Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / House Votes on Epstein Disclosure as Speaker Johnson warns 'Could Revictimize Victims’

Transcript

House Votes on Epstein Disclosure as Speaker Johnson warns 'Could Revictimize Victims’ · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: He doesn't want it to be a circus. But I
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: got news for you. The clown car is coming because
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: it's not just Hakim Jeffries in this challenger at Chiosa.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: It's Dan Goldman facing a primary challenger. It's Grace mang
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: facing a primary challenger. It's Richie Torres facing a primary challenger.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: There's going to be a leftist bloodbath to replace Jerry Nadler,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: who's not retiring. All of the people competing for these
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: seats are going to fall over themselves to be out
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: lefting each other.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Good Wednesday morning.
• 0:30
  Speaker 4: Nice have you with us on the forty seven Morning Update,
• 0:33
  Speaker 4: And we've got one big story for you, and it.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: Involves the Epstein files or papers.
• 0:39
  Speaker 4: Republicans and Democrats in a bipartisan way, passing it to
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: expose all of it out of the House of Representatives.
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: There's just one problem with this legislation. It may not
• 0:51
  Speaker 4: protect Epstein's victims.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: So now the real work is going to have to
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: be done in the Senate.
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: We'll break it all down for you, but at first
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: I want to tell you about an amazing opportunity right
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: now that I'm involved in and I cannot wait for
• 1:07
  Speaker 4: you to take advantage of it. I want you to
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: take some incredible courses at Hillsdale College for free. You
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: may not know this, but Hillsdale College has been influencing
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: conservatives like myself for decades. They had a huge impact
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: on Charlie Kirk's life, and even as memorial service, they
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: talked about how Charlie took class after class after class
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: at Hillsdale College. Hillsdale College is now offering for you,
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: the listeners of this show, more than forty free I
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: want to say that again, free online courses. That's right,
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: more than forty free online courses. You can learn about
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: the works of C. S. Lewis, the stories in the
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: Book of Genesis, the meaning of the US Constitution, the
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: rise and fall of the Roman Republic, or the history
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: of the ancient Christian Church, all with Hillsdale coll just
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: free online courses. Right now, I'm personally taking The Constitution
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: one oh one, and this course you're going to exploit
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: the design and the purpose of the Constitution, the challenges
• 2:11
  Speaker 4: that faced during the Civil War, and how it has
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: been undermined for more than a century. By radical progressives
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: and liberals. This twelve lecture course is self pace. It's
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: another reason why I love it. So start whenever and
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: wherever in our country. We need more Americans like you
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: and I than understand the Constitution and can defend the
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: freedom of the American people against the left, and they're
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: increasing encroachments on our God given rights. So start your
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: classes today for free. Start your free Constitution one oh
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: one course right now.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: How do you do it?
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: Go to Hillsdale dot edu slash Morning Update to enroll
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: and it's no cost.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: It's easy to get started.
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: You got to use a special website, Hillsdale dot edu
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: slash Morning Update in role for free Hillsdale dot edu
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: slash Morning Update. It's the forty seven Morning Update and
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: it starts right now. Story number one, it's all about transparency.
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: That is what President Trump promised when he was elected president.
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: Yet again exposing mud that the government was hiding from
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: all of us. We now know that it's moving forward
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: with the Epstein papers. I call them papers because it
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: is a lie to say that there is an Epstein file.
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: There are a lot of documents to deal with Jeffrey Epstein,
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: but it is not a file in the way that
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: it was described before Donald Trump became president. You know
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: when the Democrats were trying to weaponize it. Well, now
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: we know we're going to get to see those files
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: or those papers. As a Speaker of the House, Mike
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: Johnson led the way with a House vote in favor
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: of disclosing exactly what we have at the DOJ. He
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: stated publicly to press conference, I'm going to vote to
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: move this forward. Despite describing the bill as a recklessly
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: flawed bill, Johnson also said that the measure is a
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: way to demonstrate transparency and there's nothing to hide, specifically
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: in the context of responding to allegations that the files
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: might implicate Donald Trumper be used as a political weapon.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: Now, Johnson went to the floor of the House.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: And repeatedly called the bill dangerously flawed because he believes
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: it lacks sufficient protection for victims, whistle blowers, and innocent
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: third parties whose names might appear in the files. He
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: criticized how the bill was drafted, for example, pointing out
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: that the authors of the discharged petition had signed the
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: wrong section of the US Code and that the legislation
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: could force the release of child sexual abuse material due
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: to imprecise language. Johnson also emphasized that the House cannot
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: amend the bill under the discharge petition process, so he
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: wants to senate via the Majority Leader John Thum, to
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: make corrections before final passage. He said he's been working
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: with a small army of lawyers on this issue. He
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: also accused Democrats forcing what he called a political show
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: vote on this issue and said it was irresponsible how
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: it is happening. I want you to hear Speaker Johnson
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: in his own words from the House talking about this
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: before the vote.
• 5:41
  Speaker 5: Democrats are using the Epstein tragedy, the unspeakable evils that
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: this guy committed with his trafficking ring, and all of
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: the abuses that they that they made these young women
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: go through. They're using that as a political weapon to
• 5:55
  Speaker 5: try to distract from their failures as a party and
• 5:58
  Speaker 5: to try their best to try to high President Trump
• 6:01
  Speaker 5: somehow into this wretched scandal. The President had nothing to
• 6:04
  Speaker 5: do with it. He's been very clear and he has
• 6:06
  Speaker 5: nothing to hide, and that's why he's endorsed the vote today.
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: I suspect this vote will be probably unanimous. But here's
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: the important point that everybody needs to understand we have
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: been advocates of maximum transparency, but we have also insisted
• 6:19
  Speaker 5: that the victims be carefully protected. The Oversight Committee has
• 6:24
  Speaker 5: been doing extraordinary work, and we've got some of the
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: most vigorous advocates on the Republican and Democrat side on
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: the Oversight Committee. They've been working in earnest to deliver
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: transparency for the American people and to do it in
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: a responsible manner. What do we mean by that, the
• 6:39
  Speaker 5: bypart is an effort over there is already producing all
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: the results that the discharged petition seeks and much much more.
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: Chairman Comer and all of these advocates over there have
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: been releasing thousands of documents, for example, from the Epstein estate.
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: By the way, in my.
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: View, that's been the greatest treasure trove of information because
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: it's yielded for us Epstein's own personal flight logs, his
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: financial records, his daily calendars, and so much more. But importantly,
• 7:06
  Speaker 5: none of that was addressed or is addressed, and the
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: legislation that's being voted on today, the estate files wouldn't
• 7:12
  Speaker 5: even have been encompassed in that. And so it goes
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: to show that the Oversight Committee is doing it from
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: the direct way. From the very beginning, we've been insistent
• 7:19
  Speaker 5: that this matter be handled carefully, with the utmost caution
• 7:22
  Speaker 5: and care for the people who have been harmed. They
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: should not be made to suffer any longer. We're talking
• 7:28
  Speaker 5: about real people's lives at stake here, and young victims
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: who don't want to be dragged into this political game
• 7:35
  Speaker 5: that could get hurt further. But the Democrats are rushing
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: the release of thousands of unsubstantiated documents that may be
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: included in this that are going to be in the
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: public domain with the passage of this bill. And there
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: are serious deficiencies in the legislation that I have noted
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: at length, and Republicans have to work to address those
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: deficiencies in the Senate if and when this legislation is advanced.
• 7:56
  Speaker 5: I stood before the American public today at our press
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: conference and I explained and tale the dangers of the
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: discharge petition. We have posted at my website Speaker dot
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: gov a summary. The legal Council, a small army of
• 8:09
  Speaker 5: lawyers put this together. I used to be a federal
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: court litigator. Many of my colleagues who have spoken today
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: were we understand the dangers of how this was haphazardly
• 8:16
  Speaker 5: drawn up and among them. By the way, mister Speaker,
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: before I forget seeking AMAS consent to enter into this
• 8:22
  Speaker 5: document of the record, it is that. It's on the website.
• 8:25
  Speaker 5: It's entitled how the flaws of HR forty four h
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: five could revictimize Epstein's victims, create new victims, and damage
• 8:33
  Speaker 5: the judicial system. It is dated today, thank you, and
• 8:37
  Speaker 5: it summarizes just five or six of the major concerns.
• 8:40
  Speaker 5: Among them, it fails to fully protect victim privacy, It
• 8:44
  Speaker 5: could create new categories of victims. It potentially jeopardizes grand
• 8:48
  Speaker 5: jury secrecy. It fails to prohibit release of child sexual
• 8:51
  Speaker 5: abuse materials that are not appropriately defined in the legislation.
• 8:55
  Speaker 5: It jeopardizes future federal investigations, and we have national security
• 8:59
  Speaker 5: currentcerns regarding classified information. We'll put this in the record
• 9:03
  Speaker 5: because we need the legislative record to reflect what is
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: the legislative intent behind this vote. I used to litigate cases.
• 9:09
  Speaker 5: We would litigate federal statutes and whether or not they
• 9:12
  Speaker 5: could survive, and legislative intent is important, and we need
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: to say clearly for the record. As a Speaker of
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: the House, I'm saying to you this legislation that will
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: pass today is flawed and it must be amended. The
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: question is why didn't we amend it here before we
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: passed it because the authors won't allow it because under
• 9:26
  Speaker 5: the rules of the House in our discharge petition, they
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: have to agree to consent for the legislation to be amended,
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: and they are not doing that. So now we rely
• 9:33
  Speaker 5: upon our partners in the other chamber to get that done,
• 9:36
  Speaker 5: and they need to do that. The victims deserve our
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: utmost respect. In fact, they should be saluted for their courage.
• 9:42
  Speaker 5: And the young women who have not come forward who
• 9:44
  Speaker 5: are now some of them are middle h women who
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: have not come forward, also deserve our respect and they
• 9:49
  Speaker 5: deserve to be protected. Republicans support transparency. We want maximum transparency,
• 9:54
  Speaker 5: especially when it comes to disclosing the names of anybody
• 9:56
  Speaker 5: who had anything to do with these evils, anybody who
• 9:59
  Speaker 5: can inspired with or aid it in any way. Jeffrey Epstein,
• 10:04
  Speaker 5: They must be brought to justice. We want the bill
• 10:06
  Speaker 5: to be amended so it doesn't in at the same time,
• 10:09
  Speaker 5: violate victim privacy, create new victims, disclose the names of
• 10:12
  Speaker 5: any whistleblower or informant cause the release of grand jury
• 10:15
  Speaker 5: materials or child sexual abuse materials or under minor national
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: security And if and when the Senate takes this up,
• 10:21
  Speaker 5: we will work with our colleagues over there to make
• 10:23
  Speaker 5: sure that these things are corrected.
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: I'll I'll just close.
• 10:28
  Speaker 5: With this simple thought. We've been at this a while,
• 10:33
  Speaker 5: it's drug on for a while, but it's time for
• 10:36
  Speaker 5: this to come to light. We are I expect that
• 10:39
  Speaker 5: I expect that this will be a unanimous vote, and
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: it will reflect what I think every member in this chamber.
• 10:44
  Speaker 5: And I'll say this now, at least in recent days,
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: every member of the chamber on the Democrats side, they
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: didn't say anything for four years, but they're for maximum
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: transparency now and so is this side. But we want
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: to do it in a respectful and careful manner so
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: that we don't subject innocent people to further harm. And
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: that has been the whole thing I told all my
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: members today. I'll be voting yes on this, and I
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: suspect almost everyone will. We'll send it to the Senate.
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: We hope it's corrected. Thank you for the time, I speaker.
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: Now you'll beck you listen to what he just said there,
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: and it really shows you just how sick the Democratic
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: Party is. They don't care who they hurt. The Democratic
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: Party just wants us to be a political issue. They
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: want it to be a political issue.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna say it again.
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: They want it to be a political issue to hurt
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: Donald Trump. That's it. That's the whole thing. That's literally
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: the whole ballgame. It's the only thing that they care about.
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: It's sad because there are flaws. But if you're a Republican,
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: as the speaker described there, and you vote against this,
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: it would be used and weaponized against you. That is
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: one of the sad and sick problems of all of this.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: The final point that.
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: The present made about this is fine, go ahead and
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: make it public. Why so it's clear there is nothing
• 12:16
  Speaker 4: that we as Republicans are trying to hide. Put it
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: all out there so that everyone can see it.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: It's also sad that the.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: Democrats can't even do that the responsible way, and the
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: only thing they want to do is try to put
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: Republicans in a corner and they don't care what victims
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: they hurt in the process.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast,
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: and we will see you back here tomorrow