'It's Not A Stunt': Chuck Schumer Discusses Invoking Rule To Force DOJ To Release Epstein Files

At a Senate Democratic press briefing on Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about Epstein Files.

Transcript

00:00Okay, great. Okay. Okay, good – whoa. Good morning, every – uh, nope. Good afternoon,

00:13everybody. It's ten minutes into the afternoon. And I want to thank our great ranking member

00:19of HISGAC, Senator Peters, and a great member of HISGAC and head of PSI, Senator Blumenthal,

00:24for joining me. And this morning, I was really proud to join every single one of my Democratic

00:30colleagues on the Homeland Committee in invoking a century-old and little-known law known as the

00:38Rule of Five to compel the Department of Justice to release the full and complete Epstein files.

00:46Under federal law, when any five senators on the Homeland Security Committee call on the

00:52Executive Branch, the Executive Branch must comply. Our request covers all documents,

00:59files, evidence, and other materials in possession of the DOJ, the FBI, related to the case of the

01:06United States v. Jeffrey Epstein. While protecting the victim's identities can and must be of top

01:13importance, the public has a right to know who enabled, knew of, or participated in one of the

01:20most heinous sex trafficking operations in history. Let me remind everyone of what's happened in

01:27recent months. Donald Trump campaigned on releasing the Epstein files. He broke that promise.

01:36In February, FBI Director Kash Patel promised during sworn testimony in his confirmation hearing he would,

01:43quote, make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened. Well, that has yet to happen.

01:51A.G. Bondi said in February that his supposed, quote, client list, she said, was sitting on her desk

02:00right now to review. And she said that's been a directive by President Trump. Five months later,

02:07we have zero answers, only more questions. What have we gotten since? Stonewall, evasion, lies.

02:18Trump was asked earlier this month if he had ever been informed whether or not he was mentioned in

02:23the Epstein files, and now we know he lied. He said no, but in fact he was told by the Attorney General

02:29in May that he was mentioned. And when the House had an opportunity to take votes on the Epstein files,

02:36Speaker Johnson skedaddled out of town, launching the Epstein recess.

02:43This is not complicated. After promising full transparency for years, every single time,

02:49Trump, his administration, Republican leaders have had a chance to be transparent about the

02:54Epstein files they've chosen to hide. The evasions, the delays, the excuses.

03:01They are not just odd. They're alarming. It begs the question, if there's nothing to hide,

03:06why all the evasiveness? Trump should stop hiding from the truth. He should stop hiding from the

03:12American people. So today, Senate Democrats took action. We're invoking federal law and using our

03:19authority as a check on the executive to compel transparency. That's why today's letters matter.

03:26Today's letter matters. It's not a stunt. It's not symbolic. It's a formal exercise of congressional

03:33power under federal law. And we expect an answer from DOJ by August the 15th. That's what accountability

03:41looks like. This is what oversight looks like. And this is what keeping your promises to the American

03:47people look like. I urge my Republican colleagues in the Senate, if you believe in transparency,

03:56if you believe Congress has a role to play in checking the executive, join us. Join us in calling

04:02for more transparency on the Epstein files. Because once there's transparency, the truth emerges. Because

04:10once we get the truth, we can have accountability. We can move forward, not just on this, but on many issues

04:16affecting the American people, protecting health care, growing the middle class, defending democracy.

04:22But none of that is possible if the public loses faith that justice only applies to some, not all.

04:30Senator Peters has taken a great lead on this issue as chair, as ranking member of the Homeland Security

04:35Committee, and I'm proud to call on him to speak. Thank you, Charlie. Well, thank you.