OMG: Jamie Raskin drops BOMB on Pam Bondi

I'm joined now by Congressman Jamie. Raskin. Congressman, thanks for joining. me again. Hey Brian, good to see you, man. So, there was a moment during the. Pam Bondi hearing that really caught. everybody's attention. I think this was. actually the most viewed after the fact. clip during the entire hearing. I'm. going to throw that right here on the. screen. >> The American people need to know this. They are talking about Epstein today. This has been around since the Obama. administration. This administration. released over 3 million pages of. documents. Over 3 million and Donald.

Trump signed that law to release all of. those documents. He is the most. transparent president in the nation's. history. And none of them, none of them, asked Merrick Garland over the last 4. years one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump. the Dow, the Dow right now is over.

The Dow is over $50,000. I don't know. why you're laughing. You're a great. stock trader, as I hear Raskin. The Dow. is over 50,000. right now. So, Congressman, that was Pam. Bondi basically crashing out over the. fact that people dared ask her questions. about Epstein when the Dow is over. 50,000. And she actually referred back. to you because you were, it seems, rightfully laughing at the fact that Pam. Bondi's deflection attempt here was to. say that we couldn't that we can't.

answer any questions about Epstein when. the Dow is so high. Can I have your. reaction to what it was like when that. moment took place? Well, I warned her before we started in. my opening that we were not going to. tolerate her changing the subject, filibustering, insulting members, engaging in ad hominem attacks in order. to eat up our time. We only get 5. minutes a piece and we each had about 5. hours of questions for Pam Bondi about. all of the corruption and lawlessness.

engulfing the Department of Justice. So, as you know, as all of America now knows. and can see she didn't answer any of our. questions. She dodged pretty much every. substantive question there was, certainly from the Democrats and many. from the Republicans, including from. Thomas Massie. And she would literally just change the. subject. So, you would ask her about. what she's doing to make amends with the. Epstein victims whose privacy rights. were violated because Pam Bondi.

published names, phone numbers, addresses, and private information. in the published materials when she was. under strict orders to redact all of. that. And then she would talk about how. great the Dow is. And she's the attorney. general. She's not the governor of the. Fed. And of course, whatever, they don't have anything to do. with the economy, certainly when when. jobs are being lost, when the economy's. crashing, they pretend they have nothing. to do with it. But only when it's going. up they wanted to take credit for it.

So, in any event, um yeah, then I think. that. she may have gotten her insults mixed. up. She arrived with a a burn book, I. think they call it, with all of the. insults compiled for each of the. members. And I am not. a stock trader. I believe that I have just mutual funds. from the days when I was law professor. So, I think she must have confused those. with insults she had been preparing for. somebody else. But she also did remember. to call me, I think, a washed-up loser.

lawyer. I didn't hear that exactly. If. I'd heard it, I would have said, "No, actually, I'm a washed-up loser law professor.". But in any event, you know, she was just filled with. insults and complete distractions from. what we were there to talk about, the. massive invasion of people's civil. rights and civil liberties taking place. in Minneapolis and around the country, and her outrageous. betrayal of all of the Epstein victims, and her obstinate refusal to do anything.

to prosecute the multitude of crimes. that are so clearly present there. And. that's the part I want to dig into here. because she said while she was. testifying that that she that she would, you know, pleading basically with any. survivors or anybody with information to. come to the DOJ that they would welcome. these people with open arms. There were. an entire Roseworth of survivors seated. behind her. And when when they were. asked point-blank if the DOJ reached out.

to them or even responded to their. overtures to the DOJ, that they had all. been ignored. And so, how are the how do. you square those two things when you. when you say out of one side of your. mouth that you want that you that you're. seeking out this information that would. help get to the bottom of these crimes, but then when you have people who have. that information, you basically close. your door to them? Brian, it's perfectly clear to me now. that we are living through. one of the greatest, if not the. greatest, cover-ups of American history. And it goes all the way back to Alex. Acosta who was later made the Secretary.

of Labor for Donald Trump. But. when he was the US attorney in the. Southern District of Florida, there was. a 60-count. federal 60 federal count indictment. ready to go against Jeffrey Epstein and. Ghislaine Maxwell and other. co-conspirators for this massive. international. child sex trafficking ring. And then suddenly, it got thrown. overboard for one count of state.

solicitation to prostitution with the. sweetest of sweetheart plea bargains of. all time where Jeffrey Epstein took one. year, but it wasn't one year in jail or. prison. He was free for 12 hours during the day. and he would go and spend the night down. at the county facility. And was free to. continue frolicking with all of his. criminal games during the daytime. And then meantime, there was a. non-prosecution agreement made for all a.

lot of other people who were involved in. his orbit. That was the beginning of. this outrageous double standard of. justice that we've seen for Epstein and. what a lot of my colleagues are calling. the Epstein class of rich and powerful. men who seem to be able to get away with. everything. And there were Republicans. in there and there were Democrats in. there. The difference is the Democrats. are saying, "Let the chips fall where. they may.". All of those crimes should be identified. and prosecuted. And anybody who raped.

an underage girl should be going to. prison. Anybody who participated in. human trafficking should be going to. prison regardless of political party. You will never hear the Republicans, except for Thomas Massie and one or two. others, say that because for them, Donald Trump is by definition always. innocent or as he said today, 100%. exonerated. >> Right. Congressman, have you had the. opportunity to go look at I would say. the unredacted files, but from all of. the reporting and everything I've heard. from your colleagues, they're they're.

largely not unredacted. But have you had. the opportunity to go through and look? Yeah, I think because I'm local here, right near DC in Maryland, I think I was. the first person to get over there and I. spent 4 or 5 hours there. So, in your in your in your time that you've. spent looking over these files, did. anything strike you? Was there anything. that that you hadn't known before? Any. any information that you can share on. the existence of co-conspirators? Well, there are a couple of interesting things. that I will share with you, but I do. want to start with the big picture here,

Brian, which is I want you to think. about the various levels of redaction. and evasion that are taking place. First. of all, there are 6 million documents. and Pam Bondi said, "We're just going to. show you 3 million. 3 million of the. others are. duplicative." Well, if they're. duplicative, just release them. But in. any event, we know they're not. duplicative because a number of the. victims said they were looking for their. the memos, the the prosecutorial memos. of their original victim statements and.

they're not in there. So, those have. been withheld along with a number of. other government documents, including. the original trial memorandum that had. been written by the Department of. Justice. They've suppressed that. So, they're hiding a lot of stuff there. So, that's the first level. Actually, let me. start again. The first level is really. everything that's been destroyed. Anything that's been destroyed or just. disappears the first level. Then we've. got the stuff that still exists, but. they don't want us to see. And so,

that's part of the 3 million documents. they're not showing us. Then we get to. the 3 million documents that they've. shown us, but 200,000 pages of those. have been partially or completely. redacted, entire pages that are just. blacked out, deleted out, okay? And remember, there was one instruction, which is delete or redact only the names. of the survivors. They failed to do. that. They released names, addresses, phone numbers, and identifying.

information for more than 100 of the. survivors. But meantime, they redacted. the names and identifying information of. lots of criminals, potential. co-conspirators, enablers, accomplices, and so on. So, there are tons of redactions in here and. they've set this up like some kind of. video game. This is not a game. We. passed a law compelling them to release. all of the information. But from Donald. Trump on down, they are determined to.

keep us from seeing all of the material. Now, the second part of that question, was there anything striking that you. found you hadn't known before? So, I. punched in the name Trump or Donald or. Don, which came up with more than a. million. I don't know if every Donald or. Don that was flagged was necessarily. Donald or Don Trump. But there is a lot. of Donald Trump through these files, okay? The first file that appeared for. me was an email that Donald Trump was.

and remember this one was redacted so I. got the unredacted version, okay? This. email was from Donald was from Jeffrey. Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell and he's. forwarding an email from Jeffrey. Epstein's lawyers to Jeffrey Epstein. The lawyers said that there was going to. be a deposition of Donald Trump that got. switched over to a 20-minute interview. This is back in 2019. They gave a. synopsis. record of what was discussed there and.

the paragraph said something effectively. to this point which is. Trump saying that. Epstein was not a member of Mar-a-Lago. but he was a guest at Mar-a-Lago and no, he was never sent away. And so the. Epstein team seemed to be pleased by. this whether or not it was true. I don't. know if he was sent away and Trump. decided to lie about it then or he. wasn't sent away and he told the truth.

about it, who knows? But we do know that. whichever is the case, it is the. opposite of what Donald Trump is saying. now because he is claiming that he did. in fact send Epstein away and somehow. exiled him and expelled him. from Mar-a-Lago and his estate and that. is at odds with what was recorded at. least in this memo. So there's a lot of. rich stuff in there but I think that. we're not going to find the direct we're. certainly not going to find any direct. evidence of crimes by Donald Trump.

because I'm sure that's the first thing. that that team of 1,000 FBI agents were. looking for when they went to scrub. everything clear of Donald Trump's name. You know, we we have enough evidence now. of the existence of these. co-conspirators. For example, I spoke with Congressman Ro. Khanna and he had searched first and. foremost for that email that was sent. from the child sex trafficking unit. years and years back. about the existence of 10. co-conspirators. So there are.

co-conspirators that are that are. alluded to in the Epstein files. I also. spoke with Congressman Robert Garcia. yesterday and he spoke about the fact. that there were also recruiters in the. Epstein files that are now that are now. coming to the surface. So if there are the existence of these. co-conspirators and more information is. obviously going to come out, how does. Cash Patel and Todd Blanche get off. saying that there are there's nobody. else that Jeffrey Epstein just. trafficked more than a thousand girls to.

nobody when we know based on what we've. seen from these files that those people. do indeed exist? Right. They're they're basically saying. that there were two people who committed. crimes, Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey. Epstein and they ran a billion-dollar. global child sex trafficking ring with. no customers, no accomplices, no. co-conspirators and so on. I mean, it's. absurd. It's ridiculous but obviously. everybody on the government team. has signed up for the Trump orthodoxy to.

try to make the whole thing go away. And. what exactly is he afraid of? Well, there are different theories out there. but there's no hard proof yet but it. will come to light exactly what it is. that Donald Trump is trying to sabotage. with all of these moves. to complicate and undermine an. investigation. Congressman, you were a constitutional. law professor prior to to becoming a. member of Congress and so you'd be able. to speak to this. this little bit of history better than I. think anybody would but as it relates to.

the Watergate cover-up, how could how. could how could that situation be. analogous to what we're seeing right now. in the aftermath of the Trump. administration? Well, I mean, the Watergate looks like a. a Cub Scout prank compared to what we're. living through right now. I mean, we are. seeing the most thoroughgoing systematic. attack on the Constitution, the Bill of. Rights, the separation of powers, individual liberty and freedom that.

we've seen in the country essentially. since um. uh you know, the days of Civil War and. slavery where you know, part of the. country was literally at war with. freedom for another part of the country. and that's kind of where we are now. where if you're on Trump's team, then. you can get away with any manner of. corruption and self-enrichment but if. you're considered an opponent, they will. try to use the full force of the federal. government against you. But in terms of. the consequences for the people. involved,

like the you know, the the Attorney. General for example during the Nixon. era, how can how can that situation inform. where we are right now? Because I think. a lot of people are seeing all of this. stuff play out and seeing criminal. activity take place and that would be. bad enough unto itself that there's no. accountability for the people who. committed these crimes but there's. another layer of criminality in that. people at at the top of the DOJ you. know, are participating in a cover-up. And and by the way, defying the law.

while they're doing so. I mean, the. Epstein the Epstein files transparency. act mandated that all these files be. released over a month ago almost two. months ago at this point, December 18th. and here we are. And so you know, on so. many different levels we're seeing laws. being broken but how could this the. situation during Watergate be. instructive for what we're seeing right. now? Well, Richard Nixon's Attorney. General did go to jail for covering up. and entering as a complicit partner in. criminality. The difference today of. course is that Trump has completely.

corrupted and contaminated the the. entire Department of Justice and also. the judiciary so that um. he's got a get-out-of-jail-free card. with Trump versus United States, the. Supreme the Roberts court's decision on. presidential immunity that Richard Nixon. could only have dreamed of. I mean, that. would have been in his wildest dreams. that he would have something like that. So. there you know, there certainly is some. historical precedent for the Attorney.

General being held to account um and one. can only hope that it would happen here. but Donald Trump has proven he's willing. to absolutely go to the mats like a mob. boss and issue pardons to everybody um. and to use the protection of the Roberts. court as much as possible. On the other. hand, he's massively unpopular. He's sinking. in the polls. Um Democrats are winning. all over the country and there is a. renewed pressure to to vindicate our.

Constitution and our Bill of Rights and. that's the struggle that we're in. We're. in the fight of our lives right now. Last question here. You actually made an. unannounced visit to an ICE facility in. Baltimore. So we're we're switching. topics a little bit. Can you tell me. about that unannounced visit because. everything I've heard thus far from. members of Congress is that any. unannounced visits have been have been. rebuffed by by these ICE agents and and. that members of Congress have been. denied entry illegally of course but.

that's not stopped this administration. and and the DHS from from doing that. anyway. Can you talk about your visit? Well, 13 members of the House brought a. lawsuit. Joe Neguse was first so it's. Neguse versus ICE. to vindicate our rights to show up. unannounced at an ICE facility to. conduct oversight and that is a right. that is written into federal law. So we. went to court to. guarantee that that right would be. enforced and we won. So I took a copy of.

Neguse versus ICE with me to Baltimore. The staff people were actually very. decent and very forthcoming but what I. saw there was scandalous. Um this is uh. an office building where one floor has. been converted into holding cells and I. saw. in one room that I would not try to fit. more than 20 people in for uh. you know, a lunch. Um I saw 60 men.

packed together shoulder to shoulder. They're they're there 24/7. It's not even like a prison where you. get an hour to walk around. So you're in. there as long as you're in there. It. seems like the average length is three. days but some people are in there six. days or seven days. There's one toilet. and there's no shower and they sleep. like sardines. on the with aluminum foil blankets on. the floor.

Um and you know, Pam Bondi uh has tens. of billions of dollars in surplus money. that they're engaged in all kinds of. inside deals with with all of the Trump. people in meantime we're holding human. beings. like cattle pressed together like. sardines um just thrown together up. against each other under really. unhealthy and unsanitary conditions that.

are liable to make a lot of people sick. Um and you know, I I don't know if I was. the first member allowed to go that far. because I was brandishing our court. decision. I may have been. I wasn't allowed to speak to the men but. I was able to you know press up against. the windows and the walls of where they. were being. held and they were gesturing to me that. there was no shower, there was no water. that they could get. They were pointing. to the one toilet, the one open toilet.

over in the corner and we're talking. about dozens and dozens of men in there. There were there was a women's cell. where there were about 33. women so that seemed to be slightly more. civilized but I was amazed when the. staff people told me that that room that. I saw with 60 people could accommodate. more than 50 others. To that end, we are right now in a. moment where DHS funding is going to run. out if Republicans don't agree to some.

conditions being proposed by Democrats. Can you talk about where where that. process is right now because we are like. on the brink of DHS running running out. of their funding, but but what would. that actually mean in practice because. ICE, thanks to the one big beautiful. bill, does have funding for years if I'm. not mistaken. Right and. you know, since I spent the afternoon up. at the ICE facility, I've not caught up. with whatever the most recent news is, but people are prepared for the.

possibility of. an ICE shutdown. As you're saying, they're swimming in cash. I mean that. there's no place in the federal. government better funded than with the. possible exception of the Department of. Defense, the Pentagon, but they have tons of money and. who knows what they decide to do in. terms of what they keep open and what. they don't and. so I In that case, they they sacrifice. TSA agents and make it as inconvenient. for American travelers as possible so.

that they can say the Democrats caused. this big ICE shutdown. Meanwhile, the. you know, the people who are actually. abusing their offices, abusing their. positions of power, which are these ICE. agents, they'll continue their. operations completely, you know, unabated and. and and meanwhile Republicans get to run. a PR campaign against the left. Well, you got it and then you know, I've. spoken to some Republicans about this. and I've said it's time for a reset. You. guys have got to deal with the reality. of the situation and I think their way. of dealing it with it is to say, well,

we'll withdraw from Minneapolis and some. of them some of them are. asserting that well, maybe Secretary. Noem will leave and she'll be replaced. with Homan instead. Well, of course, that's unsatisfactory to us. We want to. see systemic structural changes starting. with. masks off and cameras on. So we can find. out what's going on so there's. identifying. information. about ICE agents so they're not the only. police or law enforcement force in the. country that's walking around masked.

like a paramilitary force in an. authoritarian dictatorship. And we've. got to end that, but there are a whole. lot of other things that we need to make. sure are happening too and that's what. our friends in the Senate are fighting. for. Right and I would add qualified. immunity too because we have seen that. look, there's no shortage of video. footage showing what these ICE agents. are doing. In fact, we know the. identities of the ICE agents. That's not. stopping any from anybody from doing. what they're doing. What will stop them. is is some some real deterrent, you. know, some real deterrents and and and.

criminal consequences, but but right now. they're they're basically largely. blocked from that because of qualified. immunity. So I hope that among the the. conditions that are being imposed that. qualified immunity is right there. alongside taking off masks and and. mandating the the use of those body worn. cameras. Absolutely. Federal agents of all kinds, including ICE, have to be liable and. responsible for their actions just like. state and local police officers and. we've got to make sure that they are. criminally liable where they engage in.

criminal action and also civilly liable. to tort suits so that the government. pays for actions that they're. instructed to undertake that end up. injuring citizens. And so there has to. be relief for the families of all these. people being wounded, injured and killed. like the Preddy family, like the Renee. Good family and so on. We'll leave it. there, Congressman Raskin. As always, thanks so much for taking the time. Well, you bet.

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