Ro Khanna says Trump "would have fired" Howard Lutnick if he'd seen his testimony on Epstein

[0:00] The House Oversight Committee questions Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick today as part of its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. [0:07] So committee members are coming out of that hearing right now. [0:09] You see that they're gathering to speak to reporters. [0:11] So let's go ahead and listen in to what happened just moments ago. [0:14] You know why that interview was not videotaped? [0:19] If Donald Trump had seen the video transcript, he would have fired Howard Lutnick. [0:26] It was really embarrassing. [0:28] He was asked very straightforward questions about whether he regretted misleading the American people. [0:37] I mean, he said that he would never see Epstein again in 2005. [0:43] And everyone knows that he took his wife and kids to see Epstein in 2012. [0:48] And yet it was just contortions and lies and no acknowledgement that he misled the American public. [0:55] And if you saw the exchanges that my colleagues had with him, you would see he made a force of the English language. [1:03] I mean, he was trying to define I as if saying that what he really meant is that he would not see Epstein alone, [1:15] but would be totally fine with having his wife and kids see Epstein. [1:19] It made no sense. [1:20] And then he's raised even more serious concerns about the investigation. [1:25] He originally had said that Epstein engaged in blackmail and recorded videotapes. [1:33] Now he's saying, well, he was wrong. [1:35] He was just speculating and Epstein actually didn't engage in blackmailing. [1:40] This raises the question of what the cover up is. [1:43] Did someone tell him to say that? [1:45] I've not heard that he is that Epstein never engaged in blackmail. [1:49] Why is Howard Lutnick changing his testimony, changing his story? [1:54] He's lost all credibility. [1:56] And really, it's a shame that the American people don't get to see what he did there. [2:02] Total lack of truth and lack of honesty. [2:07] I agree. [2:08] Howard Lutnick should resign. [2:10] That was absolutely mind boggling what we just heard in the room. [2:14] He was evasive, nervous. [2:16] He was dishonest. [2:17] He would not admit to lying, which he clearly did in the podcast. [2:21] He said he was never in the room with Jeffrey Epstein ever again after the first time he met him. [2:27] Yet, Ben admitted that he was in the room with Jeffrey Epstein. [2:31] I had to ask him whether he and I were in the same room just now. [2:34] Because I couldn't understand his meaning of we were in the same room together. [2:38] And then he said that Jeffrey Epstein was a sick man, [2:43] that he would never want to be in the room with him again. [2:45] Yet, he was in the room with him again when he visited his island where Jeffrey Epstein raped women, underage women. [2:53] And he brought his kids and his friends with him to that island when he met with Jeffrey Epstein. [2:59] He said he never met with Jeffrey Epstein again socially. [3:02] Yet, he admits that that was a social visit to his island. [3:05] And so, he was clearly being dishonest. [3:07] He was clearly being evasive. [3:08] And finally, he doesn't remember why he went to Jeffrey Epstein's island, which is also mind-boggling. [3:14] He somehow remembers going to the island after pictures surfaced of him being at the island. [3:19] But he doesn't remember why he went to the island. [3:21] And we had the emails. [3:22] That's why we found out he was at the island. [3:24] This is absolutely absurd, and he should resign. [3:29] All right. [3:29] Fresh reaction from a couple of Democrats there on that House Oversight Committee. [3:34] We're still waiting to hear from Republicans who are there in Washington taking all of this in. [3:40] But let's go live to Capitol Hill and CBS News Congressional Reporter Torian Smalt. [3:44] Torian, it sounds like they are coming out of there just ready to shape the narrative. [3:49] Any idea whether the American public will get a chance anytime soon, like we saw with the Clintons being deposed in this case? [3:58] Yeah, the through-line read has been the fact that this hasn't been as transparent as they would have liked it to be. [4:04] The difference between this deposition and the ones that happened with the previous president, Bill Clinton, [4:10] and former First Lady Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is that those two were taped, whereas this one is purely transcribed. [4:18] So it's likely that we'll see the transcription or the transcript be released at some later date. [4:25] But, as the Democrats pointed out, Letnick will not be able to receive the same amount of scrutiny [4:31] as the Clintons and others before have had after they talked to this panel. [4:38] I think what was most stunning in what we've heard from Democrats so far [4:43] is the fact that Letnick, the Commerce Secretary for President Trump, [4:48] has recanted and walked back many of his previous statements. [4:52] I have to point out that he said that he hasn't had a conversation, let alone met, with Jeffrey Epstein since 2005. [5:00] We now know that he moved into his New York penthouse that was next door to Jeffrey Epstein in 2005, [5:08] and they had a relationship that extended well into 2012, where he was found, Letnick, [5:15] that is, visiting Epstein's private island. [5:19] We also know, according to people familiar, that Letnick's business ventures had continued with Epstein throughout 2018. [5:29] The extent of that is still unknown, and again, Letnick is not being accused of any wrongdoing, [5:36] but it doesn't sit well with Democrats that Letnick has changed his story several times over. [5:42] I think what was also most instructive, going into this hearing, we heard from James Comer, [5:47] the top Republican and chairman of this committee, and he said that he also had some questions [5:51] about the validity as to some of the claims that Letnick had made. [5:56] And just to lay out the timeline again, in January, the Trump administration released information [6:02] related to the so-called Epstein files. [6:05] That was compelled by one man we just heard from there, which is Congressman Ro Khanna. [6:10] He and Thomas Massey, the Republican from Kentucky, compelled the release of this [6:16] through what is known as a discharge petition that became a resolution forcing the release of this. [6:22] We've heard since then Democrats complain about the fact that not all material have been released since then. [6:28] According to a few Democrats on this panel, they still say there are about a million or so documents [6:34] that have not been made public yet. [6:37] We'll see if this would at all renew that push to compel the Justice Department to follow the law [6:42] now that it is law. [6:44] All right. [6:44] We hope to see that transcript soon. [6:46] Torian, we know you're chasing it. [6:47] Thank you so much. [6:48] Live from Capitol Hill.