Following months of political theater, gamesmanship, and grandstanding in the halls of Congress, President Donald Trump has signed into law the bill to release the Epstein files.
Political leaders on both sides of the aisle have taken victory laps for transparency and are eagerly awaiting the release of documents to score more political points. But like much of what happens in the halls of Congress these days, the Epstein files law is yet another example of Congress appearing to fix a problem and failing to do so. This law is a red herring and is endemic of the much larger problem of weak congressional oversight.
The Epstein legislation is poorly written and contains loopholes large enough to drive a Mack truck through. For example, the legislation applies only to records in the possession of the Justice Department. What about the rest of the U.S. government? There are legitimate questions surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to the intelligence community. By cabining records in the possession of the Justice Department, the bill leaves a lot of meat on the bone.