00:00Representative Thomas Massey accused President Donald Trump of attempting to divert attention
00:04from the Jeffrey Epstein case by directing federal agencies to release files related to
00:08extraterrestrial life. Massey, a Republican from Kentucky, has led efforts to require the
00:13Department of Justice to disclose documents connected to Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019.
00:17In a post on X, Massey wrote that the administration was deploying the ultimate
00:21weapon of mass distraction with the new announcement. But the Epstein files aren't
00:25going away, even for aliens, he added. Late Thursday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he
00:30was directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon, and other relevant agencies to
00:35release all files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial
00:39phenomena, UAP, and unidentified flying objects, UFOs. Trump said the directive followed
00:44tremendous interest in whether extraterrestrial life exists. The announcement came days after
00:49former President Barack Obama commented on a podcast that aliens are real, though he said he had not
00:54personally seen evidence of them. Obama later clarified on Instagram that he was referring
00:58to the statistical likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe, given its vast size, and said he
01:04saw no evidence during his presidency that extraterrestrials had contacted Earth. Trump accused Obama of
01:09disclosing classified information. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said,
01:13I don't know if they're real or not. I may get him out of trouble by declassifying. The administration has
01:18faced criticism over its handling of the Epstein files. Massey and Representative Ro Khanna introduced the
01:22Epstein Files Transparency Act, directing the Department of Justice to release all related
01:27documents by December 19, 2025. The Justice Department has released more than 3 million pages
01:32tied to Epstein and stated that nearly 3 million additional pages were being withheld due to ongoing
01:37investigations and sensitive content. In January, Khanna said the department had identified more than
01:426 million potentially responsive pages, but released approximately 3.5 million after review and
01:48redactions. He stated that additional materials, including emails and computer files, may remain
01:53undisclosed. Following Trump's announcement, Hegseth reposted the directive on X using alien-themed
01:58emojis. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt described the move as out of this world news.
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