Why the Epstein Files Transparency Act Matters to Its Sponsor

A lot of people are saying that that was the, the turning point for the president, and that the fact that you have completely, you know, you've really been the leader of that, um, that movement to try to hold people accountable to get the files out there and everything else,

even if it makes the president look bad.

Um, how ... Uh, express to me how important this issue is to you, given that this, for lack of a better term, could be the hill you die on, if you know what I mean.

You know, it could be the, the one issue that causes you to lose.

Right. Um, obviously it's that important to you.

You wanna ex- talk about that for a minute?

Yeah. The ... None of my motivations for the Epstein Files Transparency Act has been political, ever.

Uh, there ... In fact, there were Republicans who wanted to make it about Bill and Hillary Clinton, and there were Democrats who wanted to make it about Donald Trump.

Ro Khanna and I excluded them from our press conferences.

We didn't want it to become a political football, and the ...

'Cause we knew the only way we could get it passed is to keep it from becoming a political football.

Now, a lot of people, as soon as the files came out, the first keyword they put in there was either Bill Clinton or Donald Trump.

That ... Those aren't the search terms I used, because I care about getting justice for the survivors.

We did two press conferences with them in Washington, DC, and that's when I decided to redouble my efforts.

I mean, at four- at the age of 14, these girls that were being sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein were told if they could go find another girl to take their place, then they wouldn't have to be sexually abused.

And some of them took that deal. And it's one thing to be evil to a child, it's another thing to get a child to do evil.

And there are degrees of evil involved here that we've never seen at this scale.

It's ... I think it's bigger than Watergate, it's bigger than Iran-Contra, 'cause it spans four presidencies.

It's not about Joe Biden or Donald Trump.

This happened under presidents before them.

The light sentence that was given to Jeffrey Epstein in 2008 that allowed him to basically victimize hundreds of more women, uh, we wanna know why was he given that light sentence.

And so this, this started out for me as, um, you know, something that I thought should be done, but it turned into something more once I met the survivors and heard their stories.

And, um, it's just ... It's something, by the way, we passed a law.

I didn't get a congressional subpoena done.

I didn't form a committee that's gonna dissolve at the end of this Congress, like a subpoena would.

This is a US law that passed both chambers and signed by the President.

The reason that's important is because it will outlast this Congress.

Even if I don't get reelected, I can sit at home and watch what happens, because the next attorney general is still obligated to release the files that this attorney general still refuses to release.

In fact, the next adjourney- attorney general can prosecute this attorney general under the Epstein Files Transparency Act and associated other laws against conspiracy and cover-ups.

So, um, it's been important. It's fundamental.

I don't think people realize in this country how fundamental it is.

You see Prince Andrew's lost his title. He's been arrested.

The British ambassador to the United States, literally the most important link between two countries, fired and arrested.

Former Prime Minister of Norway indicted.

Uh, the minister of culture from France.

And what were they arrested for or indicted for?

Uh, not for s- sexually abusing, uh, girls or women or for sex trafficking, but for mishandling state affairs.

And I think when you get down to the bottom of this, this is what's deeper and darker than even the sexual predation that you saw Jeffrey Epstein engaged in, is our governments were compromised around the world by wealthy, connected, uh, billionaires and by Jeffrey Epstein himself.