A Breakthrough in the Shadows - and a President Losing Control

The evening in Washington had barely ended when it became clear that the Senate would wave through the Epstein file without a single change, without hearings, without delay. A decision whose clarity is hard to overlook. As soon as the bill officially arrives in the Senate, it will be adopted and placed directly on the president’s desk - a process that shows how little influence Donald Trump and the Republican leadership now have on this issue.

For weeks, the White House had tried to prevent the release. Trump himself repeatedly called the demand for transparency a “hoax” and pressured his allies to play down the issue. But in July a small bipartisan group of lawmakers took a rare step: they bypassed the Speaker of the House and brought the bill to the floor despite Mike Johnson’s blockade. At the time it seemed like a political risk, almost like an act of rebellion in a chamber that Trump thought he firmly controlled. Now it is clear how profoundly the mood has shifted. The House voted 427 to 1 in favor of releasing the files - a result more typical for uncontroversial resolutions than for one of the most sensitive cases of recent decades. The only opposing vote came from Trump’s own camp. But it changed nothing: the force of the support was so overwhelming that even the president realized the blockade could no longer hold. Within a day, he declared he would sign the bill.

In the Senate, it then took only hours before everything was decided there as well. No proposed changes, no conditions. “Unanimous consent” - a rare process that shows how unified both parties feel the pressure of the public, but also that of the victims who have been fighting for years to finally learn who protected Epstein, who covered for him, and who stands behind the names that have been kept sealed for more than a decade. But not everyone in the power apparatus wants this step. Barely had the senators signaled their approval when Mike Johnson himself spoke out. The speaker who had done everything to prevent the release openly showed his frustration: he was “deeply disappointed” that the Senate had declined to make changes. That evening he spoke to Trump by phone - a conversation that revealed how nervous both have now become. Johnson said they “both had concerns.” When asked whether the president might still block the bill, he replied only: “I am not saying that. I do not know.”

Es ist ein bemerkenswerter Satz für den Mann, der sich monatelang als politischer Türsteher des Weißen Hauses verstanden hat. Er klingt nicht nach Stärke, sondern nach einem Sprecher, der spürt, wie die Macht über dieses Thema aus seinen Händen gleitet. Das Land sieht zu genau hin, der Druck wächst, und jeder Versuch, Transparenz zu verhindern, lässt die Fragen lauter werden.

It is a remarkable statement from the man who for months understood himself as the political gatekeeper of the White House. It does not sound like strength, but like a speaker who senses that control over this issue is slipping from his hands. The country is watching too closely, the pressure is rising, and every attempt to prevent transparency only makes the questions louder.

For the victims of Epstein’s abuse, this is a turning point. For years they have been fighting to have the system that protected Epstein for so many years identified by name. Not just one person, not just one offender - but the agencies, politicians, officials, and advisers who looked away or actively supported him. That this process is now being pushed forward on a bipartisan basis is more than a symbolic step. It is the first real chance to make visible the structures that failed across two presidential terms, three presidents, and multiple Justice Departments. That the president is now publicly saying he will sign while his inner circle is considering a veto shows the deep uncertainty at the top of the state. Trump sees that he can barely stand against the momentum of this vote. The question now is whether he accepts the consequences - or whether he attempts to reverse the outcome at the last minute.