UPDATE on Pam Bondi DEFYING subpoena

I'm joined now by Congressman Jared. Moskowitz. Congressman, thanks for. joining me. Hey Brian, how's it going? So, we have an update here as it relates. to Pam Bondi's scheduled deposition that. was supposed to take place. >> what Oh, tell me what's the update? Supposed to have taken place April 14th. Obviously, that date came and went like. a fart in a hurricane. She didn't show. up. So, is is Congress going to. relinquish its desire to have her come. and testify now that she's no longer AG? Well, first let me say, you know, this.

was the scenario that many Democrats, myself included, were concerned about, which is, you know, the Republicans. threatening to hold the Clintons in. contempt if they didn't show up. Would. they hold that same standard if it were. Pam Bondi or a Republican that was. subpoenaed? And now we're finding out. it's unclear. if the same people that subpoenaed Pam. Bondi are willing to hold her in. contempt. To be clear, she has to show. up. The subpoena has nothing to do with. her being Attorney General. It's her. She has to go. And so, you know, she. didn't show up at the current date. They're renegotiating maybe for a second.

date, but if she does not show, if she's. unwilling to come, then she needs to be. held in contempt. The committee needs to. hold her in contempt, and then Congress. will need to hold her in contempt. That's how this needs to work, or you. know what, congressional subpoenas. no longer matter. Also, this will get. resolved because Robert Garcia most. likely will be chair of that committee. in January. So, really, if she's not. held in contempt for the next in the. next 5 or 6 months, she'll be held in. contempt immediately in January for for. for not showing up. Uh That being said, the flip side of that is, I mean, look,

can you blame her? I mean, who wants to. spend 4 hours with James Comer? Right? I. mean, I I don't blame her for not. wanting to go and be in a basement with. James for 4 hours. So, you know, in that. respect, I side. side with the former Attorney General. Well, look, I think I think that that. was a. an an astute point about the fact that. they had such harsh words for the. Clintons. The prospect of Hillary. Clinton not coming in, even though she. had nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein, and yet and and James Comer and these.

other Republicans were perfectly content. to threaten contempt. And yet now you. have the Attorney General who has a a. lawfully issued subpoena, was supposed. to be there on on April 14th. That date. came and went and and now we haven't. heard, you know, we we haven't heard. James Comer utter a single word about. Pam. >> we got real questions for the former. Attorney General. I mean, first of all, why did you give out the binders. uh to the influencers uh to the. beginning of this? Then why did you say. the list was on your desk? Then why was. there Why did you say there was no list?

Why did the administration say tell all. the Republicans this was a Democratic. hoax and Maga for falling for the. Democratic hoax? Were you instructed to. to make to not release any of the files. by the president uh or uh the White. House? Why did the White House say that. this was a hostile act for anyone who. wanted to sign up, any Republican who. wanted to sign up for the discharge. petition? When uh we brought uh when. Republicans started signing that. discharge petition, why did you bring. some of those Republicans into the. situation room? You know, the place.

where we where the president goes when. we're at a time of war. Why did you tell. Republicans that if they got their name. off the discharge petition, you would. put stuff in the budget for them or you. might primary them if they don't take. their name off the discharge petition. Pam Bondi was supposedly in the. situation room. Why did Kash Patel under. Pam Bondi under oath say that Jeffrey. Epstein only trafficked girls to himself. when we know obviously uh there were. co-conspirators whose names were. redacted. Why were those names redacted? Why were victims' names uh released? Why.

did Kash Patel say Trump's name is only. in there less than 100 times when it was. in there obviously more times than Harry. Potter's name was in the books about. Harry Potter. These are legitimate. questions that she should answer under. oath in in a deposition. And so this is. going to happen one way or another. Uh hopefully the Republicans uh hold. themselves to the same standards uh that. they were holding themselves to a couple. months ago when it came to a former. president and a former Secretary of. State, people who were out of office, obviously. Do you think it was a. coincidence that Pam Bondi was was.

unceremoniously fired from her job just. 2 weeks before she was supposed to. appear for this sworn deposition? I look, I don't know the answer to that. My guess it's a totality of things. Same. thing would happen with Kristi Noem. I. think it was a totality of things. But I. don't think the committee hearings for. either Kristi Noem, who, you know, couldn't say on the. record whether she was, you know, having. an affair with Corey Lewandowski and, you know, obviously blamed the president. for her ad in which she gave a no-bid. contract to her friends to a company.

that was 11 days old, and, you know, spent, you know, $30,000. on horses. You know, the same thing with. Pam Bondi, right? I mean, obviously the. Epstein debacle that she was in charge. of. Um, you know, and then that. congressional hearing was, I mean, maybe. one of the worst of the last 2 years. And so, you know, there were other. things, my guess, that were involved. But I I I don't think the president. fired her to get her out of the depo. I. my guess is is that there was a lot of. stuff that we saw, some stuff that we. didn't. So, there is a a moment where Donald.

Trump was asked today if he believes. that there should be a public hearing. for. for the Epstein survivors. And his. response was, "I'm okay with that, but I. understand the women didn't want to go. under oath. That's what I heard, that. the victims or whatever, they refused to. go under oath." Your reaction to that. quote. Well, that's not true. I mean, they're showing up to the hearings. Right? They're very the the a lot of. them are being very public of who they. are. And by the way, they don't have to come. We have an open invitation in a hearing, and some survivors want to come, and. some survivors don't. It's their option,

but we should provide them that. opportunity. It's not mandated. We're. not going to subpoena the witnesses, right? We'd invite them, and if they. want to come, they they can come and. speak. And so, if he supports them. of us having a hearing to give them a. time to talk to the American people, that's fantastic. It only took him 18. months to get there. Um you know, but look, I I hope that. happens. I I think that they deserve. that. The least Congress could could. offer them. Last question on Pam Bondi.

Um. you know, there is a world where even if. and when Robert Garcia takes the. chairmanship of the Oversight Committee. and Pam Bondi is again subpoenaed to. appear before the committee, that even. if she defies her congressional. subpoena, she would just kind of uh. leave it in the hands of Todd Blanched, whoever the Attorney General is, and. Donald Trump to actually prosecute her. to to to move that forward. It's not. like Congress has. >> she can lose her but but she can lose. her bar license. Okay. You know, so you know, yes, you.

know, if if if the committee were then. hold her in contempt and then Congress. would hold her in contempt, obviously. you would need the Department of Justice. to decide to move on that, but it it. would start causing her problems in her. private private world. You know, she. would lose she would lose her bar. license. So, it's not without. significant repercussions to her. And I. also hope we don't get there. I mean, a. former Attorney General, right, deciding. not to come and and testify in a. deposition, to defy a subpoena of. Congress. Uh you know,

I again, I hope it doesn't get there. I. hope she does the right thing, just like the Clintons did. I hope she. comes and. understands the Article 1 we Article 1. legislative authority that we have. Uh. and complies with that subpoena. I want. to change to a different topic here, and. that's the feud that's exploding between. Donald Trump and the Pope. And so, the. Pope. issued a statement this morning where he. said, um. "Woe to those who manipulate religion in. the very name of God for their own. military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into.

darkness and filth.". Do you think that is a a subtweet on. somebody? Well, first of all, it's weird to see. Jesus and the Pope fighting. Okay. You know, I mean, that that's. weird. All right, first of all, you. might be referring to that picture of. Donald Trump as a doctor. So, I want to. be I want to be totally fair here. This. is a This is him as a medical. professional. Right, it was him just. taking the Hippocratic oath. You're. You're correct. I I apologize for my. misrepresentation. By the way, do you think this was like. workshopped in the White House or like.

he's just he's just riffing? Like, do. you think they were like, "Okay, we need. to figure out how to change the subject, flood the zone, the thing that they do?". And they were like, "Who Who could we. start a fight with?" They're like, "I. don't know. How about the Pope? Uh. that'll [laughter] really That'll really. appeal to Catholics. Yeah. I mean, look. look we have. We have seen so many distractions from. distractions. When you have Melania. coming coming out and and issuing a. statement on Epstein because the Iran. war, which was a distraction from. Epstein, is all getting so out of. control. And you have just like. distractions from the distractions from.

the distractions. I think that's a. testament to how things are going in. this White House. Yeah, something tells. me this is not uh this is not what uh. the president's people want him to be. doing. Just like, you know, maybe you. know, we know the president has always. considered himself Jesus. Yeah. >> but maybe like the imagery. uh was not was not the right way for him. to go. But, you know, look, he wants to. change the subject. He doesn't want to. talk about the economy. He doesn't want. to talk about the Iran war. So, you. know, here's here's a distraction. But, you know, uh. I can't believe I'm going to quote Laura.

Ingram, but it was actually a a good. quote. She said to the president, "You. don't have to swing at every pitch, Mr. President." Uh and and he should. probably He should have left this one. alone. [laughter]. But, I mean, look, he he he does. That's. who he is. I mean, there there is no. There's There Like, he never lets. sleeping dogs lie. There's never a. moment where he doesn't feel like he. needs to. >> a double down, triple down, right? The. reason why I I think the reason why he's. doubling and tripling down now on the. Pope is that's really a double and. triple down on the image he deleted.

Okay? They're connected. Okay? I mean, don't tell me like he he's fighting with. the the within 24 hours of the photo of. of him as a doctor. Okay, so. Yeah, this is they're connected. This is his. doubling and tripling down on that you. know without talking about it. You know, so you know, everyone's like stop. fighting with the Pope and you know, you. double your triple down. It's offense. all the time and and and that might work. nine out of nine times out of 10. It's. not going to work here. Do you think. that this has some some impact on the. margins? And I ask this because look, we.

have all seen these instances where. Donald Trump, you know, picks a fight. with somebody. picks a fight with some sacred figure. He he's done it a million times and and. you know, like we see this and we're. like, oh, that's going to that's going. to hurt him with whatever group, you. know, that person represents. And. ultimately folks come back home to. Trump. And so I'm just curious in this. instance, you know, given the position. that that the Pope holds, if you think. that this is going to have some impact. on the margins for him as he continues. to escalate this fight. So this is not.

happening in a vacuum, right? This is. happening in the totality of things. So. do do I think, you know, if he was just. fighting with the Pope 10 months ago, would it really matter? Right? No, it. wouldn't matter as much then as it will. now when gas is $5, right? And you know, you know, we had we had two Americans. shot in the streets while folks are. roaming the streets wearing masks, right? You know, like you you add all of. this stuff in totality. And and so the. people who would have given him grace in. the past, I just think maybe they stay.

home. Maybe they don't vote. The. independents who, you know, maybe went. his way. 18 months ago now decide not to go his. way. And so it just it adds. It. constantly piles up. And and that's why I do think it. matters. I think his his. his room for major mistakes now, I think is not the same as it was call. it 10 12 months ago. Last question here. I don't want to go. to a a little bit of a different topic. and that is. Ronda Santos will be calling a special.

legislative session in your home state. of Florida at the end of April. >> about that. I heard Tell me what's going. on, Brian. So, what's going on with it? I got two questions here. One, is is it a mistake for DeSantis to try. to try and move forward with yet another. gerrymander, especially in light of the. swings that we're seeing right now? And. so, if he draws these districts where he. has to dilute Republicans from safer red. districts to put them in these blue. districts to get them to flip, and we're. seeing, you know, 12, 14, 16, 20-point.

swings to the left, he may actually draw. a dummymander, which leaves more. democratic democratic seats. in in place as we head toward, you know, in the aftermath of midterms. So, that's. my first question. Is it a mistake for. DeSantis to do this? And second, is your. seat one that he would be that you would. presume he would be targeting? Well, let me say this. You know, right. now, I think you just Florida It just. was announced that the governor moved. the session a week later. My guess is. they're monitoring what happens in.

Virginia. If Virginia, if that passes and they wind up doing. redistricting in Virginia, I think. there's a three or four seat seats swing. there. Florida probably will look to to. even that out, which is, you know, why. this should never have started in the. first place with Texas doing what they. did. California then had to even it out. This is bad for everybody. It's bad for. the American people. It, you know, it's. creating more partisanship. It means. that Congress won't be able to function, and, you know, there'll be 15 or 20. seats that we fight about nationally,

and races are going to cost 30, 40. million dollars as there's less and less. seats. for. for, you know, that that are swing. seats. Right. So, that's number one. Number two is, you know, listen, I just listen to my. Republican colleagues. They're worried. about redistricting. They're the ones. who are going on record saying that they. think this is a mistake for 26. The governor drew the current districts. The current districts we're in, he drew. And so, the idea that there was a. problem with them.

when he drew them, I don't think. This. is all obviously all about. redistricting. It's going to you know be. a problem in the courts. In Florida, we. don't have a statute that prohibits. this. We have we have constitutional. language that prohibits it. The voters. put this in the Florida Constitution. barring political gerrymandering, barring targeting incumbents. >> But I mean that that provision existed. in the Constitution before and Ron. DeSantis was able to get the existing. gerrymander through. So it's not like it. doesn't seem to me like these Florida. Supreme Court justices are are a.

sticklers for originalism. >> that's what happens when you get to a. point six of the seven justices. currently on the court. So look, I I'd. rather be him than us in the way the. dynamics are are set up. My seat, which. was your second question, my seat's the. closest seat in the state. It's a D+2. So the idea that it's not going to be. targeted my my seat will be targeted. because it's just it's just the math. So we're going to have to see what they. do. It's unclear. My guess is that there are probably. multiple versions and we're going to. figure out which one they go with.

publicly when we see the map. There. won't be a process in the legislature. The governor will draw the map. It'll go. to a committee in the house. It'll go to. a committee in the senate. They'll pass. it. It'll go to the floor. They'll pass. it. This is probably done in three three. or four days, which is different than. we've seen in some of these other. other states. Right. Right. Including. the existing. fight that's taking place in Virginia. right now where just like California, it's going to go to people to actually. decide what happens here. If this were. to go to the voters, my guess is if this. were to go to the voters in Florida, they would turn this down. What will what will you do? What are.

your options here in front of you? Well, I got to see what the district. looks like. Okay. >> you know, obviously I'm running for. re-election right now. I'm committed to. that process. Uh but you know, I'm a I'm I also know. math, right? So I think in 20 I think in. 26, you know, Democrats are well positioned. I usually you know, perform five points. better than the Democratic candidate at. the top of the ticket in my district, you know, plus if the generic Democratic. balloting is up, you know, I'm in a I'm. in a very good position to win even a, you know, a decent Republican seat. But,

we have to see what they do. And then. depending upon how far they go, Brian, how far they really challenge what's. called fair districts, which is what the. voters put in the constitution, we'll. have to see obviously what the what the. court does as well. Right. Okay, well, we will of course stay on top of this. Congressman, thanks so much for taking. the time today. I appreciate it. Thanks, Brian. >> [music].