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On Sunday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) spoke to CNN about President Trump calling for the release of a portion of the Epstein files.
Transcript
00:00Thank you so much for joining us, Congressman.
00:02So Attorney General Bondi asked the federal judge to release grand jury testimony from the Epstein case.
00:06But as you know, that's only a fraction of the so-called Epstein files and evidence amassed as a result of the investigation.
00:13You've co-sponsored legislation with your colleague Thomas Massey to release all of the Epstein files.
00:19So I can't imagine you're content with this small, you know, discreet grand jury information being released.
00:26That's not enough, right?
00:30I think it's a start, Jake, and thank you for your fair reporting on this up to this point.
00:34I think Senator Klobuchar, as she likes to say, as a former prosecutor, you know, where the heck was she the last four years?
00:42Dick Durbin, and you're correct, he did effectively try to and did block my senator, Blackburn, from getting those files released.
00:51And it's clear what the Democrats are up to.
00:53They're tanking.
00:54The country knows it.
00:55Their biggest candidate in the whole country, Jake, is a guy, people, in New York, a guy, people are accusing of a communist.
01:04And what's he say?
01:05Oh, hey, I'm not a communist.
01:06I'm a socialist.
01:07As if that's a selling point.
01:09That's what the Democrat Party has fallen into.
01:12Where the heck have they been the last four years?
01:14I'm ticked off at everybody.
01:15Look, this thing should have been handled.
01:18Now we're at the point they're going to start dumping files.
01:21And my biggest fear in this, Jake, you've got a thousand children that were abused by this dirtbag who's burning in hell right now.
01:27And he should be.
01:29And yet the American public's all poignant thing or trying to play politics with this thing.
01:33And it's not accurate.
01:35I applaud the president for wanting to release those files.
01:39I think it's a good start.
01:40I think we, you know, they keep saying he talked about it repeatedly.
01:45And that's just not accurate.
01:47He was asked two different times during the campaign about it.
01:50And he said, sure, we're going to release them.
01:53He also said he's going to release the UFO files and the Kennedy files.
01:57And we're still working on all that because it is a dadgum process.
02:01You've got innocent people on those flight logs that flew.
02:05President Trump has admitted he flew on those flights.
02:09And dozens of other Americans I'm sure rode.
02:12I know a lot of wealthy people, Jake.
02:14And they fly on these dadgum planes, private planes.
02:17If one's broke down, they say, hey, I got a seat on this guy's plane.
02:20You want to ride with us to New York?
02:22And that's what happens.
02:23And so I caution America, though, when if we need to have some sort of way to filter out the innocence in these things.
02:32And for Dick Durbin to start making his point now, I think that you all in the media should bust his tail for that
02:41because that is very disingenuous and that is clearly a cover-up by the Democrat Party.
02:46Yeah, no, without question, Senator Blackburn has been trying to get the flight logs subpoenaed
02:51and other information about the Epstein files for years.
02:54But as you know, there are people in these files who are innocent,
03:00who didn't do anything except flew on Epstein's plane, for example, in the 90s.
03:07Epstein was first, I think, arrested in 2005, 2006.
03:10So he wasn't scandalous until then.
03:14So it certainly could be understood if people, whether RFK Jr. or Bill Clinton or whoever,
03:21associated themselves with him before then.
03:24But there are also individuals in these files who weren't prosecuted but probably did commit some criminal acts.
03:31Let me just ask you about this effort to get these files released.
03:35As of right now, there are 10 Republicans, including yourself, who've signed Congressman Massey's,
03:40what's called a discharge petition.
03:41It forces legislation onto the floor of the House for a vote.
03:45It requires 218 signatures.
03:47Presumably a lot of Democrats are going to support it, too.
03:50A lot of Republican leaders seem to want this issue to go away.
03:53Do you think you're going to get 218 signatures on the discharge petition to force it for a vote?
03:59And how many Republicans do you think will join you?
04:03I have no earthly idea, Jake.
04:05You know this town buries secrets.
04:07You wrote a book about it.
04:08And it's doing very well because America agrees with you.
04:11This town buries secrets.
04:12I mean, do you honestly believe Lee Harvey Oswald shot John F. Kennedy from the front and the back
04:18and this miraculous lead bullet that had hardly a scrape on it was found on a gurney in a hospital
04:24shortly after the president passed away?
04:27You know, this town does not give up its secrets easy, and it's just, it's fighting and kicking.
04:33And the reason I'm worried about these files now is the fact that the Biden administration,
04:38who, in my opinion, has a history of corruption, has tampered with these files,
04:43and we're never going to get to the bottom of it.
04:45I think stuff could have been placed in those files.
04:47Do I have proof?
04:49Well, no, I don't.
04:50But I have a gut feeling, and I have a historical reference,
04:53which is every dadgum time something like this happens in this town,
04:57it gets covered up, and it needs to stop.
05:00And I salute President Trump for pushing to move forward on those records that they have.
05:06But I do want them to be, I would like them to be filtered a little bit.
05:11I don't want the 1,000 innocents and some of those people that flew, as you mentioned earlier.
05:16Right.
05:16But you do want more than just the grand jury testimony that he has called for.
05:22You would like more in a responsible way, but as many files as possible that can be released.
05:27Yes, sir.
05:27All right.
05:29Congressman Tim.
05:29Yes, sir.
05:29And the president's, yes, sir.
05:31I agree.
05:32Thank you, Joe.
05:33No, no, go ahead.
05:33You're going to make a point.
05:34I'm sorry.
05:35Now, I was going to say the president takes a lot of heat for what he said earlier.
05:39But, you know, Trump has an incredible strategy.
05:42They said, oh, the big, beautiful bill won't pass by July 4th.
05:46What happened?
05:47Trump worked it.
05:48It came out by July 4th.
05:50Senator Haggerty's bill on cryptocurrency, they said they wanted it to the president's desk by Friday.
05:57There was no way it was going to happen.
05:59I'm sitting in a meeting with the speaker and Whip Emmert and about 10 or 12 fellow conservatives that had problems.
06:05Trump calls, answers every one of our dadgum questions.
06:08And guess what?
06:09He signed that bill on Friday.
06:11And that, you know, he has an incredible gift at strategy and winning, and that's what he does.

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