Ro Khanna says Pam Bondi still needs to testify to Congress over Epstein files: Full interview

[0:02] Welcome back. And joining me now is Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California. [0:06] Congressman Khanna, welcome back to Meet the Press. [0:09] Thank you. Happy Easter. Happy Easter to everyone. [0:11] Happy Easter to you. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. We appreciate your being here. [0:15] I have to start by getting your reaction to this [0:17] rescue mission of the second pilot that was shot down over Iran. [0:22] Well, I am relieved. And what an extraordinary achievement of our troops. I mean, they [0:27] really deserve to be commended. But you know what the thing, [0:30] Kristen, is, is that the president is really failing them to have a tweet this morning [0:37] cursing out and threatening war crimes, to be saying that we've destroyed the ballistic missile [0:44] capacity of Iran and yet having troops flying over that are being shot at. We need to end this war [0:50] now. We need an immediate ceasefire. Iran, Israel and the United States need to stop bombing and [0:57] have a negotiated settlement. Would you be OK, though, [1:00] with leaving Iran without the Strait of Hormuz being reopened? President Trump has set that [1:05] deadline for Monday, saying there are going to be significant consequences if it's not reopened. [1:10] Let me tell you what won't reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening war crimes of bombing [1:15] indiscriminately power plants, cursing at Iran. What we need is statesmanship like President [1:21] Obama had. What we need to do is to stop the bombing, have a ceasefire, and then to work [1:26] with Oman, to work with China, to work with the Gulf allies and European countries. [1:30] We need to have a solution to allow the Strait of Hormuz to be open. But it's not going to happen [1:35] by massive escalation. Is there any scenario where you would support new funding if it was [1:40] determined necessary for the readiness of the military? No, I'm not supporting new funding. [1:46] I mean, they're asking for $400 billion. I know you asked Senator Kaine and Representative Lawler, [1:50] the answer for every Democrat should be absolutely no. Absolutely no. We don't need to read it. [1:56] We don't need to study it. It's $400 billion for a war, [2:00] we oppose. We could have universal child care for that. We could have free public college for that. [2:06] We could pay teachers $60,000 for that. I call it new economic patriotism. Democrats need to oppose [2:11] this funding and say we're actually for the American people. Well, let's talk about the [2:15] other big news at the White House this week. President Trump firing Attorney General Pam [2:20] Bondi. The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee says he still wants to hear from Pam [2:25] Bondi with her deposition scheduled for April 14th. [2:30] Pam Bondi still needs to come and testify even though she is now a private citizen, Congressman. [2:36] Yes. I mean, if we could chase Hillary Clinton, who hasn't been in office for 20 years, [2:41] certainly we can get Pam Bondi to explain why she covered up documents, why we haven't had [2:46] prosecutions. But, Kristen, the most important thing is there need to be two tests for this next [2:50] attorney general. First, the Senate needs to fight to make sure that they commit to releasing [2:56] all Epstein files with no redactions other than survivors. And second, [3:00] they need to begin investigations and prosecutions. There are people like [3:04] Les Wexner and Leon Black who have allegedly have such horrific abuse that there has not [3:09] been any investigation. You have been calling for all of the Epstein files to be released. [3:14] You've spearheaded that effort, in fact. Congressman, what exactly are you going to [3:19] do in this new phase now that the president's moving toward a new attorney general to make [3:24] sure that all of the files are released? What can you do? Well, first, we're going to make [3:28] this the issue for any new attorney general. [3:30] And people say, well, OK, they're going to come before the Senate and they may tell the [3:34] Senate one thing and do something else. Well, then that new attorney general will face the [3:38] same consequences as Pam Bondi, because there are Republicans on the Oversight Committee who [3:43] are insisting on the release of full files. And there are a lot of the survivors who talk to me, [3:47] who text me to this day saying, why aren't these people being prosecuted? [3:51] So I'm going to continue to work in a bipartisan coalition, as Thomas Massey and I have, [3:55] with Nancy Mace, with Lauren Boebert, with other people on oversight like Tim Burchard, [4:00] hold this Epstein class accountable and make sure the new attorney general actually follows the law. [4:05] Let me ask you, because you've asked for King Charles to meet with Epstein survivors when he [4:11] visits the United States later this month. And the same request came from the family of Virginia [4:16] Giuffre. She's, of course, a survivor of the Epstein's abuse. She died by suicide tragically [4:22] last year. As you know, former Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal titles over his [4:28] associations with Epstein. What exactly? [4:30] Are you hoping and thinking that Epstein's survivors will get from a conversation with the [4:36] king? Well, the Epstein survivors want this, not just Virginia Giuffre's family, but other [4:42] survivors. They want someone powerful who to acknowledge that what they've been through. [4:48] They want them to to be have justice for people who abuse them. And actually, [4:54] Britain has been ahead of where we have been. They've been prosecuting Mendelsohn and prosecuting [5:00] former Prince Andrew. And the king has an opportunity to say, look, the modern British [5:05] monarchy isn't going to be with the Epstein class, isn't going to just be fighting for the rich and [5:10] powerful. We are going to stand with these survivors. It would be an extraordinary moment. [5:16] It would be extraordinary. Do you have any indication that that is something that is [5:19] going to happen? Well, I gave a long interview in The Times this morning, which the ambassador and [5:25] others tell me the king read. So I'm hoping he will really do it. He doesn't have to discuss [5:29] the details of any of the cases. I'm hoping he will do it. I'm hoping he will do it. I'm hoping he [5:30] will do it. I'm hoping he will do it. I'm hoping he will do it. I'm hoping he will do it. [5:31] It would be an extraordinary moment and it would mean a tremendous amount to the survivors. [5:35] All right. I do want to ask you, here we are in the midst of the midterms. You're someone who's [5:39] been quite outspoken. You have made several appearances on a show hosted by socialist [5:45] commentator Hassan Piker. Some of your fellow Democrats, though, have raised alarms about [5:51] his views. Here are two members of a left-leaning think tank. This is how they put it. They wrote, [5:57] quote, [6:00] Now, Hassan Piker says some of his comments have been taken out of context, but he largely [6:24] stands by them. Do you have any regrets about appearing on his show? [6:29] None. And I would go again. But I, of course, [6:30] condemn those comments. I mean, I've described Hamas as a terrorist state and we need to [6:36] unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism. But Hassan Piker was at the DNC in 2024 covering [6:42] Vice President Harris. What should the standard of the Democrats be? Should we not go on Theo [6:47] Vaughn? Should we not go on Sean Ryan? Should we not go on Joe Rogan? Should we just have [6:52] these purity tests of canceling folks? The lesson of the last election is we've got to [6:56] be out there. We've got to engage. It's a complex, messy, multiracial democracy. [7:00] I will defend my views, but the people who are saying don't engage will cost us future [7:06] elections. Do you run the risk of legitimizing some of those views by appearing on his show? [7:12] How do you answer that? He's got millions of followers. He'll have millions of followers [7:16] whether Ro Khanna goes on his show or not. The point is that we should go on and have [7:22] tough conversations. You know, actually, I respect Rahm Emanuel. Rahm Emanuel says he'll go on. [7:26] And if he makes a comment that I disagree with, [7:30] he'll push back right there. So I think the test should be what you say. If someone is [7:35] going on these programs and not pushing back against anti-Semitism, fine. But, you know, [7:42] I haven't done the background check on you, Chris, and I'm sure there are no crazy comments. [7:46] I've not said anything like that. I can assure you that. Where do you draw the line, Congressman? [7:51] Would you appear on, for example, a right-leaning show, Alex Jones, for example, who has made [7:57] controversial comments that have enraged people, hurt people? [8:00] Yeah. [8:00] People deeply in some instances. [8:02] Look, there is obviously a line, and I probably wouldn't appear on Alex Jones. But [8:08] the point is, I don't think that that line should be with Hassan Piker, [8:12] who has millions of followers and largely what his view has been has been critical of the blank [8:19] check that we gave Netanyahu in the war in Gaza. Now, I don't agree with every one of his [8:24] statements, and it's a judgment call. But here's what I will say, Kristen. The Democratic Party [8:29] has been too reluctant to do that. And I don't think that's the case. [8:30] I think the Democratic Party has been too reluctant to get out there, to mix it up, to engage. [8:35] And we should be on actually being doing more of these things. We should have done more interviews [8:40] during 2024. [8:41] You know, Vice President Vance was on like three Sunday shows in a row. I was like, where [8:45] are our folks? We've got to be out engaging in the media, out engaging in podcasts, out [8:50] engaging in communities, and offering our vision going forward. [8:54] OK. You're obviously someone who's getting a lot of buzz for 2028. Have you made that [8:57] decision yet? [8:58] I'm focused first on 2026. We're going to win. We're going to win. We're going to win. [8:59] We're going to win. We're going to win. We're going to win. We're going to win. We're going to win. [8:59] We're going to win. We're going to win. We've got to stop Trump's corruption and lawlessness. [9:03] But I have an economic vision, a vision of what we're going to do with AI to prevent [9:08] job loss, a vision of what we're going to do, economic patriotism, to create jobs across [9:12] this country, lower costs. And that needs to be what the Democrats are focused on. [9:16] So not ruling it out, Congressman, is what I hear. [9:19] I've got an economic vision, but we've got to win first for the House. [9:22] All right. Well, listen, thank you so much for being here. I hope you have a great Easter [9:25] holiday. [9:26] Same to you, Kristen. [9:27] Thank you, Congressman. [9:28] We thank you for watching. [9:29] And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch [9:34] live on our YouTube channel.