Schumer Demands Private Briefing With Administration After Trump Reportedly Named In Epstein Files

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for a closed-door meeting with the Trump administration after the President's name reportedly appeared in the Epstein files.

Transcript

00:00Recognize the Democrat leader.

00:01Mr. President, today marks the first day of the House embarking on their Epstein recess.

00:10And already, the story Republicans hoped would quietly fade is growing louder by the hour.

00:17Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi

00:22and the Department of Justice informed President Trump back in May

00:26that his name appears multiple times in the Epstein files.

00:32Let me remind my colleagues, only last week,

00:36Donald Trump told a reporter that Attorney General Bondi never told him his name was in those files.

00:42Now we know that this was a lie, plain and simple, a red-faced lie.

00:49And this revelation raises not just serious questions about President Trump,

00:54but about Attorney General Bondi herself.

00:58Bondi has proven to do all of Trump's bidding.

01:03No matter what way you slice it, General Bondi lied to the American people.

01:10She told us we'd see the report.

01:12She told us it's on her desk.

01:14Then we're told there's no report.

01:16So you can understand the deep skepticism Americans have when they hear that today,

01:22Bondi's personal prosecutors, yes, the very ones under her direction,

01:28are preparing to interview Ghislaine Maxwell,

01:31Jeffrey Epstein's longtime accomplice behind closed doors in Florida.

01:36Let me repeat, under no circumstances should anyone from Donald Trump's Department of Justice

01:45be allowed to privately interview Ghislaine Maxwell.

01:49The conflict of interest just stares you in the face, and it's unacceptable.

01:54If you've been following this saga, and given how the White House and Speaker Johnson have so mishandled it,

02:03and who hasn't been following it, you know exactly why this moment is so dangerous.

02:08There is every reason to fear that Donald Trump could offer Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon

02:14in exchange for silence, or even worse, phony exoneration.

02:20Let me be clear. Trump is sending his personal lawyer, Todd Blanche,

02:26to try and execute a corrupt cover-up,

02:30potentially offering leniency to a woman who also abused the victims.

02:35Enough. Enough. Enough with the hiding.

02:40Enough with the excuses, and enough with the cover-up.

02:43The American people deserve transparency.

02:47They deserve answers.

02:48And there are massive questions here.

02:51Not just for the President, but for the Vice President,

02:54the Attorney General,

02:56the FBI Director,

02:58and Republican leaders in Congress.

03:01What's in the files?

03:04When did they learn about it?

03:07And how long

03:09have they been misleading the American people?

03:13So today,

03:14on the heels of Speaker Johnson,

03:17fleeing town to avoid accountability,

03:20and following this damning report from the Wall Street Journal,

03:24I am calling on the administration

03:26to provide a closed-door briefing

03:28to all senators on the Epstein files.

03:32The Senate deserves to hear directly from senior administration officials about Donald Trump's name appearing in these files,

03:40and the complete lack of transparency shown to date.

03:44Let me say it again.

03:46Donald Trump can't play ignorant anymore.

03:49He was caught red-handed in a lie.

03:53As were his lackeys.

03:56He reportedly knew for months that his name was in the Epstein files.

04:00He lied about it to the press.

04:03And now, the truth is coming out.

04:05Over the past few weeks,

04:08Trump has tried to change the subject.

04:10Throwing out wild accusations,

04:12attacking his critics,

04:14and calling the files a hoax run by Democrats.

04:18He's blamed foolish and stupid Republicans

04:21for taking it seriously.

04:23He even scolded the American people for caring too much.

04:28Well, we now all know why he was so desperate to make it all disappear.

04:34Because whenever Donald Trump points a finger,

04:37it's because he knows he's guilty of what he's accusing everyone else of.

04:41That's his M.O.

04:42When he does something,

04:45when he knows he's done something wrong,

04:47instead of admitting it,

04:48instead of trying to make amends,

04:50he points the finger at someone else

04:52and accuses him of the very thing he has done.

04:55That's how he's lived his whole life.

04:58That's how he's conducted this presidency.

05:01As I said, it's his M.O.

05:03Let us not forget,

05:05Donald Trump campaigned

05:07just several months back

05:11on releasing the Epstein files.

05:15Donald Trump was the only president or politician

05:18to ever campaign on releasing the Epstein files.

05:22And now, very simply,

05:24Americans are demanding he honor it.

05:28A good number of people voted for Trump

05:31because he promised to be their voice

05:33against the so-called deep state.

05:35But now they have seen

05:36he is very much part of that deep state.

05:40He's right in the middle of it.

05:42People believed he would drain the swamp.

05:45Now he's right in the middle of the swamp.

05:47And that's why Americans

05:48across the political spectrum,

05:52right, center, left,

05:53Democrats, Republicans, independents,

05:56Americans across the political spectrum

05:58are angry with Donald Trump

06:00because they now are seeing

06:02his promise to drain the swamp

06:04was total fiction.

06:06and he's in the middle of it.

06:08He's adding to it.

06:11Trump promised transparency.

06:14He told his supporters

06:15he'd expose the truth.

06:17He's done the opposite.

06:18He's smothered it more than ever before.

06:21And meanwhile,

06:23House Republicans

06:23had the chance to show courage

06:25to do the right thing and act.

06:27But instead,

06:29Speaker Johnson ran for the exits,

06:31sending everyone home early

06:33and triggering what we now call

06:35the Epstein recess.

06:38But I'd say to Speaker Johnson,

06:40I'd say to Donald Trump

06:42and his minions,

06:44I'd say to all of my Republican colleagues

06:46in the Senate,

06:47this issue isn't going away.

06:50It's only getting bigger

06:52and more dangerous

06:54the longer Republicans ignore it.

06:58Instead of focusing on appropriations

07:00or national priorities

07:01like transparency for Americans

07:03or funding the government,

07:05Speaker Johnson and House Republicans

07:06will be left cleaning up this mess,

07:09a mess of their own making.

07:12Republicans cannot escape the issue,

07:15not next week,

07:17not next month,

07:18not until the American people

07:20get answers

07:21and the transparency

07:24they were promised.

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