- 2 hours ago
The Last Word with Lawrence ODonnell - Season 13 - Episode 08
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Well, nine years ago, I asked the question on Twitter, if Trump gets dementia, how will we know?
00:07Donald Trump makes a public dementia diagnosis difficult because he is a pathological liar,
00:13having been caught telling over 30,000 lies and is forced for years of the presidency.
00:17He's also the most ignorant person in the history of the American presidency and
00:21usually operates at a level of public stupidity never seen in American political history.
00:26And so if you mix or together pathological lying with ignorance and relentless stupidity,
00:33you will sound like you are in neurological decline all the time, even if you're not.
00:39When you throw in a 79-year-old brain, then dementia is one of the very first things you think
00:44of
00:45when you see Donald Trump on Friday get up, get up from his chair in the middle of a White
00:49House meeting
00:49with oil executives to turn away from everyone in the room and gaze out a window which he imagined
00:57to be the entrance to a building that does not exist and then stand in that window talking to himself
01:07about what isn't outside that window.
01:13I got to look at this myself.
01:21Wow.
01:24What a view.
01:26This is the door to the ball.
01:31What a job.
01:34Unusual time to look.
01:38No, it's not the door to the ballroom.
01:40But he is right that it is an unusual time to look at his imaginary ballroom.
01:49And so everyone who has seen that, including the oil executives who were in that room,
01:54are left to wonder, is that dementia or is that just Trump?
01:58That's the person who was trying to convince the oil industry executives to rush down to Venezuela
02:02and start taking Venezuelan oil.
02:04And he convinced none of them to do that.
02:07And the evidence of Trump dementia during the meeting probably convinced most or all of them
02:12that Donald Trump can't be believed about anything.
02:18You'll make it back one way or the other.
02:20You're all going to do very well.
02:21I think really very well.
02:22Marco just gave me a note.
02:24Go back to Chevron.
02:27They want to discuss something.
02:28Go ahead.
02:29I'm going back to Chevron.
02:31Thank you, Marco.
02:32Is there a question, Mr. President?
02:35Yes.
02:35Go ahead, Marco.
02:36What are you saying here?
02:39Is that dementia or is that just Trump?
02:44Imagine just imagine what the White House press corps would have done with that
02:50if Joe Biden had done either one of those things that you just saw Donald Trump do.
02:59Donald Trump went to Detroit today to lie to the audience of rich people at the Detroit Economic Club
03:06telling them that prices are down after a year of inflation holding steady
03:10thanks to Donald Trump's tariffs and Donald Trump's other economic mismanagement.
03:17And so I think we can assume his lie about inflation to an audience that knows better today
03:22was just Donald Trump's typical pathological lying.
03:26He would have told that lie at his sharpest.
03:30That particular lie is not evidence of neurological decline in Donald Trump,
03:35but it is further proof that you cannot believe anything Donald Trump says about anything.
03:43Donald Trump droned through a lifeless teleprompter reading of a speech that appeared to be his
03:49first reading of the words that he was speaking to that audience.
03:53And at the end, Donald Trump decided in what could well be evidence of dementia
04:01that the Detroit Economic Club really wanted to see him dance in his 79-year-old way
04:09to America's gay national anthem YMCA by the village people,
04:15which was blaring away in the nightclubs that Donald Trump frequented when that song came out
04:21in 1978 when he was 32 years old.
04:28The United States is winning again, and we're rapidly making America and the great state of Michigan
04:34greater and more prosperous than ever before.
04:36I want to again thank the Detroit Economic Club.
04:39You do a fantastic job.
04:41So respected.
04:41God bless you, and God bless America.
04:44Thank you very much, everybody.
04:57Young man, there's no need to feel down.
05:01I said, young man, pick yourself up the ground.
05:05I said, young man, cause you're in a new town.
05:08There's no need to be unhappy.
05:27The man just walking off that stage and disappearing into those black curtains
05:32after trying and failing to dance thinks he is the acting president of Venezuela.
05:38He has publicly declared himself to be the acting president of Venezuela.
05:42And that is strong evidence of dementia.
05:44And it is a Trump pathological lie.
05:47And it is further proof that you cannot believe anything Donald Trump ever says about anything.
05:54And I mean anything.
05:57Donald Trump says she ran him over.
06:01The man who thinks he is the acting president of Venezuela said, quote,
06:06she ran him over, she didn't try to run him over, she ran him over.
06:12Those were Donald Trump's exact words when lying about Renee Goode.
06:17Every video from every angle of the killing of Renee Goode by one of Donald Trump's ICE agents
06:24shows that she did not run him over.
06:28And this angle proves that the ICE agent, Jonathan Ross, fired his last two shots at her when she posed
06:38no threat to him at all.
06:41He is clearly standing beside a car that is moving away from him.
06:47It is impossible for that car to hit that man now in that spot when he is firing that gun.
06:56That car cannot suddenly go sideways.
07:00The decision to fire those shots would have been made only if Jonathan Ross was convinced that the first shot
07:08he fired did not stop her.
07:12The fact is that most bullets fired by law enforcement officers in the line of duty miss their targets most
07:20of the time.
07:22But if Jonathan Ross's first shot hit Renee Goode, then there was no reason to fire a second shot.
07:28And if the second shot hit Renee Goode, then there was no reason to fire a third shot.
07:33And law enforcement officers are required to assess the situation after each shot that they fire to decide whether to
07:43fire another shot.
07:45It is not legal for them to just keep firing bullets as long as they have bullets.
07:51If the third shot hit Renee Goode and killed her, that shot was fired when she posed no threat to
08:01Jonathan Ross or anyone else on that scene.
08:05As this disturbing video proves.
08:17No!
08:19No!
08:22Oh my God!
08:25What the
08:26What the
08:27What the
08:28You just
08:29What the
08:30Did you do?
08:32What did you do?
08:35You!
08:36Shame!
08:38Shame!
08:39Shame!
08:41Shame!
08:43Shame!
08:45Shame!
08:46Shame!
08:48Shame!
08:48Shame, shame, dude, what's happening to her, what happened, dude, you shot her, I'm trying
09:14to help, no, no, you shot someone in the face, there was no apparent injury to Jonathan
09:26Ross, on that video you see him walking all the way down to the car after he has fired
09:32the deadly shots, and you see him walking all the way back, no limping, nothing, no hint
09:38in any of his movement after the fact that he was injured in any way, not injured in
09:42the slightest, no hint of that, in that video.
09:46It was mass resignation day in the Trump Justice Department today, from Minnesota to Washington,
09:52D.C., and Washington, six members of the Civil Rights Division of the Trump Justice Department
09:56quit.
09:57MS Now's Karolinik and Ken Delaney in report, quote, top leaders of the criminal section
10:02of the Civil Rights Division have left their jobs to register their frustration with the
10:06department after the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Harmeet Dillon, decided not
10:12to investigate the ICE officer's fatal shooting of Renee Good last week.
10:16The criminal section of the division would normally investigate any fatal shooting by a
10:20law enforcement officer and specializes in probing potential or alleged abuse of improper
10:26or improper use of force by law enforcement.
10:29So the most experienced lawyers in dealing with incidents like this at the Trump Justice
10:34Department are not being allowed to participate in the investigation in any way.
10:40And in Minnesota today, another six attorneys have quit the Trump Justice Department in the
10:45U.S. Attorney's Office there.
10:46The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that, quote, a majority of the leadership team at the Minnesota
10:51U.S. Attorney's Office resigned on January 13 over the direction of the Justice Department
10:57under the Trump administration.
10:58Among those who resigned was Joe Thompson, the lead federal prosecutor and public voice
11:03on uncovering rampant fraud in Minnesota.
11:08Joe Thompson is a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota and has been
11:12leading the fraud investigation in Minnesota that Donald Trump claims is the reason he sent
11:18thousands of federal agents to Minnesota in what our first guest tonight calls an invasion.
11:23The Minnesota Star Tribune reports, quote, the departures of several prosecutors stemmed from
11:29directives from top federal officials to staff members after the killing of Renee Good by ICE
11:34agent Jonathan Ross, according to sources familiar with the decision that included blocking the
11:39Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the investigation into the shooting and a request
11:44from the Justice Department to investigate Good's widow for possible federal charges.
11:50Governor Tim Walz, whose state government has been the focus of Joe Thompson's fraud investigation,
11:58said, quote, Joe is a principled public servant who spent more than a decade achieving justice
12:03for Minnesotans.
12:04This is a huge loss for our state.
12:07Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Harris said, quote, when you lose the leader responsible for
12:12making the fraud cases, it tells you this isn't really about prosecuting fraud.
12:17Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has now turned Kristi Noem into a defendant in the case
12:24of Minnesota versus Noem.
12:26The Attorney General, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, are suing the
12:31Department of Homeland Security to stop what Attorney General Ellison calls the Trump invasion
12:35of Minnesota.
12:38The deployment of thousands of armed mass DHS agents to Minnesota has done our state serious
12:45harm.
12:46This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and it must stop.
12:54Leading off our discussion tonight is Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
12:58I want to begin, General Ellison, with your reaction to what you saw in the U.S. Attorney's
13:04office today in Minnesota and the Civil Rights Division in Washington.
13:09Well, the first thing is that we still have the precious life of Renee Nicole Good that needs
13:18to be investigated.
13:20And if the most experienced federal lawyers are not going to be involved because Harmeet,
13:28Dillon, and Todd Blanche, and Pam Bondi have said they wouldn't be.
13:33And if they're still denying state investigators access to the file, then how is Ms. Good's case
13:42ever going to be investigated?
13:44The feds won't do it, and they're denying the state access to the file.
13:48So that is deeply concerning.
13:51Now, look, it turns out that prosecutors have ethics, principles, morals, and the Trump administration
14:02has crossed the line with them, so they had to walk.
14:05This is what any principled person would do when they were confronted with a moral quandary
14:11that they simply could not engage in.
14:14They had to walk, and I commend them for it.
14:16I can tell you that for the difficulties that we're having with the federal government in
14:22Washington, we work quite cooperatively with federal officials in Minnesota, whether they're
14:30at the U.S. Attorney's Office or whether they're at ATF or even the FBI.
14:35The calls to basically shut down this investigation are coming from Washington, not Minnesota.
14:41And it sounds like even people in Washington are saying, we are here to investigate cases
14:48exactly like this one.
14:49If you will not allow us to be involved in this case, we cannot remain here.
14:53And I am saddened by it, but it really speaks to the fact that the federal government is covering
15:00up a death investigation.
15:03And that's pretty sad.
15:05So in a shooting like this, the three most important evidence sources are, of course,
15:13the body and the autopsy report that is produced from that.
15:17Secondly, the gun.
15:19And thirdly, the car.
15:20The FBI has the gun.
15:22The FBI has the car, as I understand it.
15:25But the county, state of Minnesota, the county has the body and is in charge of the autopsy report.
15:31Will we see the autopsy report?
15:35You know, let me tell you, all bets are off nowadays, Lawrence, but I think the answer
15:40is yes.
15:42But that's what I'm pushing for.
15:44That's what I believe should happen and will happen.
15:47I hope not to come to your show and say, I thought so in good faith, but the federal
15:53government did something to prevent it.
15:55But my understanding is, yes, we will, that information will be forthcoming.
15:59But the shell casings, the gun, the car, whether or not there's been a toxicology test for Jonathan
16:13Ross, which is standard, those kind of things are in the possession of the federal government.
16:21And quite honestly, if we're doing things anywhere close to the right way, they have essentially
16:27declined prosecution at this point.
16:32So open up the file and hand it and let the state get access to it so that we can
16:37do our
16:37investigation.
16:38The state has a right to investigate this homicide.
16:42And now the federal government has decided that they're not going to pursue it.
16:46So they should open up the, hand the file over.
16:49And I think that's just logical.
16:51And I would wonder why they wouldn't do that since they've been crying.
16:55If there's a Minnesota grand jury investigation, would that create the, would that have the
17:02power to subpoena the gun from the federal government or subpoena the car and subpoena whatever
17:12is in possession at what any, any evidence that's actually in physical evidence in possession
17:16of the FBI?
17:18I say yes, but understand this Lawrence, that's probably going to be a, a, a thorny legal issue
17:27to sort through because logically the federal government has declined the case at this point.
17:32They should hand over the file, but what if they don't, and there've been a lot of unorthodox,
17:38unprecedented things that have happened.
17:39And if they don't, then we're going to have to get a judge to make them release it.
17:43And will the, does, does a court have the authority under separation of powers to tell
17:49the executive branch to release information?
17:51I mean, it would be, I suspect we'd have a court battle over it, but my position would
17:57be that the state would be entitled to it.
18:00Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, thank you very much for starting off our coverage
18:04tonight.
18:04Thank you, sir.
18:06And coming up, Donald Trump's so-called border czar, Tom Homan, finally faced the question,
18:11what happened to the $50,000 in cash FBI undercover agents gave him during the last Trump presidential
18:17campaign?
18:19That's next with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
18:25Investigative reporting by MS Dow's Karolinig and Ken Delanian broke the news in September
18:31of last year that Donald Trump's so-called border czar, Tom Homan, who serves in a position
18:36invented by Donald Trump that does not require Senate confirmation, was recorded on an FBI
18:42undercover video accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents in the last, the
18:52year before Donald Trump became president, when that news broke, Tom Homan disappeared from Sunday
18:58morning TV, where he might be asked a difficult question about the $50,000 in cash.
19:03But this Sunday, on Meet the Press, at the end of an interview about other issues,
19:10Kristen Welker followed the money.
19:15As you know, in an undercover operation in 2024, the FBI recorded you accepting a bag which was
19:22determined to contain $50,000 from agents posing as business executives who said you indicated you
19:29could help win government contracts in the second Trump administration. I want to stress there was
19:33an investigation. It was closed last year. The Justice Department said it found, quote,
19:37no credible evidence of any criminal wrongdoing. I do want to give you an opportunity to respond
19:43though, Mr. Homan. Where is that $50,000? Did you keep it or did you return it?
19:48I didn't take $50,000 from anybody. And that's the question for the FBI.
19:51I'm not going to give the story anymore error. Bottom line, I did nothing illegal. I did nothing
19:57in the FBI and DOJ review this. No credible evidence I did anything because I didn't do anything illegal.
20:02But was there $50,000 in the bag and did you return it?
20:06I'm not giving the story anymore error. This is an attack on my integrity and my professionalism.
20:11I'm not addressing it. That's a question of the FBI. Can you address, given that it's been recorded,
20:16did you keep the money? Did you return the money? I did not keep any. $50,000 is ridiculous.
20:22The FBI has been clearing this. You know, and it irritates me. This story keeps going on and on and
20:26on, even though I've been found that there's nothing inappropriate. So I'm not going to ask
20:30any more of these questions. But just a minute, did you return the money?
20:33I didn't have any money to return. Okay. I didn't take the $50,000, bottom line.
20:37Let me ask you, you're saying you did nothing unlawful. Would you be comfortable with the FBI
20:43releasing the recording? That's a decision to the FBI.
20:46But it might be a decision for the FBI, but would you be comfortable if they released?
20:50Again, I'm not getting ahead of the FBI in this investigation.
20:54But can you just say, on a personal level, would you be comfortable releasing the recordings?
20:58I am not going to get ahead of the FBI. That's their decision.
21:01Okay. All right. Mr. Homan, thank you very much for being here.
21:08Joining us now is Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse over at Allstate. He's a member of
21:11the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he has been waiting to hear those questions asked
21:15for several months now. Senator, let me begin with the question that Mr. Homan refused to answer.
21:23Would you be comfortable if the FBI releases those recordings?
21:29I mean, if he says he's done nothing wrong, and it's totally, everything he did was totally
21:37appropriate, why would you not allow those recordings to be released? Why would that be
21:44inappropriate? And by the way, when the FBI delivers $50,000 in an operation like this, there's a whole
21:55procedure of paperwork and reports that they have to go through to get access to that cash.
22:01And they have to then report what became of it. Did they get it back? And so there's an actual
22:07federal record through the FBI about this $50,000. And we can't get answers to those questions. We asked
22:17Attorney General Bondi about it. We've got a FOIA out about it. These are fairly standard records.
22:25And so, you know, when Homan said, you know, these questions, they just go on and on and on and
22:32on and
22:32on. Well, duh, the reason they keep going on and on and on is because you won't answer where's the
22:39$50,000. And between him and the FBI, they know where the $50,000 is. And yet here we are
22:47months
22:47later, and they still won't answer. So the great thing about Kristen Welker staying specifically on
22:56the $50,000 is this gets the, this, she just established the best record yet of what Mr. Homan
23:04has to say about the $50,000. And he says, I didn't take $50,000 from anyone. He also says,
23:11I didn't return $50,000. Well, one of those things is, one of those answers is provable on video.
23:19There is, there is reportedly a video of that guy sitting in a room with undercover FBI agents who
23:26are doing an undercover video. And on that video, we will see him take the $50,000 or not take
23:34the $50,000. And if he can show a video of him not taking the $50,000, wouldn't they rush
23:41to get
23:42that video out there? Yeah. And there's highly likely to be an FBI 302. Also the investigative
23:49form that they fill out after an interview or an episode like this, where they come back to the
23:55office and they write down what took place. So they've got a contemporaneous record that the
24:01tape would then support. So there's a ton of evidence about what actually happened.
24:07And the MAGA DOJ just won't let it out because they don't want their guy to be embarrassed.
24:13And we, this is, it's very clear. This is one of the things, one of the reasons why Donald Trump
24:19had
24:19to invent a job that does not require Senate confirmation in order for him to be working in
24:26federal government now. Yeah. And, you know, the thing that's kind of a riot, if you think about
24:32today's recent news and the subpoena to Jay Powell, Jeanine Pirro's explanation for that is because that
24:42they weren't getting answers. They weren't getting complete answers. They weren't getting timely
24:48answers. And so they had to resort to a subpoena. Well, false, incomplete and untimely answers,
24:55it's sort of the hallmark of this administration. So the idea that they're aggravated by false,
25:01incomplete or untimely answers, I mean, the irony is rich. And this guy is the perfect example of
25:08false, incomplete or untimely answers. Clearly his game was he was going to stay off TV long enough
25:15for this to cool down. But Kristen Welker didn't see it that way. And the record is now lucky because
25:23of her persistence on that. And it comes down to a very simple, provable thing with the video.
25:30There's a video that will show him taking the money or not taking the money. And it seems to me
25:35if the Democrats win the Senate next year and you have more control over this Justice Department,
25:42you should, would you at that point have more power to get this video?
25:46Yes. And even more would come through the House Judiciary Committee because a House Judiciary
25:53subpoena doesn't need to go through a filibustable Senate for enforcement. Whereas as we saw with our
26:03subpoenas to try to get to the bottom of Clarence Thomas's many scandals to Leonard Leo and other
26:09people, the Senate Republicans refused to allow the enforcement of the subpoena to proceed through
26:18the Senate floor. So we have an additional hurdle in the Senate at getting subpoenas enforced.
26:24The House can go right at it. And so one way or the other, whether it's a Chairman Raskin or
26:32potentially a Chairman White House in the Senate Judiciary Committee, this is going to come out sooner or
26:38later. But, you know, I think their hope is by then they're gone and, you know, getting paid by
26:44somebody else. And that's the end of it. All they need to do is get through this moment. But I
26:49think
26:49it's going to come out and it just has to. Chairman to be Sheldon Whitehouse, thank you very much for
26:59joining us tonight. Thank you. And coming up, the Democrats now have a strong chance to win control
27:06of the United States Senate in this year's election and make Sheldon Whitehouse the chairman of the Senate
27:11Judiciary Committee. And Donald Trump is now doing everything he can to help the Democrats.
27:17That's next with Georgia Senator John Ossoff, who is running for reelection this year.
27:26With the announcement yesterday of a strong Democratic candidate running for Senate in Alaska, the Democrats
27:31now have a much stronger chance of winning control of the United States Senate in November's election.
27:37And Donald Trump is doing everything he can to help the Democrats, as he did today in his speech to
27:43rich
27:43people at the Detroit Economic Club, mocking affordability.
27:51In the coming weeks, I will be laying out even more plans to help bring back affordability.
27:57And again, remember, that's a fake word by Democrats. Prices were too high. They caused the
28:03high price. They never want to talk about affordability. They always go, this is an election
28:08about affordability. They say they caused it, but they're good at that stuff.
28:16Donald Trump speechwriters write the mandatory line about affordability. They put it in the
28:22teleprompter. And when he sees the word, he has to stop reading the teleprompter to tell his audience
28:29that it's a fake word invented by Democrats. And then he says they're good at that. Democrats are
28:37now good at talking about the affordability issue throughout the country. And here is what the new
28:42Democratic candidate for Senate in Alaska, former Congresswoman Mary Peltola, said about it in her
28:48announcement video. It's not just that politicians in D.C. don't care that we're paying $17 a gallon
28:57for milk in rural Alaska. They don't even believe us. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports,
29:04quote, this time last year, U.S. Senator John Ossoff was considered to be the Democratic Party's
29:09likeliest casualty on the 2026 Senate map. Now, Georgia Democrats increasingly are confident of the
29:16first-term lawmakers' midterm chances, and Republicans are the ones sounding pessimistic.
29:22A growing chorus of prominent Republicans is warning that without a course correction,
29:27the party risks disastrous midterm losses and another six years for Ossoff.
29:35Joining us now is Democratic Senator John Ossoff from Georgia. He's a member of the Senate
29:39Appropriations Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Rules Committee. He's running
29:43for re-election this year. Senator Ossoff, your candidacy now is suffering from what I know candidates
29:52like you worry about, and that is other people's confidence that you are going to win. But I think
29:59you have to recognize what we are seeing nationwide here on the issues, what we've seen in the elections
30:07this year. And now when we see a strong Democratic candidate emerging in Alaska, not only is there
30:15some confidence that you're going to win, but there is a building possibility toward confidence that the
30:21Democrats could win back the Senate. Lawrence, thank you for having me. And here's how to look at it.
30:29We have huge momentum because this president and his agenda and his enablers in Congress
30:37are massively unpopular. They have been stripping the country bare and selling the spare parts to
30:46enrich themselves and their wealthy donors. People are hurting. People are hurting because their health
30:53insurance premiums are skyrocketing. People are hurting because wage growth has stalled. People are
30:58hurting because the tariffs are a disaster. People are hurting because prices keep getting higher and
31:04higher. But complacency and overconfidence are our enemies. We cannot, just because we had some good
31:14results in Virginia and New Jersey, take anything for granted. Remember, I'm the only Democratic senator
31:22defending a seat in a state that the president won. They will spend hundreds of millions of dollars.
31:27They will use every dirty trick in the book. And so if you are furious at the weekly Watergate and
31:35the daily desecration of our nation's highest ideals, I need your help. Here's something you can do
31:41right now that makes a difference. Go to electjohn.com, electjohn.com, and help me win this Senate race in
31:49Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Journal Constitution is reporting 190,000 enrollees on the Affordable Care Act
32:00in Georgia alone apparently have lost their health insurance at this point in the year because of the
32:10Republican refusal to extend the subsidies that those people were enjoying that enabled them to even
32:17afford health insurance. And this is exactly what was predicted in just the beginning. You know, this
32:28is folks in Georgia and across the country who don't have health insurance anymore. Some of them
32:35in the middle of a cancer fight. Some of them fighting diabetes. Some of them already with surgery
32:42scheduled. I'm hearing from my constituents who are in this position every single day. Their premiums have
32:48gone up 100, 200 percent, and folks just can't afford it. It is avoidable human suffering and illness
32:58and even death that's being imposed upon the country by Republican politicians and the White House
33:06here in Washington. And by the way, all three of my opponents oppose extending these ACA tax credits.
33:16Now, my prediction, as the pain grows, as the suffering becomes clearer and clearer, all three of my
33:23opponents will reverse their opposition to extending these tax credits. And a lot of Republicans in Congress
33:30will change their tune too, but too late to prevent so much of the harm that's already been done.
33:37We've seen that in the House of Representatives, where Republicans who voted to inflict this harm
33:41are now trying, some of them now trying to vote their way out of that problem. What is your reaction
33:48when you see Donald Trump stumble over the word affordability every single time the speechwriters
33:54put it in the teleprompter for him every single time? He has to say it's a fake word that you
33:59Democrats
33:59got together and invented some fake word to describe what Americans are facing now.
34:06He doesn't care what working class and middle class Americans are going through and he doesn't know.
34:13There are some folks in the White House who recognize this as the political liability form
34:17and are trying to get him to at least pay lip service to it. But what does Donald Trump care
34:21about above all? Donald Trump cares about retribution. Donald Trump cares about harassing and persecuting
34:29and punishing the people he believes to be his enemies and using the powers of state in order
34:36to manipulate people, whether it's Jay Powell or members of the Senate he doesn't like or others
34:41who he views as his adversaries. Senator John Ossoff, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
34:48Coming up, the pressure Congressman O'Connor is putting on the Trump Justice Department about the Epstein
34:54files is working. Today, a federal judge is demanding answers from the Trump Justice Department.
35:01Congressman O'Connor joins us next.
35:06As of tonight, the Donald Trump control Justice Department has released less than one percent of the Epstein files.
35:12The Department was required to release by law 25 days ago. Today, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmeyer,
35:21who presided over the criminal cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,
35:27ordered the Trump Justice Department to explain by Friday why they have released so little of the Epstein material.
35:34The order also directs the Trump Justice Department to respond to Congressman Ro Khanna and Congressman Thomas Massey,
35:40who are asking the judge to appoint a special master or an independent monitor to oversee the release of the
35:46entire Epstein files.
35:48Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have refused to comply with subpoenas to testify to
35:54the House Oversight Committee.
35:55The New York Times is reporting that committee chairman Republican James Comer, quote,
36:00said he would take steps to hold them in contempt of Congress.
36:05Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, California.
36:07He's a member of the House Oversight Committee.
36:10Congressman Conner, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
36:12You have gotten the judge's attention and he wants answers by Friday.
36:18What are you expecting to hear from the Trump Justice Department?
36:21Well, we were very pleased that Judge Engelmeyer issued the order today, just two days after we sent the letter.
36:29He was very clear. He expects the Department of Justice to explain why they are hiding the documents they are
36:37and what their plan is to be in compliance with the Epstein Transparency Act.
36:42He's also seriously considering appointing a special master who would review all the documents.
36:47And he's asked the Department of Justice to brief that issue.
36:51He's asked Thomas Massey and I to brief that issue, which we will be doing.
36:55And our brief will be due in the next couple of weeks.
36:58And the speed of a judge's response in a situation like this indicates that this judge thinks this is a
37:05very valid point, at least.
37:07It doesn't tell us which way he's going to go, but it certainly tells us that he thinks this is
37:11valid and important.
37:13Absolutely, Lawrence.
37:14Look, he could have just ignored this.
37:16He's under no obligation to respond.
37:19He could have sat on it.
37:21He, within 24 hours, says, I'm going to seriously consider this.
37:26I want to hear the arguments.
37:27I want to make sure that the Epstein Transparency Act is being complied with.
37:31Department of Justice, tell me what your plan is.
37:34Tell me whether this is a good idea or not.
37:36And he's even graciously given Representative Massey and I the opportunity to make our case.
37:42So, so far, he's conducted himself with great integrity and fairness, and I do believe that he can really help
37:50solve this issue.
37:51He can appoint someone who finally gets the files out, and he can also direct the type of files we
37:57need out, like the Section 302 statements where the survivors have named other rich and powerful men who abused them.
38:06Should Bill and Hillary Clinton comply with the subpoenas to your committee?
38:12Well, they should come before the committee, but their point was, in my view, a fair one.
38:17And what they're saying is, one, they want to testify publicly, not behind closed doors.
38:22And two, there are all these other people that we should be calling, people who are directly implicated with Epstein,
38:29that we should be calling Pam Bondi before the committee who hasn't complied with the laws.
38:33I mean, Bill Clinton was president in 1992, and there are other relevant people.
38:38So, my understanding is that they're open to coming, they should come, but this cannot become a witch hunt for
38:45the Clintons.
38:46It needs to be about the survivors and justice.
38:49What are these next steps for you in the committee, in terms of the investigation the committee is conducting?
38:57Well, we just got the state accountant and lawyers subpoenaed.
39:04That was a big deal.
39:05I want to credit the ranking member Garcia and the entire committee for doing that.
39:09And so, they will be coming before the committee.
39:12We're still getting documents from the Epstein estate.
39:15And the committee is going to continue to put pressure on the Justice Department.
39:19I heard the earlier segment about Chair Whitehouse when we take back the Senate.
39:24Well, we're going to have Chair Garcia when we take back the House.
39:27And those people in the Justice Department who are not complying are going to face a new oversight committee.
39:35And so, it is very, very important for people at the Justice Department to understand they have a legal obligation
39:41to comply.
39:42And this is going to be a huge priority for the oversight committee when we're in the majority.
39:46Congressman Roe Cano, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
Comments