The US Justice Department will release files from its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, attorney general Pam Bondi says after Congress voted nearly unanimously to force President Donald Trump's administration to make them public.
The material could shed more light on the activities of Epstein, who socialised with Trump and other notable figures before his 2008 conviction on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
The scandal has been a thorn in Trump's side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters.
Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epstein's ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which New York City's medical examiner called a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he faced federal sex trafficking charges.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Bondi confirmed that the Justice Department will release its Epstein-related material within 30 days, as required by legislation that passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday.
"We will continue to follow the law and encourage maximum transparency," she said.
But that release may not be comprehensive, as the agency may have to hold back material that could affect Trump-ordered investigations of Democratic figures who associated with Epstein.
The bill requires the release within 30 days of all files and communications related to Epstein as well as any information about the investigation into his death in federal prison.
The department will also protect the identities of any sex-trafficking victims whose names appear in the documents, she said.
Danielle Bensky, a Jeffrey Epstein survivor, speaks during the news conference with survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein outside the US Capitol. Source: AAP / Bill Clark / Sipa USA
The Harvard Crimson, a newspaper run by Harvard students, first reported the news on Tuesday.
Summers, a former president of Harvard, where he is now a professor, told the newspaper on Monday that he will step back from all public commitments.
Trump has said he had no connection to Epstein's crimes.
The probe will cover any new information revealed in the files, including hundreds of messages Summers and Epstein exchanged over women, politics and Harvard-related initiatives, it said.
With additional reporting by the Associated Press.
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