US President Donald Trump says he will sign a bill to force the release of the "Epstein files" if the legislation gets through Congress.
It is another flip by the US president, who fiercely opposed the bill until the weekend, after it became clear it had the support of a majority of members of the House of Representatives.
The bill — which would instruct the Department of Justice to release all unclassified documents relating to late sex offender Epstein — now looks set to sail through the House this week.
It would then require the support of the Republican-controlled Senate before going to Mr Trump to be signed into law.
Asked on Monday, local time, if he would sign the bill, Mr Trump said: "Sure, I would."
"I would let the Senate look at it. Let anybody look at it. But don't talk about it too much because honestly, I don't want it taking away from us," he said.
"It's really a Democrat problem. The Democrats were Epstein's friends, all of them. And it's a hoax, the whole thing is a hoax, and I don't want it taking away from, really, the greatness of what the Republican Party has accomplished over the last period of time."
House Speaker Mike Johnson told US media the vote would take place on Tuesday afternoon, local time.
It is listed to go to a vote under "suspension of the rules", which means it requires a two-thirds majority to pass. But Mr Trump's urging of Republicans to support it means some members of Congress expect it to pass unanimously.
Summers 'deeply ashamed' after email release
The Epstein issue was pushed back into the public spotlight last week after the release of emails from his estate, including several .
Other emails showed correspondence between Epstein and former Democratic Treasury secretary Larry Summers.
The emails indicated the pair dined together frequently and remained in contact after Epstein had been charged with sex trafficking.
In one message, Epstein said he was Mr Summers's "wing man".
On Monday night, Mr Summers — a former Harvard University president — said he would step back from public commitments.
"I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognise the pain they have caused," Mr Summers said in a statement to Harvard's college newspaper, The Crimson.
"I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein.
"While continuing to fulfil my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments."
Mr Summers served as Treasury secretary under Bill Clinton and was an adviser to Barack Obama.
He continues to teach five courses at Harvard, The Crimson reported.
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren called on the university to cut ties with Mr Summers, telling CNN he could not be trusted to "teach a generation of students at Harvard or anywhere else".
Bipartisan push led to vote
The bill to compel the Justice Department to release Epstein-related documents was introduced by Republican Thomas Massie, a critic of Mr Trump's, and Democrat Ro Khanna in July.
Three Republican women subsequently backed it, giving it the numbers it needed to pass the House.
Those women — Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert — last week joined Democrats to sign a petition to force the vote.
After the White House failed to persuade any of the Republicans to reverse course, Mr Trump used social media to say he now supported Republicans voting for it.
But it led to a public feud between Mr Trump and Ms Greene, previously one of his most prominent backers in Congress.
Mr Trump called Ms Greene "wacky" and a "traitor". She said his public attacks on her were putting her in physical danger.
