna see. Yeah, Arathi, so when Donald Trump signs the bill it actually does become law at that moment but that doesn't mean the files get released immediately. What the act actually says is that the Justice Department has 30 days to release all non-classified investigative files in its possession that relate to Epstein. But there are also a bunch of exceptions about material that the DOJ can withhold. A lot of these make perfect sense. Anything that would identify a victim or a witness or a confidential informant, anything that depicts violence or sexual abuse or any child sexual exploitation. There's nobody who's advocating for any of that material to be made public, of course, but the exception that's got a bunch of advocates for transparency worried is the one that allows the the DOJ to withhold material that could jeopardize an ongoing investigation. Look, that wasn't an issue until just a few days ago when the president ordered his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to launch an investigation into the connections between Epstein and three very prominent Democrats and those being the former President Bill Clinton, the former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Reid Hoffman who's the the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn and a major donor to the Democratic Party. So the concern is that the DOJ could use that investigation as a pretext for withholding material in the Epstein files. And now Mike, why are survivors and transparency advocates worried that Trump would actually withhold the files given the climate around them right now? Yeah, so you've got some of the the lawmakers who were behind that act, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the lawyers for the survivors and some of the survivors themselves, they're saying that, you know, they're concerned that the Trump administration has shown a pattern of behavior over the past number of months that suggests it simply doesn't want the files released. So, point one, that investigation I talked about, it was launched just on Friday when for months the DOJ had not indicated there was anything in the Epstein saga that warranted further investigation. So the second point, the simple fact that the DOJ could have released all of this material of its own accord. It didn't need an act of Congress to do it. The third thing is Donald Trump's resistance to the idea that there's anything important in the files. You talked in the introduction about the way he's been dismissive of the Epstein files as a distraction. Take a listen to this. It's the lawyer, the attorney for some of Epstein's victims. He says that he's not at all confident that the DOJ is going to release all the relevant material. Our clients are not stupid. The American people are not naive. They know that it's taken decades, in many cases, to get to this point. And curious aside about the president, he was a Democrat at the time, if you recall, before he became a Republican. So whether this is a Democratic hoax, a Republican hoax, you can change your party, you can change your tune, but you can't really change what's in the files. And our clients know that. And we feel that we've jumped the first hurdle, and we're at the sort of the end of the beginning. There's no way over by any measure. Now, Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi was asked at the news conference last hour whether the investigation into those Democrats is going to block the release of the files. She didn't exactly say yes or no to that specific question. What she kept saying is that the DOJ will continue to follow the law and to have maximum transparency while protecting the victims. Mike, thanks for this. That's the CBC's Mike Crawley reporting from Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized a plan for the CIA in Venezuela, according to a New York Times report. CBS News' Charlie D'Agata has more details.

Washington

Trump authorizes plans for CIA covert operation in Venezuela: report

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Beirut

Middle East Conflict

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The Epstein files bill is expected to reach President Donald Trump's desk for his signature on Wednesday (November 19). CBS News' Taurean Small reports.

Trump set to sign bill to release Epstein files

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The Senate, through the process of unanimous consent, agreed to send the bill to President Trump's desk for his signature without any amendments once it's received from the House.

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President Trump now says Republicans should vote to release all of the files related to the federal investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi and Nikole Killion have the latest on what could happen next.

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President Donald Trump now appears to support the release of all Jeffrey Epstein files as the House of Representatives readies for a vote on the matter. CBS News' Natalie Brand reports.

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Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's repeated attempts to kill the effort to release federal files related to Jeffrey Epstein, House Republican leaders are planning to hold a vote this week on legislation to force the issue.

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