00:00At multiple points in 2024, when running for office, Donald Trump said he would, quote,
00:05declassify the Epstein files, use it as a rallying cry to win over voters.
00:10In October 2024, J.D. Vance said, quote, seriously, we need to release the Epstein list.
00:16But the moment Trump and Vance had power in the White House to act,
00:21that commitment disappeared. That's when the cover up began.
00:24Pam Bondi said that she was releasing the Epstein files with her statement, quote,
00:29this Department of Justice is following through on President Trump's commitment to transparency
00:34and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.
00:40Then it became clear, very clear, that Donald Trump did not, in fact, want information
00:45about Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes revealed to the public.
00:49Starting in July 2025, Donald Trump began to gaslight the public.
00:53He said, quote, are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?
00:56This guy's been talked about for years.
00:59Since the summer of 2025, they have been in gross, illegal violation of the subpoena this entire time.
01:07For a moment, the petition was one signature away from forcing a vote in the full House.
01:12And what did Mike Johnson do?
01:13He shut down Congress.
01:15He refused to swear in our colleague, Adelita Grijalva, for a historic seven weeks
01:19in order to keep her name off the list.
01:21He forced the American public to endure a government shutdown to protect Donald Trump
01:26and to cover up the Epstein files.
01:28This required the DOJ to release the unredacted Epstein files publicly by December 19th.
01:34The DOJ has blown past that deadline, releasing only 1% of the files, which is patently absurd.
01:41And the files they did release were heavily redacted, which is completely illegal, according to the law.
01:47Ms. Ansari.
01:49Given much of what we've heard today, and especially in light of some of the hypocrisy that we've heard today,
01:54I just want to walk through the timeline of Donald Trump's cover-up of the Epstein files,
01:59because I think it's important for folks to remember how we got to this point.
02:03This was a series of deliberate decisions made at the highest levels in the White House
02:08and the Department of Justice to keep the truth hidden from the American public
02:12and the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his allies' abuse.
02:15Let's start with what the president said during his campaign trail, repeatedly.
02:21At multiple points in 2024, when running for office, Donald Trump said he would, quote,
02:26declassify the Epstein files, use it as a rallying cry to win over voters.
02:32In October 2024, J.D. Vance said, quote,
02:35seriously, we need to release the Epstein list.
02:37But the moment Trump and Vance had power in the White House to act,
02:42that commitment disappeared.
02:44That's when the cover-up began.
02:46On February 27th, 2025, Pam Bondi said that she was releasing the Epstein files with her statement,
02:53quote,
02:54this Department of Justice is following through on President Trump's commitment to transparency
02:58and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.
03:04Then it became clear, very clear, that Donald Trump did not, in fact, want information about Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes revealed to the public.
03:13Starting in July 2025, Donald Trump began to gaslight the public.
03:17He said, quote,
03:18Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?
03:21This guy's been talked about for years.
03:23This is the point when Congress stepped up.
03:26On July 23rd, Congresswoman Summer Lee moved in this very committee to subpoena the full and unredacted Epstein files.
03:35And just to be clear, because of that subpoena, the Department of Justice and Pam Bondi have been required by law to provide the Epstein files to this committee since the summer of 2025.
03:46They have been in gross, illegal violation of the subpoena this entire time.
03:52To my Republican colleagues on this committee, do you remember that subpoena, the lawful Congressional Oversight Subpoena from July 23rd?
04:02Pam Bondi has been in violation of that for six months now.
04:06At the same time, members on both sides of the aisle filed a discharge petition that would have put a vote on the floor for the Epstein files Transparency Act.
04:15For a moment, the petition was one signature away from forcing a vote in the full House.
04:20And what did Mike Johnson do?
04:22He shut down Congress.
04:23He refused to swear in our colleague, Adelita Grijalva, for a historic seven weeks in order to keep her name off the list.
04:30He forced the American public to endure a government shutdown to protect Donald Trump and to cover up the Epstein files.
04:36And when it finally came to the floor and it became clear that the bill would pass overwhelmingly, only then did he endorse and then sign the bill so that he wouldn't lose.
04:47This required the DOJ to release the unredacted Epstein files publicly by December 19th.
04:53The DOJ has blown past that deadline, releasing only 1% of the files, which is patently absurd.
05:00And the files they did release were heavily redacted, which is completely illegal according to the law.
05:06On December 23rd, the DOJ said they miraculously discovered over 1 million files related to Epstein.
05:12All of these patterns are an attempt to slow down the release and fail to meet the lawful deadlines, are consistent and coordinated.
05:21This is all part of an intentional cover-up, which leads to the unavoidable question,
05:27who is the president protecting when we know he only cares about one person?
05:31I guess I'll end with my question to the chairman.
05:35The Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has violated the subpoena issued by this committee.
05:41We should be holding her in contempt to remain fair and to remain transparent.
05:46And so I ask that you do that if you really, truly want to be fair and care about the justice for the victims here.
05:52May I respond?
05:54We have been very clear.
05:57We expect those documents.
05:59She has complied.
06:00She's turned over documents.
06:02In the beginning, you all complained and said the first document drop didn't have enough redactions.
06:11And the second document dump had too many redactions.
06:13So they're trying to get this.
06:16And I believe that we will get those documents very soon.
06:19I have been assured we're going to get those documents very soon.
06:23I hear you.
06:23But with all due respect, given everything that she herself stated in February of last year,
06:29her own statements in front of the entirety of the American public saying,
06:33we have the documents.
06:34They are ready to go.
06:36So the sub, the subpoena from this committee was issued in July.
06:40And nobody on our side, nobody on our side is defending Pam Bondi.
06:45I can assure you.
06:45So then she should be holding contempt.
06:46If we are going to hold President's questioning contempt, then we have to hold the claim.
06:50They have turned documents over.
06:52And every time they do, you all complain about too many redactions, not enough redactions.
06:57So that's, that is unacceptable.
06:59It has been six months and there's been nothing for this.
07:01Your time has expired and we want the documents.
07:03We've made that very clear.
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