‘Find it hard to believe’: Dem Rep. on testimony of Ghislaine Maxwell’s ex-boyfriend

[0:00] Next week, a high-stakes showdown on Capitol Hill over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. [0:04] On Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will appear before the House Oversight Committee [0:08] to answer questions about his relationship with the convicted sex offender. Later this month, [0:13] former Attorney General Pam Bondi will testify after Democrats threatened to hold her in contempt [0:18] after she defied a subpoena and skipped her previously scheduled deposition. Joining me now [0:24] is Virginia Congressman James Walkinsaw. He serves on the House Oversight and Homeland Security [0:29] committees. Congressman, welcome. We have former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who will be coming [0:34] before the Oversight Committee on May 29th, after Democrats filed that civil contempt resolution for [0:40] her not complying with the subpoena to appear. What questions, sir, do you have about her handling [0:45] of the Epstein files? And how concerned are you? Bondi sitting for a transcribed interview, [0:50] not testifying under oath, will allow her to avoid answering questions truthfully? [0:55] Well, the questions I have for her are pretty simple, right? When she was attorney general, [1:01] the buck stopped with her. And we know that the Department of Justice failed to follow the law [1:07] with respect to releasing the files. They didn't release the files by the deadline. They still [1:12] haven't released all the files. They illegally redacted thousands, perhaps tens of thousands [1:17] of thousands of thousands of thousands of files. They released documents that should have been redacted, [1:23] and they revealed information related to survivors that shouldn't have been revealed. I want to know [1:28] who made those decisions. Were there conversations between her and Todd Blanche to redact files? Any [1:35] conversations with the White House? I'm disappointed that it's a transcribed interview rather than a [1:41] deposition. While she won't be under oath, it still is a crime to lie to Congress. So my expectation [1:47] is she'll tell the truth when she's asked questions. Otherwise, she'll be in violation of the law, [1:53] whether she's under oath or not. I'm also hopeful that Chairman Comer will videotape this transcribed [2:00] interview so the public will be able to see it and judge for themselves just as they could with the [2:05] Clinton's deposition. So Ghislaine Maxwell's former boyfriend, I believe his name is Ted Waite, [2:11] if that's how you pronounce it. He testified before the committee Thursday. She dated him in the early [2:16] 2000s after her relationship with Epstein ended, and Democrats said they learned nothing new from his [2:21] testimony. Do you find it credible that he knew nothing about Epstein's crimes? With almost everyone who [2:29] was in the Epstein or Maxwell orbits, especially those who were on the inside of those orbits, [2:37] I find it hard to believe that they never had an inkling of knowledge about the crimes that were [2:43] being committed by Maxwell and Epstein. Ted Waite's in that category. For me, as you noted, they [2:48] were in a romantic relationship for a long period of time. Maxwell was committing crimes with Epstein [2:54] at that same time. He claimed to have heard no evil and saw no evil. The most common phrase, I think, [3:02] in his interview with us is, I don't recall. There were a lot of conversations and things that he [3:07] couldn't recall. So I find it hard to believe that you could have no knowledge that your romantic [3:14] partner was involved in these kinds of very serious crimes. But that's what he said. [3:20] One of Epstein's guards, as you know, is expected to testify May 18th before the—in front of the [3:28] committee. I believe the last person reportedly to see Epstein alive. What questions do you have for [3:34] her? What do you expect to hear? So Tova Noel, one of the prison guards, before Epstein's death in the [3:43] weeks leading up to his death, made a series of very large cash deposits into her bank account, [3:51] much larger than you would expect maybe a prison guard to be able to make. There's reporting from [3:56] the Miami Herald and multiple sources that Epstein was paying at some point in time protection [4:03] payments to personnel at the prison there. Obviously, those large cash deposits are a huge, [4:10] huge question mark. I want to understand what, if anything, was going on there. And there are new [4:16] questions now around Epstein's death and the existence of a suicide note from his previous suicide [4:24] attempt that has been sealed by a court in New York. So there's just a lot of questions still [4:30] surrounding his death and the circumstances around it. I'm hopeful that you'll be able to shed some light [4:36] on that. Okay. Congressman James Walkinshaw, good to have you on the show. Thank you, sir.