The House Oversight Committee Releases The First Batch Of Epstein Documents

0:00What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Yesterday Congress began to release some of the Epstein files that were handed over to them by the DOJ. Now, I haven't had time to go through all of them yet, but the ones I have taken a look at aren't exactly what I'd call encouraging. A lot of recycled information, a lot of things we've already seen. Now look, that doesn't mean that everything is going to be old, but I would caution people not to think that they're going to get a treasure trove here of new information, and also keep in mind how heavily redacted this stuff is. And of course, they'll say that all the redactions are to protect survivors and victims, but I have my doubts about that. So considering we have a lot to get to today, why don't we dive into the first article that we're going to look at, and this article is from USA Today headline first block of Jeffrey Epstein documents released by House Epstein victims do to testify. This article was authored by a friend Cheska Chambers,

1:06Joey Garrison, Michael Luria, and Josh Meyer. The House Oversight Committee released thousands of pages of documents from the government's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein as the fight over the disgraced finance here, and sex offender files reignited after lawmakers returned to Washington. Well, we knew that was going to happen. This wasn't going anywhere. And anybody who thought that this was going to just disappear after their little recess, they were fooling themselves because I assure you that this is not going anywhere anytime soon. In its first tranche of documents, the committee said it released 33,295 pages of files that are received from the Department of Justice. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for the records related to Epstein from the Justice Department on August 5th. After a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the panel voted in favor of the measure in July,

2:07and then of course they had to kick the can down the road, right? Oh, let's go on our little break first. Then we'll come back and hopefully by then people will be moving on to something different. And that's always the strategy to wait you out, to wait until you're fatigued. And I don't just mean with this story, I mean with everything that's important. Anything they want you to forget, they'll just wait out the clock. The release of the initial batch of documents comes after President Donald Trump once a close friend of Epstein has faced several weeks of criticism over the Justice Department's refusal to release all Epstein documents. USA Today was unable to immediately verify independently how many of the records were new and had not previously been made public. Now me either, there's a lot to go through. And I'm going to spend a lot of time today doing that. And hopefully with the assistance of AI, we'll be able to get through these documents relatively quickly. But the ones I have looked at, like I said in the opening, I'm not all that reassured

3:08that we're going to get a bunch of new information. Now look, I hope we do. And I can't tell you for sure we're not going to get it because I haven't went through the documents myself yet. So I have to do that first before I can actually complain, right? But at the same time, we'd be naive to think that things are going to be different this time around. How many times have we had document dumps? For those of you who have been following along from the beginning, you know that this is something that we've seen multiple times now. And it's always a drip, drip, drip instead of the dam breaking and everything coming out. Instead, it's a controlled release. And that's how it's always been when it comes to Epstein. So if you see people being cynical about it, that's why. Yeah, the documents are unlikely to satisfy Democrats and other Trump critics who have demanded the Department of Justice disclose all documents in its possession from the government's Epstein investigation. Representative Robert Garcia from California, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said 97% of the records released

4:10in the first tranche had already been made public previously. He said most of the same records Attorney General Palmongi provided to right-wing influencers in February. And look, I'm sure that there's some new stuff in there. 33,000 documents. I'm sure we're going to get something new. But what it'll be is anyone's guess, right? We're going to have to take the time and go through those documents. The Democrat Representative Teresa Legger Fernandez of New Mexico, who sits on the committee posted a screenshot of documents on X showing some of the records received by the committee remain redacted. Representative Rokana of California, another Democrat on the committee, said the Justice Department released only 1% of all the government's Epstein files to the committee. Well, there's no doubt that it's going to be a push and pull. They're not just going to give it up. So they're going to give up what they want to give up, right? And then the committee is going to have

5:11to figure it out from there. Okay, this doesn't work for us. We need more. We need more transparency and a lot less redaction. Now, will they do that? Who knows? But they certainly have the power. Remember, Congress has oversight over everything that happens when it comes to the DOJ, when it comes to all these organizations, all these institutions. The controversy over the Epstein files has tested the Trump administration's relationship with the president's MAGA base and frustrated the former businessman who's friendship with Epstein ended in the mid 2000s after Trump said the disgraced financier stole workers from him, disgraced financier, huh? That's what Jeffrey Epstein is. That's his legacy. Okay, I guess. The White House has previously acknowledged Trump's name is mentioned in the files, but denied any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein. And I think that's probably correct, right? I've never seen any evidence that Donald Trump was out here, you know,

6:12molesting kids with Jeffrey Epstein. Instead, I think with Trump, it's more trying to protect business ties and his friends, right? Well, I can't have this big donor get outed. I can't have this one be found out to be one of Epstein's patrons. He's my patron now too. That kind of shit. And if you think they had no business relationships back in the day, you're crazy. They most certainly did. And with Trump having such a case of narcissism, the last thing he wants is his name associated with Epstein in any regard, right? So if he has the power to stop that from happening, he's going to do that. And I think that's what this all boils down to. And frankly, I think that Trump thought that his base was just going to accept it. And while a good portion of them have, there have been a lot of people who have rebelled, people who have made up the coalition that got Trump elected. And those people, a lot of them feel like they've been the victims of a classic bait and switch. I mean, they talked about releasing the Epstein files the whole entire time they were on the

7:12campaign trail, right? Then all of a sudden, well, wait, this is a big hoax. We're not releasing this. Why are you interested in this? This is stupid. Nobody should care about this. So the only real question is what changed between then and now? Well, I'll tell you what changed. Once you're in power, things are different, right? You have people that you're beholden to. And anyone who thinks that Trump isn't beholden to the financial sector, especially is absolutely insane. The same day, the DOJ released transcripts of interviews that deputy attorney general Todd Blanche conducted with Epstein's and prisoned former girlfriend and associate. You mean former co-conspirator, right? Former girlfriend? Learn the story, bro. Galein Maxwell, in which he absolved Trump of any wrongdoing. Maxwell was later transferred from a prison in Florida to a lower security facility in Texas. Comer said in an August 18 statement that the DOJ would soon send over the first batch of documents, but he warned the release would be incomplete.

8:17There are many records in the DOJ's custody and it will take the department time to produce all the records and ensure the identification of victims and any child sexual abuse material are redacted, he said at the time. And look, I get it, right? There's a lot to go through, but they've had ample time. This isn't new. This is not a new case, something that just popped up. We've been talking about this for years. So the truth is the vast majority of those documents were already redacted. What Comer means is they have to go through them now, meeting Congress and their staff to make sure that none of their friends are affected. All right, maybe that's the cynic in me again, but does anyone put a buy Congress to do that? I don't, and it's unfortunate. I don't like to be doom and gloom, but when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein and transparency, they've made their own bed. They could have been transparent a long time ago. And I'm not just talking about this administration, folks. This goes all the way back to the first Clinton administration. So there could have been transparency a very long time ago from multiple administrations.

9:22But yet here we are still kicking and screaming, clung and fighting for little crumbs. The committee also issued subpoenas for depositions of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former top federal law enforcement officials, including James Comey, Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Merrick Garland, Robert Mueller, William Barr, Jeff Sessions, and Alberto Gonzalez. No Sarah Kellen-Vickers, no Adriana Ross, no Leslie Groff, no Darren Indyke, no Richard Khan, no Les Wexner, no Leon Black. See where I'm going with this? Epstein died in a New York prison in August of 2019, New York Chiefs Medical Examiner ruled Epstein died by suicide, a conclusion the FBI and Justice Department this year said it supports. Well, that concludes everything. Because, you know, we should trust the FBI and the justice department. The release of the Epstein documents comes amid a push led by lawmakers to mandate the

10:27release of all Epstein files related to the case, Connor and Representative Thomas Massey are leading an effort to pass the Epstein File Transparency Act, which would compel the US Attorney General to release an assertable format, all department-adjustice files related to Epstein. Boy, that would be great. That's what we need. And if you want to support some politicians when it comes to the Epstein release, this is what you should support. And the reason being is because this is the most transparent approach. And after all these years, all the bullshit, it's time for some transparency. Massey introduced the bill on July 15th, and it was referred to the House Committee on Rules, according to Congress.gov, a website for tracking legislation before Congress. With all 212 Democrats backing the effort, only six Republicans were needed to sign on, Connor said, on NBC's Meet the Press, with Kristen Welker. Connor is planning a news conference for September 3rd, where he said 10 Epstein victims will speak.

11:31The news conference, Connor said, could be explosive and compel additional lawmakers to sign on. Well, bro, if you hear from these girls directly, and you're not moved by it, I don't know what to say to you. And if you're one of those people that takes the position, oh, they're lying, what that says to me is you have no fucking idea what you're talking about. Because I've told you from the very beginning, other people might want to believe all women. That's not what I do. I believe the evidence, and wherever it takes me. And if that evidence lands at your favorite politician's doorstep, fuck your favorite politician, because anybody who's running interference for a Jeffrey Epstein, Jeffrey Epstein's friends, or the bullshit Epstein was up to, you're an absolute piece of shit. At an emotional meeting earlier in the day, some of the women who said they are Epstein victims, briefed House Oversight Committee lawmakers on their experiences, some in advance of a scheduled September 3rd news conference. At least one House member Republican Nancy Mace,

12:31of North Carolina, left early and in tears. As a recent victim of sexual assault, Mace said in an ex-post, I had a very difficult time listening to their stories, full-blown panic attacks, sweating, hyperventilating, shaking, I can't breathe. Well, unfortunately, a lot of people haven't been paying attention to what these women have been saying for years. So hopefully now it's shoved in people's faces and they're forced to listen. And when I say people, I mean our lawmakers. They could have called for a conference about Epstein a very long time ago. They didn't want to do it. But now that it's politically expedient, everybody's involved, huh? Everybody wants to get to the truth? Representative Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said some of the women shared their stories publicly for the first time. What they revealed is not only the trauma of hundreds, maybe thousands of young women, but a cover-up of epic proportions involving the wealthy, the well-connected, and even our own government. All the way to the top. Stansbury told reporters after the briefing,

13:35let me be clear, we will not stop. We will follow every thread, every document, every bank record until there is justice. All right, well, Melanie Stansbury, I plan on holding you to that. Don't make big promises you can't keep. Because we're going to hold your feet to the fire. Tennessee Republican Tim Birchett, after leaving the briefing, urge lawmakers to rethink the whole files thing. Apparently there are some files they don't want out. Birchett said of the women accusers, I think we're going to get to the right spot where we can release everything that needs to be released. So look, I can't sit here and tell you that I'm confident that we're going to get a bunch of new information because I'm not. But what I will say is that hopefully a few of these lawmakers who weren't taking it serious are sitting up in their chairs now and taking it a lot more serious than they were. Because when you hear the accounts of these women who talk about what they went through, the people who put them through it, I have no idea how you're not enraged and how you don't want justice. And double for a sitting Congress person

14:41who has the power to actually see that justice realized, you know, the rest of us can demand it. But Congress can actually do something about it. The question is, will they? All right, folks, that's going to do it for this one. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.