[0:00]The American people sent Donald Trump
[0:02]a clear and simple demand, release the Epstein files.
[0:08]Donald Trump said he wants to turn
[0:10]the page on the Epstein files.
[0:13]Democrats are not going to let Donald Trump turn the page.
[0:19]It was not a suggestion, not a request.
[0:22]The law requires the DOJ to release all the files,
[0:26]not just some of the files,
[0:28]not just the ones they pick and choose
[0:29]and want to do.
[0:31]Since then, we've seen the Justice Department
[0:34]break the law and continue to hide the truth
[0:36]from the American people.
[0:39]Let me be blunt.
[0:40]There is a massive cover-up going on in the Justice
[0:43]Department to protect Donald Trump and people associated
[0:47]with Jeffrey Epstein.
[0:49]As we expected, Trump, Bundy, and their missions
[0:52]and their minions have played games
[0:54]with the release of these files.
[0:56]They released some documents that they want to release,
[0:59]and continue to hide others.
[1:02]The American people see right through it,
[1:04]and they're all asking the obvious question,
[1:06]what is Bundy trying to hide?
[1:09]President Trump, what are you trying to hide?
[1:13]That's the question the American people are asking.
[1:16]Senate Democrats Epstein Working Group,
[1:18]including my colleagues here with me,
[1:20]have been preparing for this very scenario.
[1:23]We saw what they were doing.
[1:25]And so we're working with victims' attorneys.
[1:27]We're working with legal experts.
[1:29]We're working with people very familiar with this case
[1:32]to ensure full compliance of the law.
[1:35]We know the administration's withholding
[1:37]some documents unlawfully.
[1:39]Yesterday, news outlets reported that several memos
[1:42]detailing a woman's accusation against the president
[1:45]from when she was a minor have
[1:47]been withheld from the public.
[1:51]We know they're abusing redactions to hide the truth.
[1:55]Hundreds of pages are completely blacked out.
[1:58]Co-conspirate identities remain hidden
[2:00]while survivors have been exposed.
[2:03]We're here today to put a shot across the bow
[2:05]with the Department of Justice and the Trump administration
[2:08]that we are going to reveal this massive cover-up.
[2:12]We will not rest.
[2:14]It's an all-out oversight effort.
[2:16]We're going to pull on every thread.
[2:18]We're going to chase every lead.
[2:19]We'll talk with whistleblowers.
[2:20]We will get to the truth.
[2:24]Our Working Group Senate Democrats
[2:27]will go review the unredacted files in the coming days.
[2:33]Let me repeat that.
[2:34]Our Working Group Senate Democrats
[2:37]will go review the unredacted files in the coming days.
[2:41]Pam Bondi should listen carefully.
[2:44]The truth will come out.
[2:45]The whole ugly truth about what she's doing
[2:48]to protect people in the files will come out.
[2:51]The whole world is going to know exactly what she knew,
[2:54]when she knew it, and what she did to cover it up.
[3:00]Democrats are going to hold Pam Bondi and everyone involved
[3:03]at the DOJ accountable for this cover-up.
[3:08]Today, we are demanding that Department of Justice
[3:10]and the FBI preserve records
[3:13]on what transpired behind the scenes.
[3:15]We want to know who was involved
[3:16]in the decision to hide the truth,
[3:19]and a warning to the Trump cronies working on this.
[3:21]We will know if you are destroying documents
[3:24]and evidence, you will not outrun the law.
[3:27]You will not outrun the truth.
[3:30]This isn't political.
[3:32]The survivors deserve the truth,
[3:34]and the American people are demanding it.
[3:36]Democrats and Republicans agree
[3:38]the American people deserve the truth.
[3:40]So Donald Trump, stop hiding.
[3:43]Stop delaying.
[3:45]Come clean with the American people,
[3:48]and if you don't,
[3:49]Democrats will make sure that the truth comes out.
[3:54]Our next speaker is Senator Durbin.
[4:03]Thank you, Senator Schumer.
[4:05]With the Epstein files,
[4:07]the Trump administration had an opportunity
[4:09]to secure a win for survivors,
[4:12]for accountability, and for transparency.
[4:15]But after mishandling the files for a year,
[4:18]it took an act of Congress to force Pam Bondi
[4:21]and Cash Patel to even consider providing justice.
[4:27]Even after the passage
[4:28]of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,
[4:31]the Trump administration decided to violate federal law
[4:34]to protect the rich and powerful.
[4:37]The law required DOJ to produce the files by December 19th,
[4:42]yet the vast majority of those files
[4:44]were not produced until January 30th, 42 days later.
[4:49]Department of Justice has violated
[4:51]the legislation's protection for victims
[4:54]by publishing records
[4:55]without redacting personally identifiable information
[4:59]of victims, including nude photos
[5:02]where their names and faces could be identified.
[5:05]In sharp contrast, other produced records
[5:08]heavily redacted information,
[5:10]identifying powerful business and political figures
[5:13]who are alleged conspirators or material witnesses
[5:16]to Epstein's crimes.
[5:19]Violations of the Epstein Files Transparency Act
[5:22]continue as the Department of Justice
[5:24]has yet to produce all Epstein-related records
[5:28]required by law
[5:29]and has removed thousands of records from the website
[5:32]beyond those that inappropriately identify victims.
[5:37]Keep in mind, a whistleblower told my office
[5:40]that FBI agents reviewing the Epstein Files
[5:43]were instructed to flag any records
[5:46]that mentioned President Donald Trump.
[5:49]This disclosure is even more damning
[5:51]in light of yesterday's bombshell.
[5:53]The New York Times report
[5:54]that the Justice Department failed to disclose documents
[5:58]related to a woman who alleged
[5:59]that Trump sexually assaulted her when she was a minor.
[6:03]Simply put, Pam Bondi and Cash Patel
[6:06]have mismanaged these records
[6:07]during their tenure in office.
[6:09]That is why, as ranking member
[6:11]of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
[6:12]I'm joining our leader, Charles Schumer,
[6:15]in a letter to the Justice Department and FBI
[6:18]requesting the preservation of records
[6:20]related to the management of the Epstein Files
[6:23]over the course of the Trump administration.
[6:26]Preserving federal records
[6:27]and safeguarding information critical
[6:29]to congressional oversight
[6:30]is a legal obligation
[6:32]that all department employees are required to meet.
[6:35]As I told General Bondi
[6:37]during last year's Judiciary Committee oversight hearing,
[6:41]eventually you're going to have to answer
[6:43]for your conduct in this.
[6:45]You won't do it today, but eventually you will.
[6:49]The survivors deserve better.
[6:51]It's clear that Donald Trump
[6:52]and his Republican enablers
[6:54]are executing a cover-up and conceal strategy.
[6:57]Heads are rolling at the highest levels
[6:59]of the United Kingdom.
[7:01]Will heads roll in the United States?
[7:03]When will the Trump administration come clean
[7:06]with the survivors and the American people?
[7:08]The sooner, the better.
[7:10]Next, I believe Senator Blum can't make it.
[7:13]He's not here yet.
[7:14]He's in another hearing.
[7:15]Senator Murkowski.
[7:20]The Epstein Files Transparency Act
[7:22]that I introduced with Ben-Rey Lujan in the Senate
[7:25]was crystal clear.
[7:27]No record shall be withheld, delayed,
[7:29]or redacted on the basis of any of the following.
[7:31]Embarrassment, reputational harm, political sensitivity,
[7:35]including any government official,
[7:36]public figure, or foreign dignitary.
[7:40]Well, here we are.
[7:41]Those 99 days have passed,
[7:44]and what we have seen is the files
[7:45]have not been released according to the law.
[7:48]We have seen that victims' names and photos
[7:53]that were supposed to be redacted weren't redacted,
[7:55]and all kinds of redactions appear to have occurred
[7:58]for folks who are potential perpetrators.
[8:03]And we're seeing the Epstein Files
[8:06]reverberate across the world.
[8:09]The Prime Minister of Norway,
[8:13]the former ambassador from Britain to the United States,
[8:17]King Charles' brother.
[8:20]But what about here in the United States of America?
[8:21]Why is there no accountability here
[8:23]in the United States of America
[8:25]for these atrocious crimes,
[8:26]the place where they occurred?
[8:31]We know that there were about six million pages
[8:33]of which only somewhat over
[8:35]than three million have been released.
[8:37]We want those other three million released.
[8:39]And among them are these 50 pages
[8:41]that entail, as the New York Times said,
[8:46]claims made in 2019 by a woman who came forward
[8:48]after Mr. Epstein's arrest
[8:50]to say she'd been sexually assaulted
[8:52]by both Mr. Trump and Epstein
[8:55]when she was 13 to 15 years old.
[8:58]And it goes on to say that there were four interviews
[9:02]with this woman,
[9:03]and only one of those interviews was released.
[9:06]Where are the other three?
[9:07]Now, we know the other three exist
[9:08]because they are in the index.
[9:13]And yet, the pages are missing.
[9:16]How can anyone justify that these interviews
[9:20]have not been released?
[9:23]So, that is a massive cover-up by this administration.
[9:28]It's a massive and unacceptable cover-up.
[9:32]We also know from the telegraph
[9:35]that there are six secret storage units
[9:38]rented across the country by Epstein
[9:40]that may have contained information
[9:41]that the Department of Justice
[9:42]hasn't apparently attempted to retrieve.
[9:48]By unanimous consent, the Senate said,
[9:51]yes, we passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
[9:57]Senator Schumer came forward
[9:59]and tried to strengthen that act
[10:00]with some real penalties,
[10:02]and the Republican whip objected.
[10:05]Well, if Republicans were with us
[10:08]on seeking full disclosure,
[10:10]why object to putting more teeth into this bill?
[10:14]We all together, Democrats and Republicans,
[10:17]should be saying yes on transparency for the public,
[10:21]yes on accountability for the perpetrators,
[10:26]and yes for the closest thing
[10:28]we can get to justice for the victims.
[10:37]Thank you.
[10:38]As we stated, princes, CEOs,
[10:40]the most powerful men in the world
[10:41]are being held accountable everywhere
[10:43]except the United States,
[10:45]where we are supposed to be a country
[10:47]of equal justice under the law.
[10:50]We are actually proving quite the opposite.
[10:53]What we're proving here right now,
[10:55]what the Republicans are proving right now
[10:56]with the help of Donald Trump
[10:58]and Attorney General Pam Bundy,
[11:00]is that if you are part of the Epstein class,
[11:02]if you are rich enough, you are powerful enough,
[11:04]you can do some really horrific things,
[11:07]raping children, raping women,
[11:10]engaging in sex trafficking,
[11:12]and this administration, the Republicans,
[11:15]will engage in an active cover-up for you.
[11:18]And even more so, now we're getting more reports
[11:22]of some real serious allegations of this president
[11:25]from a minor, a woman who was a minor,
[11:28]that is accusing the president
[11:30]of some very serious, serious crimes.
[11:32]The American public deserves to know what happened,
[11:35]who was involved, not just President Trump,
[11:37]but everyone else involved, all these powerful men
[11:39]that are still walking around the United States right now.
[11:42]We're only talking about a couple years removed,
[11:44]a decade removed from a lot of these allegations.
[11:47]These men are still in power.
[11:50]These men are still potentially victimizing women,
[11:53]victimizing children.
[11:56]And the fact that this administration
[11:57]is actively covering up past crimes
[11:59]potentially means they're covering up current crimes.
[12:02]It's time for us to have full transparency.
[12:05]It's time for us to have accountability.
[12:07]It's time for us to throw some people in jail
[12:10]that did some really horrible stuff
[12:12]against kids in this country.
[12:14]And the fact that Donald Trump and the Republicans,
[12:16]after talking a big game for so many years
[12:19]about going after pedophiles,
[12:20]are actively covering up for pedophiles right now
[12:23]should tell you exactly what is wrong
[12:25]with this administration.
[12:27]I, unfortunately, am going to have to go read
[12:31]those redacted files next week.
[12:33]It's one of those things that you don't want to do.
[12:36]The disgusting nature of what I'm going to find on there
[12:38]is going to probably make me very ill.
[12:43]But because we have an administration
[12:45]that's actively covering up for pedophiles,
[12:48]we have to take this step,
[12:50]and we have to take this step to keep them accountable
[12:52]and to expose all these pedophiles
[12:54]that are still in power right now all over this country.
[12:58]Thank you.
[12:59]Just one more point,
[13:01]which this article from the New York Times shows.
[13:05]More and more keeps coming out,
[13:09]and the more that comes out,
[13:10]the more we see how large their cover-up has been.
[13:14]Questions on this subject?
[13:16]But, yes, in the back.
[13:21]Yeah, we're all going together.
[13:23]Yeah, I mentioned that in my remarks.
[13:24]Yes. Yeah.
[13:26]Yes. I don't know if we're going to get ...
[13:27]We're all going, and we have set up appointments to go.
[13:31]Yes.
[13:41]Well, the bottom line is the Republicans
[13:43]all voted for it, every single one,
[13:45]and we're going to keep at it.
[13:46]We're going to use every strategy we can,
[13:48]going to the Justice Department,
[13:50]seeking lawsuits,
[13:52]as well as whatever legislative strategies will work.
[13:55]Yes. Look, all the truth should come out. Period.
[14:06]Yes. As my colleagues well outlined, I agree.
[14:30]Yeah. All we want is the truth. The truth.
[14:34]Yes. There will be efforts to reach out to everyone
[14:42]who's willing to come forward and speak.
[14:44]And do you want to talk about that?
[14:46]Well, I think I mentioned it in my remarks.
[14:49]Yeah. Hopefully, the letter
[14:50]on preserving evidence and witnesses.
[14:52]Yeah, so we can get it. Yes.
[14:55]What can the public expect from this?
[15:00]Will you do anything to inform them?
[15:01]Well, we're not going to prejudge.
[15:03]Let's see what's in the documents.
[15:04]We want to protect people's identities,
[15:06]but we also want the truth to come out,
[15:08]and we will walk that line with great vigor.
[15:13]Yes.
[15:15]Yeah, we're going to demand
[15:28]justification for any redactions,
[15:30]and if the redactions are cover-ups
[15:32]as opposed to protecting identities,
[15:34]we're going to get to the bottom of it.
[15:36]We're going to get to the bottom of it.
[15:38]Okay. Thank you, everybody.
[16:33]Thank you.