PRESS CONFERENCE: Schumer Accuses Trump Administration Of Epstein Cover-Up

[0:05] Okay, it's afternoon. Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you all for coming. [0:13] I'm joined by Senators Durbin, Merkley, Gallego, and that's it. [0:19] We may have a few more coming. [0:22] Well, it's been 99 days since Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. [0:29] The American people sent Donald Trump a clear and simple demand, release the Epstein Files. [0:38] Donald Trump said he wants to turn the page on the Epstein Files. [0:42] Democrats are not going to let Donald Trump turn the page. [0:49] It was not a suggestion, not a request. [0:52] The law requires the DOJ to release all the files, not just some of the files, [0:57] not just the ones they pick and choose and want to do. [1:00] Since then, we've seen the Justice Department break the law [1:04] and continue to hide the truth from the American people. [1:08] Let me be blunt. [1:10] There is a massive cover-up. [1:11] going on in the Justice Department to protect Donald Trump [1:15] and people associated with Jeffrey Epstein. [1:18] As we expected, Trump, Bondi, and their missions and their minions have played [1:23] games with the release of these files. [1:25] They release some documents that they want to release and continue to hide others. [1:31] The American people see right through it, and they're all asking the obvious [1:35] question, what is Bondi trying to hide? [1:38] President Trump, what are you trying to hide? [1:42] That's the question. [1:43] The American people. [1:44] The American people are asking. [1:45] Senate Democrats' Epstein Working Group, including my colleagues here with me, [1:49] have been preparing for this very scenario. [1:52] We saw what they were doing. [1:54] And so we're working with victims' attorneys. [1:57] We're working with legal experts. [1:58] We're working with people very familiar with this case to ensure full compliance of the law. [2:03] We know the administration's withholding some documents unlawfully. [2:08] Yesterday, news outlets reported that several memos detailing a woman's accusation against the president, [2:14] from when she was a minor, have been withheld from the public. [2:21] We know they're abusing redactions to hide the truth. [2:24] Hundreds of pages are completely blacked out. [2:28] Co-conspirator identities remain hidden while survivors have been exposed. [2:32] We're here today to put a shot across the bow with the Department of Justice and the Trump administration that we are going to reveal this massive coverup. [2:42] We will not rest. [2:43] It's an all-out oversight effort. [2:45] We're going to pull on every thread. [2:47] We're going to chase every lead. [2:48] We'll talk with whistleblowers. [2:49] lowers, we will get to the truth. Our working group Senate Democrats will go review the unredacted [2:59] files in the coming days. Let me repeat that. Our working group Senate Democrats will go review [3:07] the unredacted files in the coming days. Pam Bondi should listen carefully. The truth will come out. [3:15] The whole ugly truth about what she's doing to protect people in the files will come out. [3:20] The whole world is going to know exactly what she knew, when she knew it, and what she did to cover [3:28] it up. Democrats are going to hold Pam Bondi and everyone involved at the DOJ accountable for this [3:35] cover-up. Today we are demanding that Department of Justice and the FBI preserve records on what [3:43] transpired behind the scenes. We want to know who was involved in the decision to hide the truth [3:47] and a warning to the Trump cronies working on this. We will know if you are destroying documents [3:53] and evidence. [3:54] You will not outrun the law. You will not outrun the truth. This isn't political. The survivors [4:02] deserve the truth and the American people are demanding it. Democrats and Republicans agree [4:08] the American people deserve the truth. So Donald Trump, stop hiding, stop delaying, come clean [4:15] with the American people, and if you don't, Democrats will make sure that the truth comes out. [4:22] Our next speaker is Senator Durbin. [4:32] Thanks, Senator Schumer. [4:33] With the Epstein Files, the Trump administration had an opportunity to secure a win for survivors, [4:41] for accountability, and for transparency. But after mishandling the files for a year, [4:47] it took an act of Congress to force Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to even consider providing justice. [4:56] Even after the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Trump administration [5:01] decided to violate federal law to protect the rich and powerful. [5:07] The law required... [5:07] the bill required DOJ to produce the files by December 19th. Yet the vast majority of [5:13] those files were not produced until January 30th, 42 days later. Department of Justice [5:20] has violated the legislation's protection for victims by publishing records without [5:25] redacting personally identifiable information of victims, including nude photos where their [5:32] names and faces could be identified. In sharp contrast, other produced records heavily redacted [5:38] information, identifying the victims' faces, including nude photos of those who were found, [5:39] and a record of their faces being redacted. At the same time, the bill requires the public [5:39] to be aware of all the information available to them. The bill requires the public to be aware [5:40] of all the information available to them. At the same time, the bill requires the public to be aware of all the [5:40] powerful business and political figures who are alleged conspirators or material [5:45] witnesses to Epstein's crimes. Violations of the Epstein Files Transparency Act [5:51] continue as the Department of Justice has yet to produce all Epstein related [5:56] records required by law and has removed thousands of records from the website [6:01] beyond those that inappropriately identify victims. Keep in mind a [6:08] whistleblower told my office that FBI agents reviewing the Epstein files were [6:13] instructed to flag any records that mentioned President Donald Trump. This [6:19] disclosure is even more damning in light of yesterday's bombshell. The New York [6:23] Times report that the Justice Department failed to disclose documents related to [6:27] a woman who alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her when she was a minor. [6:31] Simply put, Pam Bondi and Kash Patel have mismanaged these records during their [6:37] tenure in office. [6:38] That's all I have to say. [6:39] That is why as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I'm joining our [6:42] leader Charles Schumer in a letter to the Justice Department and FBI requesting the [6:48] preservation of records related to the management of the Epstein files over the [6:52] course of the Trump administration. Preserving federal records and [6:57] safeguarding information critical to congressional oversight is a legal [7:00] obligation that all department employees are required to meet. As I told General [7:06] Bondi during last year's Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, quote, [7:09] eventually you're going to have to answer for your conduct in this. You won't do it [7:15] today but eventually you will. The survivors deserve better. It's clear that [7:21] Donald Trump and his Republican enablers are executing a cover-up and conceal [7:25] strategy. Heads are rolling at the highest levels of the United Kingdom. [7:29] Will heads roll in the United States? When will the Trump administration come [7:35] clean with the survivors and the American people? The sooner the better. [7:39] Next I believe Senator Blum will come forward. [7:41] The Epstein Files Transparency Act that I introduced with Ben Ray Lujan in the Senate [7:54] was crystal clear. [7:56] No record shall be withheld, delayed or redacted on the basis of any of the following embarrassment, [8:02] reputational harm, political sensitivity, including any government official, public [8:06] figure or foreign dignitary. [8:09] Well here we are. [8:10] Those 99 days have passed and what we have seen is the files have not been released according [8:16] to the law. [8:18] We have seen that victims' names and photos that were supposed to be redacted weren't [8:23] redacted and all kinds of redactions appear to have occurred for folks who are potential [8:30] perpetrators. [8:32] And we're seeing the Epstein Files reverberate across the world. [8:39] The Prime Minister of Norway, the former ambassador from Britain to the United States, King Charles' [8:47] brother. [8:49] But what about here in the United States? [8:50] Why is there no accountability here in the United States of America for these atrocious [8:55] crimes? [8:56] The place where they occurred. [9:00] We know that there were about 6 million pages of which only somewhat over 3 million have [9:05] been released. [9:07] We want those other 3 million released. [9:08] And among them are these 50 pages that entail, as the New York Times said, claims made in [9:16] 2019 by a woman who came forward after Mr. Epstein's arrest to say she'd been sexually [9:21] assaulted by both Mr. Trump and President Trump. [9:23] And it goes on to say that there were four interviews with this woman and only one of [9:33] those interviews was released. [9:36] Where are the other three? [9:37] Now we know the other three exist because they are in the index and yet the pages are [9:44] missing. [9:46] How can anyone justify that these interviews have not been released? [9:53] So that is a massive cover up by this administration. [9:56] It's a massive cover up. [9:57] It's a massive cover up. [9:58] It's an unacceptable cover up. [10:01] We also know from the Telegraph that there are six secret storage units rented across [10:08] the country by Epstein that may have contained information that the Department of Justice [10:12] hasn't apparently attempted to retrieve. [10:17] By unanimous consent, the Senate said, yes, we passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. [10:26] Senator Schumer came forward and tried to strengthen that act with some real penalties [10:31] and the Republican whip objected. [10:32] Well, for the record, the Republican whip objected. [10:35] Well, if Republicans were with us on seeking full disclosure, why object to putting more [10:41] teeth into this bill? [10:43] We all together, Democrats and Republicans, should be saying yes on transparency for the [10:49] public, yes on accountability for the perpetrators, and yes for the closest thing we can get to [10:58] justice for the victims. [11:00] Senator Gallego has been relentless on this. [11:06] Thank you. [11:07] As we stated, Prince's CEO is the most powerful person in the country. [11:09] He's the most powerful person in the country. [11:10] He's the most powerful man in the world. [11:11] We have a conflict of the mind here. [11:12] You know, these powerful men in the world are being held accountable everywhere except [11:13] the United States, where we are supposed to be a country of equal justice under the law. [11:20] We are actually proving quite the opposite. [11:22] You know, what we're proving here right now, what the Republicans are proving right now [11:26] with the help of Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi is that if you are part [11:30] of the Epstein class, if you are rich enough, you are powerful enough, you can do some really [11:34] horrific things. [11:37] Raping children. [11:38] Raping women. [11:40] in sex trafficking and this administration the Republicans will [11:44] engage in an active cover-up for you and even more so now we're getting we're [11:50] getting more reports of some real serious allegations of this president [11:54] from a minor a woman who was a minor that is accusing the president of some [11:59] very serious serious crimes the American public deserves to know what happened [12:04] who was involved not just President Trump but everyone else involved all [12:08] these powerful men that are still walking around the United States right [12:11] now we're only talking about a couple years removed okay with decade removed [12:15] from a lot of these allegations these men are still in power these men are [12:20] still potentially victimizing women victimizing children and the fact that [12:26] this administration is actively covering up past crimes potential means they're [12:30] covering up current crimes it's time for us to have full transparency it's time [12:35] for us to have accountability it's time for us to throw some people in jail [12:39] behind bars and put them behind bars and put them behind bars and put them [12:39] behind bars and put them behind bars behind bars and put them behind bars and [12:41] against kids in this country and the fact that Donald Trump and the [12:45] Republicans after talking a big game for so many years about going after [12:49] pedophiles are actively covering up for pedophiles right now should tell you [12:53] exactly what is wrong with this administration I unfortunately gonna [12:59] have to go read those redacted files next week it's one of those things that [13:04] you the disgusting nature what I'm gonna [13:07] find on there is going to you know probably make [13:09] make me very ill, but because we have an administration that's actively covering up for pedophiles, [13:18] we have to take this step, and we have to take this step to keep them accountable and [13:21] to expose all these pedophiles that are still in power right now all over this country. [13:27] Thank you. [13:29] There's one more point, which this article from the New York Times shows. [13:35] More and more keeps coming out, and the more that comes out, the more we see how large [13:41] their cover-up has been. [13:44] Questions on this subject? [13:45] What? [13:46] Yes, in the back. [13:51] Yeah, we're all going together. [13:52] Yeah, I mentioned that in my remarks. [13:54] Yes. [13:55] Yeah. [13:56] Yes. [13:57] I don't know if we're going together. [13:58] We're all going, and we have set up appointments to go. [14:00] Yes. [14:10] Well, the bottom line is the Republicans all voted for it, every single one, and we're [14:15] going to keep at it. [14:16] We're going to use every strategy we can, going to the Justice Department, seeking lawsuits, [14:21] as well as whatever legislative strategies will work. [14:25] Yes. [14:25] Look, all the truth should come out, period. [14:36] Yes. [14:47] As my colleagues well outlined, I agree. [14:49] Yeah. [15:00] All we want is the truth. [15:01] The truth. [15:02] Yes. [15:09] There will be efforts to reach out to everyone who's willing to come forward and speak. [15:13] And do you want to talk about that? [15:20] Preserving evidence. [15:22] Yeah. [15:23] So we can get it. [15:24] Yes. [15:31] Well, let's – we're not going to prejudge. [15:32] Let's see what's in the documents. [15:34] We want to protect people's identities, but we also want the truth to come out, and [15:38] we will walk that line with great vigor. [15:41] Yes. [15:43] You know, we're going to demand justification for any redactions, and if the redactions [16:00] are cover-ups as opposed to protecting identities, we're going to get to the bottom of it. [16:06] Get to the bottom of it. [16:07] Okay? [16:08] Thank you, everybody.