'It's SHAMEFUL': Top Dem reacts to report that House Republicans want to PARDON Ghislaine Maxwell

[0:01] The Democrats in the House Oversight Committee have announced that they are heading to Palm Beach, Florida next week. [0:06] It is a place that obviously houses Donald Trump, but it was also central to Jeffrey Epstein's heinous crimes. [0:13] The Democrats will be hosting a field hearing with many of the survivors of Epstein's abuse, along with crucial witnesses to the investigation. [0:22] Palm Beach is, of course, where Epstein received that controversial sweetheart deal in 2008 [0:27] that allowed him to keep abusing women for more than a decade longer. [0:32] It is also, as we said, home to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, where Epstein is known to have frequented before that plea deal. [0:39] And as The Wall Street Journal reported late last year, Trump's club was, quote, [0:44] sending spa employees, usually young women, to Epstein's nearby mansion for massages, manicures, and other spa services. [0:53] That's according to former Mar-a-Lago and Epstein employees. [0:56] I'm going to bring into our coverage Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California. [1:00] He is the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee. [1:03] Alex is here with me as well. [1:06] Congressman, just take me inside your strategy for the field hearing. [1:09] Look, this is going to be a very important part of our investigation. [1:15] And it's also really important that we hear directly from survivors. [1:19] And so at the center of our hearing is really going to be giving the survivors an opportunity, [1:24] in their own words and in a hearing format, to be able to share their stories and put them into the record [1:31] and to be able to answer questions from the committee. [1:35] Now, we have been saying for many months that it's important that at the end of the day, [1:40] this is about censoring the survivors and their stories. [1:43] We've also heard that people want to hear these stories in a hearing format. [1:48] Republicans have, up to now, refused to do so. [1:52] And so we're hosting this hearing in Palm Beach, one of the key locations in this investigation, [1:58] to allow these survivors to tell their stories and to hear, of course, from others. [2:03] It's also important to note that there is so much reporting about what was actually happening at [2:08] Mar-a-Lago and the connections to Jeffrey Epstein. [2:11] Of course, all of the work that so many lawyers put in place to then only get overturned by Alex Acosta, [2:18] the then U.S. attorney in the actual prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, [2:22] that we feel that this hearing in Palm Beach is going to be an important moment in this broader investigation. [2:28] Congressman, it's Alex Wagner. [2:30] There's some reporting in Politico today that the Oversight Committee members are split on whether to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell [2:35] in order to get her to testify. Can you shed any light on that and what the over-under is on something like that happening? [2:42] I mean, completely outrageous. I can tell you that without a doubt that every single Democratic member of the committee [2:49] opposes a pardon strongly. We are united. We have been in opposing a pardon. [2:54] And the fact that there's reports now that there are Republicans on our committee that support a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell [3:00] is just broadly leads and takes us to essentially them being part of a massive cover-up. [3:06] Why would you want Ghislaine Maxwell, who's a known liar, a sex trafficker, someone who abused women and children herself, [3:13] to get a pardon? We still have no answers as to why she was moved to a less secure prison. [3:18] Why is the now-acting AG meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell? [3:22] And so these are questions that the DOJ has still refused to respond to. [3:28] And the fact that now Republicans want a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, I mean, it's wrong, it's shameful, [3:34] and it's so disrespectful to the survivors who have, by the way, come out strongly opposing a pardon. [3:42] Congressman, the survivors have described in excruciating detail her participation in the sexual assaults. [3:49] What do Republicans say could possibly explain ahead of a midterms where they're predicted to be wiped out politically [4:00] for pardoning a child's rapist? [4:04] I think that, I mean, look, what you're hearing in some of the reporting or from folks on the committee [4:11] is that, you know, apparently some of them think that if they pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, I mean, [4:16] perhaps that they can get more information in the investigation, it's just ridiculous. [4:20] I can make my assumptions as to why they want a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell. [4:24] It's clear. [4:25] Why would she move to a less secure prison? [4:27] I mean, look, someone doesn't want Ghislaine Maxwell to tell the full story. [4:31] Someone or some folks, maybe some of these members of Congress, [4:35] maybe others at the White House, are trying to keep Ghislaine Maxwell [4:39] from incriminating certain people in this massive sex trafficking ring. [4:43] Ghislaine Maxwell has an enormous amount of information. [4:46] And I want to remind folks that we tried to get her to testify already. [4:50] She pled the fifth. [4:51] She won't speak. [4:53] Yet she continues to say that she wants a pardon from the president. [4:57] And the oversight committee members on the Republican side continue to dangle that as a possibility. [5:03] We should be very clear. [5:05] No pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell. [5:06] Well, she should tell the truth under oath. [5:09] And we were going to continue, including in Palm Beach, [5:12] and getting the survivors out in front to tell their stories directly to the American public. [5:17] KERNESON, when you see Donald Trump's plunging poll numbers, [5:21] and you look at the now nine-year pattern of Trump sort of having a political collapse, [5:27] and you track his conduct, his go-to moves are typically more authoritarian in nature. [5:32] And as if on cue, there was an indictment of Jim Comey for posting a message that many members [5:38] inside the MAGA coalition have also posted on social media. [5:42] Do you become more concerned as you go about your aggressive work in investigating Epstein and [5:46] Maxwell that Trump will sick DOJ on you? [5:49] Sure. [5:51] I mean, I'm sure he will likely do that. [5:54] It's just, it's part of this job. [5:55] If you're going to take on Donald Trump, he's going to attack you. [5:58] And he weaponizes the DOJ. [6:00] Look, I had the U.S. attorney, what, eight, nine months ago, [6:04] send me a letter saying he was investigating me for criticizing Elon Musk. [6:09] So this is what, this is what Donald Trump does. [6:12] He weaponizes the DOJ. [6:13] He goes after his political enemies. [6:16] But I think those of us on oversight and doing these investigations, [6:19] you, you got to have, we all have to have courage in this moment. [6:23] We have to stand up to this wannabe king and this wannabe dictator. [6:28] I mean, Donald Trump is obsessed with political retribution and going after his political enemies. [6:33] And we're seeing that, of course, in this case and in others. [6:35] But it's important that members of Congress, that members in the media, [6:39] that those that are, that are judges in our courts, [6:42] that we stand by the Constitution and the people and do the right thing. [6:46] And fortunately, fortunately, a vast majority of these court decisions [6:50] are actually breaking and coming on the side of justice and actually doing the right thing. [6:54] So I expect that that will continue. [6:56] And Donald Trump, we're going to continue to investigate the corruption. [6:59] That ain't going to stop.