THE US Senate has unanimously approved the official release of the Jeffrey Epstein files trove just hours after the House of Representatives.
Donald Trump is now the final person left to sign off on the documents so they can be released to the world.
There were audible celebrations from the House of Representatives after the final decision of 427 votes in favour to just one vote against the bill was declared.
The single nay came from Republican Clay Higgins.
Just a few short hours later and the Senate followed suit with a huge majority verdict.
Majority Leader Thune said the Senate “hotlined” the process so the Senate could vote immediately.
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The bill will now go to Trump’s desk for his final signature.
The US president on Monday confirmed he will sign the bill calling for the release of the Epstein files when it reaches the Oval Office.
The Department of Justice will then have 30 days to release the files.
Donald Trump had urged his fellow Republicans to vote in favour of the bill on Monday after insisting he has “nothing to hide” over what is inside the investigative documents.
Trump said the time has come to bring an end to the “hoax” claims around what is inside the late financier’s documents, which he says are being peddled by the Democrats.
Today’s votes provide a major boost to the demands being placed on the Justice Department to release its case files on Epstein.
However, it is expected that there will be a battle over redactions.
Speaking on why he voted against the bill, Higgins said: “What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today.
“It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America. As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people.”
Victims and families of survivors of Epstein today gathered outside the US Capitol to take part in demonstrations supporting the release of the investigative files.
Epstein pleaded guilty to a Florida state felony prostitution charge in 2008 and served 13 months in jail.
In 2019, he was charged with sex trafficking of minors. Epstein pleaded not guilty to those charges.
The sex offender killed himself in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial in 2019 on charges he sexually abused and trafficked underage girls.
Sky Roberts, the brother of one of Epstein’s most prominent victims, Virginia Giuffre, said that the US lawmakers to “stop talking and act”.
Speaking infront of the US Capitol, he said: “My sister is not a political tool for you to use. These survivors are not political tools for you to use. These are real stories, real trauma.
“We will not let Virginia’s fight be in vain together. We will not let the predators win together.”
Another of the survivor Danielle Bensky said she was recruited by Epstein in 2004 and was “trapped in a year-long cycle of abuse”.
She said Epstein threatened to “withhold care” for her mother, who was battling brain tumour.
She said: “I am calling for the American people. You have homework. Call your congressional leaders.
“Call your senators. Please support this bill. Let’s get it all released.”
Until the weekend, Trump and his staff had lobbied hard to prevent any further release of files from the criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice into Epstein.
Trump cut off his long-term ally Marjorie Taylor Greene over her “wacky” demands to release all the Epstein files.
He branded the Georgia Rep. a “lunatic” and officially withdrew his support for her – apparently after a text urging him to publish the documents.
He even said to a female reporter, “quiet, piggy” after she asked about the release of the Epstein files.
But the president is said to have grown frustrated with Republicans’ fixation on the Epstein files and wanted them to focus on the cost of living and other issues that matter more to voters, a senior White House official said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believed a vote on releasing the files should help put to rest allegations that Trump had any connection to Epstein’s abuse.
Although Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the president has said the two men fell out before the sex offender’s convictions.
Trump promised in his election campaign to blow open the Epstein vault and release all the files – but since then, the process has been slow.
The President lived in Florida at the same time as Epstein and the two are known to have associated.
Trump has always said he cut ties with Epstein and banned him from Mar-a-Lago in the 2000s.
The Epstein furor this week was reignited when Democrats released selectively redacted emails that mentioned Trump.
Trump accused Democrats of pushing an “Epstein hoax” after emails emerged in which the disgraced financier suggested Trump “knew about the girls”.
The White House said one of Epstein’s victims who “spent hours” with Trump, insisted he never did anything wrong – alluding to Ms Giuffre.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed the Democrats for the release of three emails from Epstein and how they redacted Ms Giuffre’s name.
The White House said Ms Giuffre, who the disgraced financier claimed “spent hours” with the future US president, already vowed that Trump had never done anything wrong.
Trump’s Republican Party then dumped more than 20,000 other files – including previously unseen emails.
Those documents shed new light on the extent of Epstein’s relationship with the likes of former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, discredited author Michael Wolff, and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – the former Prince Andrew, Duke of York.
Summers, the former president of Harvard University, said he will step back from public commitments after the release of emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.
Summers said in a statement that he would step back to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” he said
“I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein.”
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Summers did not detail exactly what stepping back would entail, saying he would continue to teach and promised to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.