WASHINGTON: Donald Trump signed into law on Wednesday legislation requiring the release of government records on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, spurring a showdown over whether the US president will allow full disclosure of the case.
The US president ensured that it sailed through Congress on Tuesday in a show of bipartisan unity.
The Republican president announced on social media late on Wednesday that he had signed the bill, forgoing any media spectacle.
Insiders warn that even with the president's signature, his administration could lean on redactions, procedural delays, or lingering federal investigations to keep explosive details out of the public eye.
"Once the president signs the bill, he must apply and execute it faithfully. There must be no funny business from Donald Trump," top Democrat Chuck Schumer warned in a speech on the Senate floor.
"He must not use the excuse of frivolous investigations to release some Epstein documents, while intentionally hiding others that deserve to be seen by the American public."
Epstein, a wealthy financier, moved in elite circles for years, cultivating close ties with business tycoons, politicians, academics, and celebrities to whom he was accused of trafficking girls and young women for sex.
Epstein's 2019 arrest fueled a storm of outrage and pressure for a full accounting of his network, his finances, and the people who helped him evade.
Conspiracy theories about a cover-up only deepened after his death — ruled a suicide — in a New York jail soon after.
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