Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna has called for Congress to investigate associates of Jeffrey Epstein named in the files and for the full release of the remaining documents. This comes as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the review of Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected. Blanche, who was formerly President Trump’s personal lawyer, told Fox News that “it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”
Meanwhile, Epstein survivors have criticized the Department of Justice for failing to redact personal information, including some of their identities, as well as email addresses and even nude photos. “They were cavalier, at best, when it comes to the survivors, and they took great lengths to protect some of the rich and powerful people who actually committed the crimes and morally heinous acts,” Khanna tells Democracy Now!
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Fallout continues to grow over the Justice Department’s release of more than 3 million pages of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. On Wednesday, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna called for Congress to investigate associates of Epstein named in the files.
REP. RO KHANNA: Mr. Speaker, Thomas Massie and my Epstein Transparency Act led to millions of files being released that have shocked the conscience of the nation. Today I call for Congress to haul in front of the Oversight Committee every single person who emailed about going to Epstein’s island. They need to answer some basic questions. Who raped these underage girls from working-class families? What did they see? What did they know? What did they participate in? The American people are frustrated with the rich and powerful getting a different set of justice. There cannot be two tiers of justice in America. And I will not rest until the people who committed these heinous crimes and this heinous behavior are held accountable.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Congressman Ro Khanna has also called for the Department of Justice to release more files. More than two-and-a-half million pages remain unreleased. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said the department’s review of the Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected. He told Fox News, quote, “It isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.”
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein have criticized the DOJ for failing to redact personal information, including some of their identities, as well as email addresses, and there was a release of nude photos. In a statement, one group of survivors said, quote, “As survivors, we should never be the ones named, scrutinized, and retraumatized, while Epstein’s enablers continue to benefit from secrecy,” they said.
We go now to Capitol Hill, where we’re joined by Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna, co-sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Congressmember Khanna, you’re about to meet with the DOJ and the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche along with Congressmember Massie. You’re calling for a continued investigation into the files that were released but were redacted and more files that — well, according to Blanche, they’re done with releasing files. So, can you explain your response to what has been released? And who was protected in the release of these files?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, what already has been released really is quite disgusting. You have some of the most powerful elites in America, in technology, in finance, in real estate, in politics, emailing Jeffrey Epstein, asking to go to his island. And many, many of these people owe the American people an explanation, and many of them should be investigated about who was being raped on that island, what they knew, what they did, what they saw.
But there are also over 3 million documents where there have been excessive redactions, one of them an email where you have someone saying to Jeffrey Epstein that he enjoyed his time with a young girl, and the name of that person who emailed Epstein is redacted. And there’s no explanation for that redaction. The redactions are supposed to cover very classified information or cover information that would compromise survivors. The redactions should not be protecting people who actually engaged in criminal behavior or heinous behavior. And Massie and I plan to review the unredacted files — Blanche has said that members of Congress can do that — and to ask what the explanation was for the redactions. And the plan is to get rid of the excessive redactions.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Congressman Khanna, what do you make of the fact, of course, there have been these redactions that actually compromise potential investigation to people who were complicit, and at the same time, as we mentioned, The Wall Street Journalinvestigation found the Department of Justice failed to redact the full names of 43 victims, including minors, and 40 photos were published of young girls, women, naked and in some cases with their faces visible?
REP. RO KHANNA: It’s appalling. It shows there are two tiers of justice in America. The rich and powerful get to play by one set of rules. So, they were very, very careful, Pam Bondi on down, to say that we want to make sure these rich and powerful people aren’t overexposed, and let’s really go through the files so that there are not leaks that compromise them. In fact, some of the documents that compromise Donald Trump, where they had tips about Donald Trump, were quickly pulled down. On the other hand, the review that they had one-third of the U.S. attorneys do of all of these files, obviously they did not stress the importance of protecting the victims. How do I know this? Because there are survivors’ lawyers who were never consulted, were never brought into the process. There was never any effort to have an independent master review the documents. And so, they were cavalier, at best, when it comes to the survivors, and they took great lengths to protect some of the rich and powerful people who actually committed the crimes and morally heinous acts.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Congressman Khanna, what’s known, in fact, about the complaints against, as you said, the most rich and powerful people in the world, which includes, at the very top, President Trump?
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, we know a lot just from what was released. I mean, we know that these people were asking to go to Epstein’s island. We know that there were underage girls on that island from working-class families that were being raped. We know that there were underage girls and young girls who were being trafficked. We know that many of the country’s elite had no problem corresponding with Epstein well after he was convicted of pedophilia and no problem asking to go to Epstein’s island or Epstein’s parties well after he was convicted of pedophilia.
And I am so offended by Deputy Attorney General Blanche saying, “Oh, this is just about men who are playboys who are going to parties.” This is about men who knew that Epstein was abusing and raping young girls, saying, “I want to show up to parties where these young girls are being paraded, or where these young girls are being raped.”
And this is the American elite? I mean, the question we have to ask ourselves as a nation is: How have we produced an elite that is so callow, that is so immature, that is so venal, that has so little scruples, and that has such impunity from the rule of law? What have we done wrong in this country that that is our elite?
AMY GOODMAN: The law you co-sponsored, Congressman Khanna, specifically talked about the document from Alex Acosta when he was U.S. attorney in Florida that named co-conspirators. Can you explain — and it said it had to be released. Can you explain what was released and what wasn’t, and what names we know from that time? If that had been taken seriously, the women who talked about being raped and sexually abused, and the girls, back in 2007, might we not have seen something like a thousand girls and women who were brutalized since?
REP. RO KHANNA: We would have, and we would have seen those women saved, if the FBI had acted in 1996, when Maria Farmer initially launched a complaint. Maria Farmer was called a liar. But now it’s come out that the FBI knew of that complaint in 1996 and sat on it. This could have prevented thousands of women, thousands of underage girls being raped and abused.
What came out this time on 2007 is that there were 32-plus counts against Epstein. Almost all were dropped, other than two counts. We were not given the explanation for why those counts were dropped. That was redacted and withheld. And we were not given the explanation for why some of the co-conspirators were not charged or who these co-conspirators are. So, obviously, the Justice Department still is protecting the co-conspirators, and they are protecting their own faulty analysis for dropping all of these charges against Epstein.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Congressman Khanna, could you talk about some of the people who have agreed to testify in this congressional investigation, which includes now former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will testify later this month?
REP. RO KHANNA: I’m glad President Clinton and Secretary Clinton have agreed to testify — they should — to a congressional subpoena. But that also means that Donald Trump needs to testify. That means people like Bill Gates who are in these files needs to — need to come before Congress and testify. That means all the real estate folks, finance folks, technology folks who have emails to Epstein saying, “When can I come to the island?” need to come to Congress and testify and answer questions. What did they know about what was going on on Epstein’s island? Did they ever participate in raping underage girls? Did they see underage girls being raped? Did they see underage girls being paraded naked at these parties? They can’t just hide behind X or Twitter or some softball interview. They need to answer these questions under oath.
AMY GOODMAN: What exactly does it mean to say you’re calling for a continued investigation? And when are you going to meet with Todd Blanche? Some might say he’s doing his job, maybe not as the number two in the Justice Department, but as the former personal attorney for President Trump.
REP. RO KHANNA: Well, we’ve requested the meeting. He said on television he’s open to meeting. Our teams are working it out. They have been responsive to our request. The goal is to see what other documents need to be released. The goal is to see what investigation needs to be undertaken with the documents that have been released. And then, of course, there’s Congress that can continue the investigation. On the Oversight Committee, where I sit, Robert Garcia, our ranking member, has done a terrific job about that. And the next administration can make sure that there is accountability and the full release. But it’s important to realize that this scandal has already had extraordinary reverberations. It may bring down the British government. I mean, Keir Starmer is being asked about this in the House of Commons. You had Paul Weiss’s chair resign over this. And you’re having suddenly a #MeToo movement again of people being confronted with the enormously depraved things that took place in Epstein’s island.