Ro Khanna on MS NOW's Morning Joe discussing the war in Iran and what's next for the Epstein files
Ro Khanna on MS NOW's Morning Joe discussing the war in Iran and what's next for the Epstein files
Congressman for CA-17 in the Silicon Valley. Working to bring tech jobs in my district and across America. No contributions from PACs or lobbyists.
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0:00
Let's
bring in Democratic member of that oversight committee, Congressman
Roana of California. He was a co-sponsor of the Epstein Files
Transparency Act. He0:08
8 seconds
also sits on the Armed Services Committee. Congressman, good morning.0:12
12 seconds
Good
to have you here. So, we should point out this was introduced by a
Republican. This is a bipartisan concern that something is being hidden
from the0:20
20 seconds
public
within these Epstein files by the Department of Justice. The last time
we saw Pam Bondi talking in public about the Epstein files, she answered0:28
28 seconds
questions
with opposition research about the members questioning her, was yelling
about the DAO crossing 50,000, about this being a witch hunt. The
Epstein0:36
36 seconds
files
are not a witch hunt to the vast majority of Americans who want to find
out who did what and when. So, are you confident that through this
subpoena,0:46
46 seconds
you will sit across from and finally get some answers from the attorney general? I'm confident we'll sit across from her.0:54
54 seconds
I'm
not confident that we'll get answers. Her modus operande has been to
come there and insult members of Congress. But this Epstein cover up is1:03
1 minute, 3 seconds
not about politics. I mean, we we won that vote 24 to9. A number of Republicans like Nancy Mace, like Tim1:11
1 minute, 11 seconds
Burchite voted uh with the Democrats to subpoena Pam Bondi. This is about an Epstein coverup. It's about a broken1:19
1 minute, 19 seconds
Donald
Trump promise. He ran saying he was going to release these files. And
people are upset. They're upset that rich and powerful people raped or
abused1:27
1 minute, 27 seconds
these
young girls and that half of the files are hidden and that the
survivors statements about who these men are are hidden. So I believe
that this coalition1:35
1 minute, 35 seconds
will
continue to grow more powerful and it continues to show a crack in the
MAGA base. There's been so much talk and analysis and coverage of the
Epstein1:44
1 minute, 44 seconds
files. It kind of maybe gets lost to the people going about their daily lives.1:48
1 minute, 48 seconds
Can
you speak, Congressman, to what is still missing? A lot has been put
out there, but boy, a lot of that's been redacted and a lot is still not
out1:56
1 minute, 56 seconds
there. So, what do you want to see? What do you want to get your hands on?2:02
2 minutes, 2 seconds
About half the files have been put out and that has led to former princes being prosecuted, former prime ministers being2:10
2 minutes, 10 seconds
prosecuted,
major resignations in the United States. People see that a lot of
people did a lot of bad things, but half the files still have not been
released.2:20
2 minutes, 20 seconds
What are those files? Some of them are survivors statements to the FBI where they named the rich and powerful men who2:28
2 minutes, 28 seconds
may
have abused them. Those were redacted back in March. They still have
not put them out. Some of those files they simply have hid. In one case,
the2:37
2 minutes, 37 seconds
most serious case, there was an allegation against President Trump by a woman who claimed that she was raped as2:44
2 minutes, 44 seconds
a minor. I have no idea whether that allegation is true or not. But here is what I do know. They released one of the2:51
2 minutes, 51 seconds
interviews,
FBI interviews with this woman. They have not released still three
other witness interviews of this woman. And they've provided no2:59
2 minutes, 59 seconds
explanation for why they haven't done that in blatant violation of the law.3:03
3 minutes, 3 seconds
Congressman,
those seem to be the key files that the public and members of the
Democratic Party and clearly me some of your Republican members as well
want to3:11
3 minutes, 11 seconds
see.
The ones that are missing pertaining to Donald Trump. First of all, are
you confident that those uh FBI notes um are actually and 302s are3:20
3 minutes, 20 seconds
actually
still there? They haven't kind of disappeared totally. Do we know that
they're still in the file somewhere? Uh and do you think this is the
best chance3:28
3 minutes, 28 seconds
you're
going to get for the public to be able to see those specific files? Are
you confident that the public will see those specific files about
whether Donald Trump sexually abused a minor?3:40
3 minutes, 40 seconds
I'm
not confident that those documents are still there in the condition
that they were in the original. I mean, they could be there and they
could be blacked3:47
3 minutes, 47 seconds
out. Uh so it's unclear whether they have tampered with these documents, but if they have, that is an enormous crime3:55
3 minutes, 55 seconds
and
a cover up. And it's not just allegations against President Trump. I
mean, this has implicated what I call the Epstein class, some of the
most rich4:03
4 minutes, 3 seconds
and powerful people in this country who had no problem going to Epstein's Island or soliciting him for money well after4:11
4 minutes, 11 seconds
he was a convicted pedophile, going to his ranch and being oblivious of the consequences. And you talk about a4:18
4 minutes, 18 seconds
rigged
system. You talk about ordinary Americans being upset that the
government isn't working for them. The Epstein matter is exhibit one.
Some of4:26
4 minutes, 26 seconds
these survivors, over a thousand of them, have not had justice for decades,4:31
4 minutes, 31 seconds
and they feel abandoned by the two tiers of justice in this country.4:37
4 minutes, 37 seconds
Congressman, this is obviously a big issue. Uh it's obviously an issue that's uh being shorttrimmed by the Justice4:44
4 minutes, 44 seconds
Department.
You're not getting what you need. The public's not getting what it what
you need. But as you know, uh, this country has a very short attention
span4:53
4 minutes, 53 seconds
in these past few years and it continues and now we're at war. I'm wondering when you go home anecdotally, what do people5:02
5 minutes, 2 seconds
talk to you about when you encounter them? The economy, the war, or these papers?5:09
5 minutes, 9 seconds
All three. I mean, most importantly, the economy. In my district, they're talking about rents being too high and not being5:16
5 minutes, 16 seconds
able to afford uh groceries. But they're also talking, particularly Trump voters,5:22
5 minutes, 22 seconds
about
a broken promise. Many of them say, "Look, we voted for Donald Trump
because he was finally going to put this country first. Our jobs had
been5:30
5 minutes, 30 seconds
outsourced. We kept getting into these wars. No one cared about us." And Donald Trump said, "I'm going to take him on.5:35
5 minutes, 35 seconds
I'm
going to take these corrupt elite who are controlling the government.
I'm going to go after the Epstein class." He said, "I'm not going to get
us into more5:42
5 minutes, 42 seconds
wars. I'm going to focus on funding manufacturing jobs here, housing here,5:47
5 minutes, 47 seconds
put America first." And they look at the Epstein cover up. And they look at this new Middle East regime change war, and5:54
5 minutes, 54 seconds
they
say, "What happened to Donald Trump? What happened to his fundamental
promise that he was going to put our interest first?" And by the way,
can any6:02
6 minutes, 2 seconds
politician
do that? Or do we just keep electing these politicians and they keep
breaking our promise? And that's what actually saddens me that the next
person6:11
6 minutes, 11 seconds
who
comes around is going to be viewed with such suspicion because Trump
has betrayed such a fundamental promise to the people who elected him.6:19
6 minutes, 19 seconds
Congressman,
let's talk about the war in Iran and the war powers resolution that you
will vote on today in the House. Uh failed yesterday in the Republican
le6:28
6 minutes, 28 seconds
Senate. They blocked the war powers resolution. What is your expectation today? Do you expect that Republicans,6:34
6 minutes, 34 seconds
as usual, will fall in line behind President Trump and not use their constitutional uh mandate, their their6:42
6 minutes, 42 seconds
power to justify and approve of a war?6:47
6 minutes, 47 seconds
Well, I'm a straight shooter. It's going to be an uphill vote at probably 30 40%6:51
6 minutes, 51 seconds
chance of success. But one of the things I give our leadership credit for is we're unifying the Democratic Party.6:58
6 minutes, 58 seconds
We're
saying we're going to be the party against these Middle East wars and
focusing on jobs and housing here at home. And I want to shout out uh
Thomas7:06
7 minutes, 6 seconds
Massie who partnered with me on the Epstein files, who's partnering with me today on the Iran war power vote, who's7:13
7 minutes, 13 seconds
defying his uh own president in his own party, and by the way, who's facing a primary challenge, and unlike Crenshaw,7:20
7 minutes, 20 seconds
he's
going to win. So he is showing uh that you can actually stand up to
this president when you are consistent with some of the things the MAGA
base wants7:29
7 minutes, 29 seconds
and the MAGA base does not want another war in the Middle East. The MA base didn't sign up for that and so I expect7:36
7 minutes, 36 seconds
a strong Democratic vote and I'm hopeful we have about five Republicans we're targeting but it's going to be uphill.7:42
7 minutes, 42 seconds
That war is already underway without a vote. We'll see how that goes today.7:46
7 minutes, 46 seconds
Democratic member of both the Armed Services and Oversight Committees covering a lot of ground this morning.7:50
7 minutes, 50 seconds
Congressman Roana of California. Thanks for your time.
Rep. Ro Khanna
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