Trump expected to sign bill to release Epstein files after it clears Senate and House: Live updates

Although it was technically not a state dinner, since bin Salman’s father Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud is Saudi Arabia’s head of state, Tuesday evening’s affair boasted all of the frills of one. Piano music played as the crown prince — along with soon-to-be trillionaire Elon Musk, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, and top administration officials — poured into the East Room of the White House to attend the candlelit, black-tie dinner.

The dinner marks bin Salman’s first invite to the White House since the 2018 death of Khashoggi. A 2021 U.S. intelligence assessment determined that the crown prince “approved” the journalist’s killing. The crown prince, known as MBS, has vehemently denied any involvement.

In the Oval Office earlier Tuesday, a reporter asked about MBS’s alleged involvement in the murder. Trump came to bin Salman’s defense, calling Khashoggi “extremely controversial” and saying the crown prince “knew nothing about it.” Scolding the reporter, the president added: “You don’t have to embarrass our guests.”

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Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who co-sponsored a bill to release Justice Department files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, warned of “legal penalties” if the files are not released after the bill is signed into law.

“There are criminal penalties if they don’t follow the law,” Massie told CNN Tuesday night. “People could eventually go to jail for not releasing these files.”

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said Tuesday the Treasury Department has ‘”thousands and thousands” of bank records from the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“My follow-the-money investigation into Epstein’s network that began in 2022 will continue regardless of how the Department of Justice proceeds,” Wyden said after the House and Senate approved a bill to force the DOJ to release files related to Epstein.

The senator continued: “There is another massive Epstein file in the possession of the Treasury Department containing thousands and thousands of his bank records, and that file must be released too.

“The information in those bank records, a portion of which my investigators reviewed at the Treasury in 2024, is key to uncovering who financed Epstein’s network, who enabled his trafficking, and who else participated.”

Epstein faced federal sex trafficking charges when he died by suicide in jail in 2019.

Wyden added: “Secretary Bessent has repeatedly refused to produce those records for further investigation. If he won’t change his tune, Congress must change it for him.”

The Independent has reached out to the Treasury Department for comment.

The United States will elevate Saudi Arabia to “major non-NATO ally” status, granting the oil-rich autocracy preferred access to military and economic privileges and deeper ties with the American military-industrial complex.

President Donald Trump announced the country’s new status at a black tie dinner to honor Saudi Arabia’s prime minister and de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, late Tuesday.

“I’m pleased to announce that we’re taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them,” Trump said.

He added that he had kept the move a secret until the dinner as a surprise for the crown prince, who has spent years cultivating deep ties with Trump’s family and business interests dating back to the president’s first term in the White House.

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After the House passed a bill Tuesday to force the release of government files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a bipartisan congressional vigil was hosted for survivors of Epstein’s abuse.

The Senate later approved the measure, and President Donald Trump previously promised to sign it into law.

Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, told Fox News Tuesday that President Donald Trump is “clean” after the House voted to force the Justice Department to release files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump, who was friends with Epstein decades ago, was repeatedly mentioned in emails from the disgraced financier’s estate, which Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released last week.

Representative Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican, has reacted to the House rejecting his censure of Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who reportedly sent texts to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.

“This is the problem in Washington!! The establishment protects ITSELF, and the American people get pushed ASIDE. What happened to accountability?” Norman wrote on X Tuesday night.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), the Republican who led the charge to pass legislation on the Epstein files bragged about getting President Donald Trump to fold and allow for a vote on files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) filed the discharge petition that forced a vote to release files related to the late convicted sex offender.

“I beat the President, the Vice President, the attorney general, the FBI director and the speaker of the House,” Massie told The Independent. “More importantly, it means when you’re on the side of the people, you can win.”

In addition, once the legislation is sent to the Senate, it will automatically be considered passed after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer filed unanimous consent on the legislation.

At the same time, Trump has called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the late pedophile’s ties to Democrats like former president Bill Clinton and former Treasury secretary Larry Summers.

“You can’t open enough investigations to cover up for all of the crimes,” Massie said. “So they may cover up small parts the Epstein files, but the majority of it’s going to come out, and the disclosure is required within 30 days.”

Trump attacked Massie repeatedly, including mocking his marriage this year after his wife Rhonda died last year.

The House has voted against censuring Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who reportedly sent texts to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.

A resolution from Republican Congressman Ralph Norman called for Plaskett to be censured and removed from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

But it failed 209-214, largely along party lines, Tuesday night.

Speaking on the House floor, Plaskett said, “You want to talk about texting felons, how often do you text President Donald J. Trump?”

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. The president has maintained his innocence.

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, which lasted four days and ended on Monday, saw Trump’s approval rating fall to 38 percent.

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a measure that would force the U.S. Department of Justice to release all of its files concerning its investigation into Epstein.

The president has, until recently, opposed the move, insisting both that his alleged involvement with Epstein is a hoax and that it is Democrats who are more implicated in the documents. On Sunday, after the House Oversight Committee released another tranche of Epstein documents, which include emails referencing Trump, the president reversed his position and called for House Republicans to release the files.