Brad Sherman Asks State Department Official If Releasing Epstein Files Would Harm American Foreign Policy

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At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) asked  Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas about releasing the Epstein files.

Transcript

00:00Chair now recognizes Representative Sherman. Thank you. Mr. Chair, I'd like to deal with a

00:08couple of your comments. You point out that 13 brave American soldiers died in Afghanistan

00:12in the Biden administration. I'll point out 65 died under the first Trump administration.

00:18And Trump could have signed the unconditional surrender that he signed in 2020 in 2017.

00:27Instead, he kept us there, accomplished nothing for our country, provided billions of dollars

00:35in weapons to Afghanistan with no plan to recapture them, and most importantly, freed 5,000 bloodthirsty

00:44terrorists, and then blames Biden when he leaves him with an Afghanistan that has thousands of

00:52American soldiers and 5,000 recently released bloodthirsty terrorists that the bloodthirsty

00:58terrorists try to kill the Americans. But what also concerns me, you know, I represent the Pacific

01:03Palisades. Trump came to our district and said, my constituents should sleep outdoors with no aid

01:11until our governor changes his policy. And I thought that was the most outrageous thing I'd heard

01:16until I hear that people in Africa should die of AIDS until their government changes how they vote in the

01:25United Nations. We just had a big brubaha on the floor where they couldn't pass a rule. Huge deal here

01:32in Congress. And it was about the Epstein files. Mr. Secretary, would it harm American foreign policy if we

01:39released the Epstein files, assuming, of course, we redact the names of the victims?

01:43Mr. Secretary, sir, I have no idea. So you have no reason to think that it would harm our foreign

01:49policy. Yeah, Carrie Lake was here talking about our broadcasting. And I pointed out that some 354

01:59million people listen every week, or did until you shut it down. And she said, and I'll quote,

02:05those are government numbers, and I don't trust those numbers. Can we trust the listenership numbers

02:10issued by the State Department? I'm not sure what numbers you're referring to, sir? Those are the

02:16numbers of people listening every week to Voice of America and its sisters. Is there issued by the

02:23State Department? Yeah, I'm not familiar with that. I'll point out that not only were those numbers

02:27released under the Biden administration, but very similar numbers were released under the Trump

02:32administration. So Carrie Lake was sitting there saying, we couldn't trust Trump administration

02:38government numbers. Can we trust Trump administration government numbers?

02:43Sir, I'd have to look at the numbers. You're the management guy. Right, I'd have to look at what

02:46numbers you're referring to. I haven't had an opportunity to. Officially released government, okay.

02:52Secretary Rubio sat right there and told us no one had died as a result of the cuts

02:57to our foreign aid. Does the State Department stand by that conclusion? No one's died?

03:04I would stand by Secretary Rubio's statement, sir. Yes. Okay. Well, we have behind me the first

03:10to die, the first child to die, because you cut off his aid's medicine. But we're going to have

03:185, 3.3 million people die as a result. And not only do we have that, we have the effect that cutting off

03:33fade does to migration, but also to diseases that affect us here in the United States.

03:38Because most of those 3.3 million people are going to die because of tuberculosis, malaria,

03:43and AIDS. And every time someone in another country contracts one of those diseases,

03:50it's a chance for that disease to replicate, mutate, and migrate back here. So we're going to have a lot

03:58of deaths in America, not only the 3.3 million deaths there. Now, you recently, I think it was

04:06today that 500 metric tons of emergency food reached its expiration date and it's set to be burned.

04:14Was there a reason why food that was acquired even before the beginning of this administration

04:20now has to be burned because you didn't send it to starving people in Sudan and elsewhere?

04:25Sir, I'm not familiar with that particular story, but my understanding is it is the policy

04:33of the government to not distribute expired food or medicine.

04:37Isn't it a huge management catastrophe to have food sit there in the warehouse for five and six months

04:46waiting for its expiration date and never ship it overseas to starving people? Isn't that a huge

04:52management problem? I'd have to look at what the issue is. Obviously, I don't know how long that food

04:56was there or when it was due to expire. Before Trump got there and now you're going to burn it.

05:04It's hard to say that that's good management. I'll yield back.

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