President Donald Trump signed a bill on Wednesday that directs the Justice Department to publicly release all records amassed by federal prosecutors during the sex trafficking investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Trump’s signing represents a stunning reversal for the president aimed chiefly at quelling a brewing GOP revolt and restoring his iron grip over the party.
Under the language of the law, the Justice Department has to release the Epstein files within 30 days. But there is some fine print in the legislation’s language that allows for some files to be withheld. And the announcement of a new investigation into Epstein’s contacts raises real questions about how the Trump administration will respond.
Trump’s name appears in the files. He and Epstein were associates and appeared together many times before they had a falling-out. But there’s no allegation any files implicate Trump in any wrongdoing.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
