Epstein Bill Passes as Top Official Circulates Plan to Block Transparency

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act today by veto-proof margins. But opponents of the law have another plan to stop it, described in a little-noticed document circulated by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“It jeopardizes future federal investigations, and we have national security concerns regarding classified information,” Johnson said of the bill.

He wasn’t speaking off the cuff. He was quoting from a document produced by his office detailing five “flaws” with the bill. The fifth and final flaw, titled “national security concerns,” says that it’s “incredibly unwise to demand that DOJ declassify materials originated by other agencies”; that “declassification should … protect sources and methods” and directs Congress to “work with the Attorney General [Pam Bondi] to declassify in a reasonable time frame.”

In other words, the Trump administration should have final say because, well, national security.