Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / Mega Edition: The American Public Has Had Enough Of The Congressional Epstein Games (9/30/26)

Transcript

Mega Edition: The American Public Has Had Enough Of The Congressional Epstein Games (9/30/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. Yo, step right up ladies and gentlemen and
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: behold the greatest show in Washington, the Congressional Traveling Circus.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: The lights are bright, the cameras are rolling, and the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: performers are braying at full volume about how they, these
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: fearless defenders of the innocents, are here to save the children.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Watch as they pound podiums, clench their fists, and deliver
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: fiery sermons about pizza parlor dungeons, Ikea wardrobes stuffed with toddlers,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: and satanic elites sipping adrenochrome cocktails on secret islands. They
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: howl like prophets in the desert, warning us of a
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: shadowy cabal that only they can see, their voices trembling
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: with faux conviction. It's theater, pure and simple, a morality play,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: performed for television cameras, and fundraising blasts. And the audience...
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Hungry for heroes claps along, convinced that the loudest prayers
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: must also be the bravest. After all, who else would
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: dare to call out the demons supposedly lurking in every
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: pepperoni pizza? Who else would draw battle lines against haunted
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: furniture and demonic memes? The lawmakers play the part of
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: avenging angels with gusto, weaving tales so absurd they make
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: bad pulp fiction read like the Gospel of John. And yet,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: this is the con. They pour all their energy into
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: fighting phantoms because phantoms can't fight back. But then comes
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: the test. Then comes the evidence that is real, heavy, undeniable,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: flight logs, bank wires, sworn testimony from survivors who risked
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: everything to speak. Now this is where you would think
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: that the roaring lions of Congress should bare their teeth.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: This is where the self-anointed guardians of innocence should rise
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: up and prove their words have weight. Instead, this is
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: where the transformation begins. Their thunder collapses into murmurs. Their
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: fists unclench. Their eyes dart nervously towards donors, colleagues, and lobbyists. Suddenly,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: the brave warriors look less like gladiators and more like
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: children caught cheating on a test. And it happens every time.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Faced with ghosts, they howl like prophets. Faced with predators
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: in suits, they mumble like interns caught in the wrong meeting.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: They'll rage for hours about pizza ovens and haunted wardrobes.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: But when the names of real institutions, real executives, real
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: enablers hit the table, suddenly it's complicated. Suddenly more time
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: is needed. Suddenly the guardians of morality are too busy
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: protecting themselves to protect a single child. And so the
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: curtain rises on the ugly truth. These aren't guardians. They're performers.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Their battle cry of protect the children is not a mission,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: but a marketing strategy. It's a brand, a bumper sticker,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: a slogan polished for TV spots and town halls. Their
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: supposed war against evil is just another act in the
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: endless play of politics, loud, distracting, and utterly useless when
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: the real monsters step into the light. So, let's talk
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: about it. Lawmakers love nothing more than braying like circus
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: donkeys about saving the children, as though they've stumbled upon
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: a satanic Scooby-Doo plot inside a Chuck E. Cheese. The
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: spectacle is always the same, faces flush red, voices cracked
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: from over-rehearsed outrage. microphones practically melting from the heat of
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: their supposed moral fury. Oh, they shriek about pizza parlors
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: doubling as child dungeons, about Ikea catalogs concealing dark secrets,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: about Wayfair bookshelves arriving with free toddlers tucked inside the packaging.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: They summon images of elites in cloaks drinking adrenochrome cocktails
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: on mythical islands as though they themselves are starring in
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: a low-budget horror flick. And every time, their followers cheer
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: like they've been handed the script to Revelation itself. But
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: here's where the curtain gets yanked back. The instant actual
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: evidence shows up, their thunder collapses into the squeak of
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: a balloon, losing air. Survivor testimony, financial records, flight logs,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: court filings with real names. Suddenly these warriors of innocence
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: lose their tongues. They shuffle their papers, stall for time,
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: mumble about jurisdictional hurdles, and look for the nearest exit.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: The pizza ghosts vanish in a puff of smoke, and
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: so does their courage. The heroic posturing shrivels faster than
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: a campaign promise after election day. We got guys out
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: here like Tim Burchett, bless his heart. One of the
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: most consistent characters of them all, this dude rides around
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: on his skateboard and roar with Old Testament fire about
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: shadowy cabals wagging his finger at demons only he can see.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: But ask him about tangible evidence or about the billion-dollar
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: institutions that actually moved the money, enabled the crimes, and
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: protected the abusers. Suddenly, he's blinking like a deer on
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: a six-lane highway. Watching the transformation is almost slapstick. Rambo
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: one second, Ned Flanders the next. This shit would be
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: hilarious if it weren't nauseating. And then, of course, we
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: got Mike Johnson. My man, who treats Protect the Children
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: like it's a bumper sticker that he can slap on
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: everything from speeches to press releases to fundraising letters. He
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: delivers his lines with the smarmy sincerity of a Christmas
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: movie full of heartwarming phrases and empty promises. But when
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: pressed to take on the ugly reality, the power brokers,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: the banks, the very system that allowed abuse to flourish,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: he collapses like wet cardboard. More time is needed, he mutters.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: More time to do nothing. More time to protect donors.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: More time to polish excuses while children are left to
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: rot in silence. Theatrics are always safer when the enemy
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: is imaginary. Pizza ovens don't have lawyers. Ikea furniture doesn't
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: bankroll campaigns. Demonic memes can't subpoena Congress. That's why lawmakers
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: love to fight shadows. They carry no risks. Point at
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: a real name, though, or a real boardroom with power.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: And suddenly the flames of justice fizzle into nervous laughter.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: It's almost as if these crusaders aren't crusaders at all,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: but props in their own puppet show. And look, the
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: spectacle borders on absurdist theater. They charge onto podiums like
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: wrestlers in a rigged match, flexing for cameras, snarling about demons,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: promising to smite the evil lurking under your local strip mall.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: The crowd roars, the donors cheer, the headlines write themselves. But...
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: When the lights come up and the monsters are revealed,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: they're not wearing horns or capes. They're wearing Armani suits.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: They're sending campaign checks. And they're sitting just a few
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: doors down the hall. Suddenly, our conquering heroes retreat backstage,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: whispering excuses, waving their hands, and pleading for patience. And
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: what fills the void is the echo of hollow outrage.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: The phrase protect the children becomes less a mission and
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: more a slogan. costume jewelry for political cosplay. They put
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: it on for photo ops, wear it to town halls,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: flaunt it at rallies, and then stuff it back into
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: the drawer when confronted with something heavier than a soundbite.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: At the first whiff of actual accountability, these mighty warriors
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: collapse like scarecrows in a thunderstorm, loaded, stuffed with straws,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: and incapable of holding up under pressure. Now, the cost
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: of their cowardice isn't theoretical. It's measured in human lives.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Survivors who speak out are left screaming into a void
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: while lawmakers chase pizza shop phantoms. Every hour wasted on
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: phantom tunnels beneath suburban restaurants is an hour stolen from
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: investigating real predators. Every meme-inspired hearing is another smokescreen shielding
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: billion-dollar enablers who keeps getting untouched. And effectively, they become
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: thieves of time. And time is one thing that the
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: survivors don't have the luxury of wasting. Yo, the hypocrisy
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: is galling. Years ago, when people actually doing the work
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: pointed to Epstein, Maxwell, Wexner, and the financial networks that
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: shielded them, these same lawmakers ignored the facts. They smeared investigators.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: They basically spat in the faces of survivors. Now with
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: evidence unavoidable, once again, they're the moral crusaders, hoping the
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: public's memory is as short as their attention span. We're
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: talking about gaslighting at a national scale. And the hearings
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: are less about justice and more about performance. One shrieks
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: about Satan hiding in a pizza box. Another warns about
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Ikea closets doubling as child coffins. And not a single
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: one addresses the Wall Street bankers who process predator money
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: like it was just another Tuesday. The clowns take their bows.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: The cameras cut away. And the ringmasters, those with real power,
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: laugh all the way to the bank like Scrooge McDuck.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Ask what truly frightens them. And it's not the demons
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: they invent with so much flair. It's the thought of
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: standing up to someone who can actually hurt their careers.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Shadows are safe enemies. Donors, lobbyists, and judges are not.
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: So they flinch, they deflect, they drown their cowardice and
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: excuses about process and time. The goal is for justice
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: not to die with a bang, but with a committee hearing.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: All these big mouths puff up like action heroes full
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: of bluster and brimstone, roaring about shadows and cabals. But
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: the second that reality knocks on the door, They shrink
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: into mall cops patrolling a food court, plastic badges, plastic authority,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: plastic courage. Now make no mistake, they love to roleplay
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: being warriors, but the real battlefield terrifies them. They don't
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: want justice, they want applause. And the patriotism they wrap
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: themselves in is just camouflage for fear. Scratch the surface
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: of all their grandstanding, and you'll find not conviction, but terror.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Terror of lobbyists, terror of donors, terror of career-ending headlines
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: that cut too close to home. Protect the children isn't
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: about the kids. It's about protecting themselves, and nothing makes
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: that clearer than their endless refrain of more time. And
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: we all know that their favorite magic trick is misdirection.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Shout pizza often enough, and maybe the public will forget
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: about sealed depositions and Jeffrey Epstein. Scream cabal loud enough,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: and maybe no one asks why plea deals keep being
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: handed out like Halloween candy. Wave around the specter of
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: demons and maybe no one notices the predator shaking hands
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: with power brokers in plain daylight. It's a con and
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: they run it with all the grace of carnival barkers
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: selling snake oil. And like all snake oil shows, the
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: collateral damage is real. Survivors get lumped in with lunatics.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Real evidence is dismissed as conspiracy fodder. Genuine investigators are
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: mocked as cranks. The line between truth and fantasy gets
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: blurred until the only people who benefit are the very
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: monsters Congress pretends to fight, and make no mistake about it.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: It's not just negligence we're talking about here, we're talking
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: about sabotage. When pressed, when the spotlight burns too bright,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: they don't roar, they hiss, they slither. Forked tongues dart,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: excuses multiply, and cowardice drips from every syllable. If you
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: want to know why Predators keeps getting free, look no
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: further than the serpents in suits too busy protecting their
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: hides to protect a single child. It's disgusting, the charade
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: they built. They've taken crimes against children, the most horrifying
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: reality imaginable, and turned it into a fundraising gimmick. Protect
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: the children is an avow. Considering their behavior when it
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: comes to Epstein, it's obviously just a bumper sticker. A
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: t-shirt slogan, a cheap slogan for campaign rallies, while the
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: real work of justice rots in a locked filing cabinet.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Every speech these brain clowns deliver is another betrayal. Every
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: slogan is another stab in the back of survivors. Every
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: fake performance of outrage is another signal to predators that
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: the system still has their back. So remember this every
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: time they thunder about saving the kids. Their enemies are imaginary.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Their fury is staged. and their courage is counterfeit. When
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: the real evil shows up, these brain donkeys aren't warriors,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: they're collaborators. They don't protect children, they protect the system
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: that destroys them. All of the information that goes along
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: with this episode can be found in the description box.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome to another episode of the
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Epstein Chronicles. After years of tough talk, after years of
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: saying that they cared about Epstein and what Epstein was doing,
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: and the crimes he was committing, the Republican-led Congress has
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: decided that they'd rather go on vacation than force a
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: vote on releasing the Epstein files. But according to Speaker Johnson,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: it's more important for the administration to have some space
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: than it is for us to know anything more about
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein. So for anybody out there thinking that these
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: people cared about you, that these people cared about what
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein was up to, they don't. And this is
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: what I've been telling you for years now. The only
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: time either side cares about what happened with Epstein is
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: when they think they can make political hay of it.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: But if there's no political points to be scored, none
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: of these people are anywhere to be seen. Up until
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, a lot of the people on
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: the left, especially people on the left in leadership positions,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: acted like Jeffrey Epstein was just some big MAGA hoax.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Like it was Pizzagate. or like it was the Wayfair situation.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: But now, miraculously, when they feel like they can make
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: some political inroads here, all of a sudden Jeffrey Epstein's
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: all they can talk about. So for those of us
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: who have been following along, it comes off as disingenuous
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: as hell. And during the Biden administration, we never heard
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: shit about Jeffrey Epstein. Even though Biden's own CIA director
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: had ties to Jeffrey Epstein, even though he brought in
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Bill Richardson to go and work on the Brittany Griner situation,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: Nobody had anything to say. But now all of a sudden,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: all these people are experts, and all of a sudden
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: everybody wants transparency? If you wanted transparency so bad, why
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: didn't you call for it for the past four years?
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Or how about the four years prior to that? Or
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the four years prior to that? See where I'm going
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: with this? A lot of these politicians have been in
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: office for how long? So for them to act like
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: this is something new is super disingenuous. And that's really
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: where my beef is. If these people really cared, they'd
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: be talking about the survivors. Having a committee with the
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: survivors coming up and talking about what they know. But
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: instead we get political grandstanding and more delays. Today's article
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: is from CNN and the headline, Johnson shuts door on
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: House vote before September on releasing the Epstein files. This
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: article was authored by Manu Raju, Sarah Ferris, and Allison Mayne.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said he does not plan
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: to allow votes on any measures related to the Jeffrey
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Epstein case in the House final week in Washington before
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: a week-long recess, despite intense pressure from some of his
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: own GOP members to go on the record on the issue. Well,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: of course he's not going to call the vote. This
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: man is in lockstep with Donald Trump and everything Donald
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Trump wants and says. It doesn't matter what the other
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: members want. It doesn't matter what the constituents want. It
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: only matters what Donald Trump wants, I guess. Some of
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: President Trump's most loyal supporters in Congress have been pressing
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: party leaders to allow for a vote to show that
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: they support transparency around the Epstein saga, an issue that
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: continues to animate the MAGA base, even as Trump has
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: repeatedly sought to blame Democrats for fanning the flames. Yo,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: I am anything but a Democrat, and anyone who's ever
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: listened to this podcast knows that in about five minutes.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: But I'm certainly not one of these dyed-in-the-wool MAGA folks either,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: where Donald Trump can do no wrong, the guy has
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: never been wrong in his life, everything he does is
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: better than everybody else, in fact he's infallible, and if
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: you criticize anything he says, well, you're just a crazy lib.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: That's the kind of bullshit these people are trying to
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: push these days, and it's not going to work. Because
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: like I was saying in the previous episode, Donald Trump
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: won that election not just by MAGA votes, but by
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: creating a coalition, And a lot of people in that
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: coalition are disillusioned now. And a lot of it has
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: to do with the situation we're talking about right now
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: with Jeffrey Epstein. The House forcing the Trump administration to
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: turn over materials against its will would represent a remarkable
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: rebuke of the president by his base. But the push
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: has shown little forward momentum among the party's leadership on
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Capitol Hill. Because it's all about politics. Can't give anyone
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: any inroads here. Last thing you want to do is
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: give your political opponent some ammunition. See the problem though?
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: And the reason why neither side will release these documents
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: is because it's mutually assured destruction. They both understand what's
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: inside of those documents. They both understand, meaning both sides
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: of the aisle. And they both understand how devastating it
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: will be to their narrative. And that's why these documents
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: and these files are never going to come out. And
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: that's why nobody has ever released them up until now.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: And the biggest problem with Donald Trump is he ran
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: his big fat yap talking about Epstein this and Epstein that.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: He's going to release this. He's going to release that.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: And now that he's in a position to do so.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: he falls directly on his face. And this whole entire
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: situation is a problem of his own making. This could
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: all go away tomorrow if they would just release the documents.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: And that right there should tell you just how damning
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: these documents are that Donald Trump is willing to risk
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: this whole entire fiasco to keep them secret. And I
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: think that's a bigger part of the story that needs
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: to be talked about a little bit more. Johnson told
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: CNN on Monday the full House would not vote on
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: a pending measure from members of his own party, a
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: non-binding resolution calling for the release of additional Epstein files
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: before the chamber's August recess, which is slated to begin
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: at week's end. These people get more vacations than anybody.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: Imagine working in Congress and living the life that these
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: people live. Show up to work a few hours a day,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: have a few votes. Get on Twitter, talk some shit,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: go home, enjoy the benefits of being a congressman or
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: a senator. Meanwhile, the rest of us, going to the
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: store and wondering how the fuck we're paying for groceries.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: But sure, enjoy your little recess, buddy. My belief is
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: we need the administration to have space to do what
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: it's doing and further congressional action is necessary or appropriate,
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: then we'll look at that. But I don't think we're
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: at that point right now because we agree with the president,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: he said. Well, yeah, he doesn't want to miss out
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: on the next UFC fight. He wants to make sure
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: he stays in Trump's good graces. Who cares if people
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: who are hurting children and young women get a pass?
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: No big deal. And considering that Congress has its own
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: slush fund that they use to pay for all kinds
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: of allegations made against them, using your money, by the way.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Is anybody shocked that they're trying to protect other predators
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: as well? I'm not. And from the reaction I'm seeing
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: from people, most of you aren't either. As part of
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: the deal to approve the White House rescissions package last week,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Johnson reached an accord with GOP holdouts that allowed the
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: House Rules Committee to advance that non-binding resolution calling for
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the Epstein files release. But it's unclear if that measure
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: will make it to the House floor, with Johnson firmly
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: standing behind Trump on the matter. There is no daylight
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: between the House Republicans, the House on the President, on
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: maximum transparency, Johnson said. Adding that Trump wants all the
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: credible files on Epstein to be released and asked Attorney
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: General Pam Bondi to produce grand jury testimony related to
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: the case and all of that is in process right now.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: This is nothing more than a stall tactic. I told
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: you from the jump. That's what they're doing. They know
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: that the process is arduous and they know that it's
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: going to take a long time for a judge to
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: make a ruling one way or the other and then
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: go through all the files. So let's kick it down
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: to the court and let's try and blame them. Oh,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the court's taking a long time. The court doesn't want
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: to release the files. And that'll be their excuse. We
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: can't release this because the court told us no. Still,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: a bipartisan group of House members led by Kentucky Representative
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: Thomas Massey is seeking to circumvent Johnson and force a
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: vote on a separate bill calling for the release of
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: the files. Massey will need a majority of House members
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: to sign on to what's known as a discharge petition
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: to force a floor vote. That measure wouldn't be considered
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: by the full House until after Labor Day at the
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: earliest if Massey is successful. Johnson's leadership team has been
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: privately signaling that they would not bring up any Epstein
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: measures this week to Republicans familiar with the matter, told CNN.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Now they have much bigger things to talk about, right?
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Much bigger things to do. 10 House Republicans have now
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: signed on to Massey's measure a level of GOP support
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: that would trigger a full vote by the GOP-controlled House
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: on the measure if all Democrats supported it, as expected.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: But don't expect a new tranche of documents to immediately
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: be made public. And these Democrats that are out here
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: talking about, yeah, let's get on board, let's get this released, great.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: But I don't think they truly understand what's inside of
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: those files. And in the words of Nancy Pelosi's daughter...
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Some of our faves are gonna be caught up. A
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: vote to compel the full House to consider the effort
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: can't come until after Labor Day at the earliest when
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: lawmakers return from their five-week summer recess. What are they,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: high school kids? Here's an idea. No more five-week breaks.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Keep your ass in D.C. and get to work. That
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: procedural maneuver requires seven legislative days before House lawmakers can
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: formally collect the necessary signatures. Once they prove they have
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: support from 218 members, it would force party leaders to
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: bring it to the floor. Trump's Attorney General has asked
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: for grand jury material to be made public, which also
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: is likely to be a slow-moving effort, and one that
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: requires court approval. But the Massey and Conner measure goes
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: significantly further, requiring the Trump administration to release all unclassified records, documents, communications,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: and investigative materials related to Epstein, within 30 days. Yo,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: I'm all for that. Let's get it all out there.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Let the chips fall wherever they fall. And whoever gets
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: caught up gets caught up. It would also require the
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: White House to release a list of all government officials
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: and politically exposed persons named or referenced in the release materials.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: A list at Trump's base has been demanding. So what's
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: the problem here? All of a sudden you don't want it?
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: All of a sudden you don't want any information about
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Epstein and we should just move on? Sorry, you
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: kicked the door open. Now we're walking in. Khanna previously
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: told Jay Tapper that he would deliver all 212 Democrats
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: on the measure, while many Democrats previously decried the promotion
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: of conspiracy theories about Epstein. They have in recent days
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: pushed for greater transparency, arguing Trump is trying to protect
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: himself and aiming... to further drive a wedge between Trump
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: and his base. And that's really what it comes down to.
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: They're just trying to sow seeds of discontent. The Democrats
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: don't really care about this. Anybody thinking they do is
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: being hustled. They care about politics. They care about optics.
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: They care about winning seats. They care about getting Trump...
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: into a position where he's playing defense. That's all they
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: care about. But guess what? We can utilize that fake
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: outrage to try and muscle our way in and get
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: some of these documents released. So if they want to
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: be useful idiots and help us get these documents released,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: then so be it. But I promise you, they're not
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: going to like what's in them. With all the Democrats
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: behind the effort, 10 Republicans would be more than enough
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: to meet the necessary 218 threshold. Along with Massey, the
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: Republicans already on board are Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Eric Burleson of Missouri, Lauren Boebert
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: of Colorado, Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, Eli Crane
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: of Arizona, Corey Mills of Florida, Tom Barrett of Michigan,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Max Miller of Ohio, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: I think momentum will build for transparency. I don't think
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: this is going away, Massey told CNN on Monday. And
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: I think when we return in September, we'll get phase
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: two of the Epstein files. Boy, I hope so. And
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I fully support Mr. Massey and his efforts. But I
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: also think that we're dealing with an uphill battle. I'm
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: not naive. I know that the powers that be, they
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: don't want this information out there. The move, of course,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: could end as many things in Congress do with a
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: lot of talk, but little corresponding action. Last week, Republicans
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: held a vote to approve a $ 9 billion package of
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: spending cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, something Trump wanted,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: as they debated what to do on the Epstein case.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: They settled for the non-binding resolution calling for the release
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: of additional files, which doesn't immediately force any action and
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: to which Johnson has been noncommittal. What a coward. Mike
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: Johnson's a straight up coward. Just another one of these
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: talking heads that talks the talk, but refuses to walk
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: the walk. Even continued talk of the Epstein case, though,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: is likely to irk Trump. Over the weekend, the president
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: seemed to acknowledge the intractability of the subject. As he noted,
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: he had ordered the release of grand jury material. With
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: that being said, and even if the court gave its
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough for
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request. It
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: will always be more, more, more MAGA, Trump wrote in
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: his Truth Social platform. What does that even mean? Sounds
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: like the ramblings of a madman. More, more, more? How
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: about some, some, some? Nobody asked you for the grand
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: jury documents. That was your idea. Don't try and act
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: like everybody's been out here clamoring for that and you
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: decided to just, you know, give it up. What you're
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: doing is stalling. Just release the documents and be done
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: with it. Either that or prepare for more criticism, because
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: it's certainly coming. But a chorus of conservatives and moderate Republicans,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: including some of the president's closest allies like Greene, ratcheted
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: up their demands for the release of more information on Monday.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: Good for them. Not everybody has to walk in lockstep
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: with the president, especially when he's wrong. And folks, I'm
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: telling you right now, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Donald Trump is wrong. People want the information. They don't
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: want things covered up, especially when it comes to the
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: most well-known convicted pedophile in modern-day history, Green told CNN,
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: noting that the highest volume of recent constituent calls to
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: her office have been about Epstein. Good for you folks.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: Keep calling. Keep the pressure on. And look, we're not
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: asking for anything crazy. Just whatever documentation you have for
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: an investigation that's already closed. They've given up the documentation
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: on MLK. They've turned over a bunch of stuff on...
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: John F. Kennedy, why not Epstein? The case is closed, right?
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Nothing left to see here. So what are you protecting
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: and what are you hiding? Because the previous mantra was, oh, well,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: this is an ongoing investigation and we can't give you
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: any information. Then it was a national security issue. Now,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: nothing exists and there's no documents for us to see.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: And if that's the case, then they've been lying about
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: the information this whole entire time, saying that it was
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: national security, saying that it was an ongoing investigation. when
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: in fact no files even existed? So either way you
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: chop it, they're lying to you. The question is, which
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: lie are you willing to accept? Responding to Trump's frustration
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: with even his own supporters for not moving on from Epstein,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Greene said, she really likes Trump and thinks he's a
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: great pulse on things. But on this issue, the American
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: people really want to see transparency. I think sunlight's a
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: good medicine, Representative Don Bacon, a swing district Republican, who
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: recently announced his retirement, concurred, telling CNN he would vote
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: for a standalone bill to press the administration to release
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: more Epstein information. I think there's too much conspiracy theory
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: and it's just better to put light on it. And
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: that's what it should be, a standalone bill. Let these
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: members of Congress vote on the merits of this information alone.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: Don't try and pack it with other nonsense. Don't put
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: any pork in it. Standalone bill. That way you don't
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: give anybody an out. Nobody has any excuse. Well, I
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: didn't vote for this because such and such was added
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: to it. Nope. Nothing added to it. Standalone bill. Do
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: you or do you not support the release of Jeffrey
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: Epstein information? Yes or no? Bacon said that he thinks
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: the Trump administration misled Americans into believing there was more
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: to the Epstein case, adding, It's a good lesson for everybody.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: It's better to keep your powder dry and don't speak
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: until you've got the facts. The problem is Trump has
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: the facts. He was president already. They already knew what
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: was in the files and they still went on talking
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: all that bullshit yapping and yapping on the campaign trail
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: about Epstein this and Epstein that, so no, we're not
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: going to forget about it, and nobody's moving on. Release
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: the files. If that happens, then we can talk about
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: moving on, but until then, sorry. The Justice Department announced
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: earlier this month that there is no Epstein client list,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: even after Bondi teased having that information on her desk,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: and that the accused sex trafficker was not murdered in jail.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: The Nebraska Republican noted that Congress has oversight authority and
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: those who are interested would have an opportunity to question
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Bondi when she appears before the committees overseeing the Department
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: of Justice. Oh, that's going to work out. She's going
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: to have a lot of answers for everybody, right? Because,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: you know, Pam Bondi is so trustworthy when it comes
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: to Jeffrey Epstein, especially. I just put all my faith
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: in Pam Bondi and the current administration to give us
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: the truth. Are there really people out there who say
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: that now? After all we've just witnessed, after this historic
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: meltdown over Jeffrey Epstein, people really think they're going to
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: get transparency? And people really think that Barack Obama is
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: going to be arrested? Or that anybody who was involved
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: with that Steele dossier in any regard is going to
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: go to prison? You really think that's going to happen?
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: And miraculously, we just start talking about that again when
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: the Epstein files are dominating the news? Seems like a
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: classic case of wagging the dog. But that misdirection doesn't
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: work around these parts because we're going to continue swimming
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: through all that muck looking for the clarity. All of
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: in the description box. What's up everyone and welcome to
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Yo, I know that
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: some people probably thought the firestorm ended yesterday. They figured
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: the only target of my disgust was Cash Me Outside
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: Patel and his clown car testimony. Oh, hold up. You
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: thought we only had a few things to say? About
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: cash me outside, Patel? Wrong. That was just part of
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: the feast. The next portion has to do with the
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: self-righteous enablers, the one who spent years pretending not to see,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: pretending not to hear, pretending not to care, and now,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: with perfect timing, have decided to reinvent themselves as defenders
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: of justice? Yo, let's talk about it. They stand on
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: the dais now, collars starched, faces solemn, As if moral
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: clarity just arrived by mail. How convenient. The exact same
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: people who treated Epstein's checks like a polite tip now
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: discover a conscience. What a miracle. I guess money clears
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: the room of scrutiny until it decides not to. These
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: are the same lawmakers who once dismissed questions about Epstein
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: as conspiracy chatter or shrugged them off as irrelevant noise,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: but now they wag their fingers and act as though
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: they were the lone guardian screaming into the void. It's
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: theater at its most insulting. Self-anointed saints wearing halos made
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: of recycled donor dollars. Remember when Epstein's name meant cheerful
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: RSVPs and a fundraiser handshake? Now it's a brand activation
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: moment for Compassion. They clutch survivor stories like props, the
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: rehearsed sorrow meant to wipe away years of complicity. It's
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: funny how the ledger of morality always balances when the
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: checks stop clearing. The same lips that whispered thanks into
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: Epstein's ear for his generosity now tremble with anguish and shame.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: If it wasn't so vile, it would be laughable, watching
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: political chameleons shed their old skin in exchange for fresh
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: moral camouflage. They parade their outrage like awards, polished, and
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: perfectly timed. The outrage tour comes with talking points, a
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: hand on heart, and the faint whiff of someone remembering
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: a script they haven't read in years. These speeches aren't
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: born of reflection or conviction. They're pulled straight from a
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: consultant's PowerPoint about reclaiming credibility in the post-Epstein news cycle.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: And the worst part? They think we don't see it.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: They believe the public is so starstruck by their sudden
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: empathy that no one will ask. Where the hell was
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: this passion 20 years ago? And they do it with
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: the same audacity they always do. Decades of social climbings,
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: selfies at dinners, grant letters signed with buttery praise. And now,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: when the lights shine hottest, suddenly they are the defenders
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: of the downtrodden? Bravo, curtain call. Their hands, so once
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: eager to scoop up the predator's cash, now tremble with
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: righteous indignation. How cinematic. They've turned the ugliest scandal in
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: modern politics into a stage for their personal redemption arcs.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: It's as if they're auditioning for the role of most
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: outraged lawmaker in a play no survivor asked them to
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: perform in. The memory is short, but the optics are everything.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: It's not enough to repudiate now. The proper theatrical beat
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: would have been to decline the money the moment the
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: red flags waved. But nuance is messy, and money buys neatness.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Neatness buys silence. And silence buys more power. So, they
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: stayed quiet, stuffed their coffers, and smirked through the whispers. Then,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: when silence finally became more dangerous in speaking out, voila!
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Here comes the speech about how much this moment means.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: It means nothing, except that their polling told them it
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: was safe. Now they'll peer down their pedestals and instruct us,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: on moral outrage like lecturers, handing out diplomas. Meanwhile, those
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: pedestals were often erected with a very large S they
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: now denounce. How quaint. How noble. They tell us how
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: to feel about Epstein as though we haven't been screaming
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: about him for years while they brushed us off. The
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: arrogance is staggering. They ignored survivors, ignored questions, ignored evidence,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: and now they get to dictate the terms of outrage?
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: It's the kind of hypocrisy that makes cynicism seem like
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: the only rational worldview. You can almost hear the internal memo.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: Phase one, accept donations quietly. Phase two, accept invitations. Phase three,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: pivot the heartfelt denunciations when the scandal becomes unignorable. It's
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: a play with three acts and only one honest actor
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: left in the audience, the survivors. Everything else is fucking pageantry.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: The applause cues are clear, the tears rehearsed, the voice
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: cracks are written in advance, and the survivors, they've been
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: watching this circus for years. wondering when, if ever, their
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: stories would matter more than a politician's re-election campaign. They
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: speak of allies and solidarity and listening to survivors with
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: a cadence of people who once treated listening like a
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: PR checkbox. It's touching in the way crocodiles weep when
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: the spotlight hits. They sit at polished tables with microphones,
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: nodding gravely, pretending to absorb truths they've spent years avoiding.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: The performance is immaculate. almost too immaculate. Because real listening
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: is messy, painful, and often complicates the listener. These politicians
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: can't afford messy, they can only afford the appearance of empathy.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: They scour their speeches for the appropriate cadence of remorse,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: then sign off with fundraising links. The cognitive dissonance is
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Olympic level. If hypocrisy were a sport, they'd win gold, silver,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: and the weird bronze of plausible deniability. It's breathtaking to
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: watch Heartfelt words about ending exploitation followed immediately by campaign
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: ads touting their bravery in standing with survivors. Not standing
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: with them, really. Standing on them. Using them as props
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: in a bid for clout and clicks. They claim to
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: be shocked. Shocked. Which is either stunning gullibility or willful theater.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: Either way, it's an expensive performance. And the thing about
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: expensive performances is they usually have producers... The producers here
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: were very good at passing the buck. We didn't know,
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: they say, as if Epstein's name wasn't practically neon-lit for decades.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: They didn't know, but they knew enough to cash the checks.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: They didn't know, but they knew enough to look the
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: other way at those flights. It's the kind of ignorance
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: you only achieve with deliberate effort. Now they demand transparency, subpoenas,
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: and investigations. All the tools of justice they seemed allergic
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: to When Influence was being peddled in Cocktail Hour Whispers,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: I guess Justice is a lovely poster, until it hits
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: your calendar book. Then it becomes complicated. Now though, now
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: it's easy. Everybody wants to look like the hero dragging
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: skeletons out of the closet, so long as none of
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: those skeletons share their donor history. It's why these hearings
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: ring hollow. No one's willing to drag out all the skeletons,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: just the ones that won't bite back. They've become fierce
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: advocates overnight, which is convenient in the same way as
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: a raincoat is convenient in a flood you help cause.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: Suddenly they care because the narrative demands they do. The
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: survivors deserve care long before it became a trending topic. Instead,
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: they were shunted to the margins silenced by PR machines
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: and dismissed by gatekeepers. But now that hashtags and headlines
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: pay dividends, empathy is everywhere. It's as if morality itself
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: has become a seasonal trend, rolling out with new lines
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: of slogans. And these press conferences, well, they're predictable. Solemn promises,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: heavy pauses, and a careful avoidance of the guest list
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: and donation schedules. It takes practice to be... outraged while
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: leaving your bank statements unexamined. They can name every survivor
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: who came forward in the last three years, but they
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: can't seem to remember the names on Epstein's invitation cards?
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: The very cards they pocketed with a smile? The selective
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: memory is dazzling, and I'm almost impressed. at the way
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: they can segment outrage into marketable chunks while conveniently forgetting
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: the receipts. Almost. If only their moral clarity had a timestamp.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: Imagine the power of outrage that had been unleashed earlier
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: when it might have mattered instead of merely shoring up
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: reputations with carefully placed op-eds and committees. Survivors might have
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: been heard. Investigations might have dug deeper. This system might
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: not have failed quite so miserably. But outrage arrived late.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Fashionably late. like a politician entering a gala after dessert
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: is served. And in politics, fashionably laid outrage still gets
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: you applause. And now that they've arrived, they posture for
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: justice like chorus members who missed the original rehearsal but
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: remembered the finale. The survivors, meanwhile, have been living this
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: whole tragic opera without applause. The chorus can belt their
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: lines with passion all they want. It doesn't erase the
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: silence that came when it mattered. The survivors scream for help,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: and those screams were drowned out by the clinking of
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: champagne glasses. Now the chorus belts out justice, but the
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: sound is tinny, hollow, an echo bouncing around the marble
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: halls of hypocrisy. And yo, there's a nastier truth. When
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: the establishment accepts money from predators, it buys a kind
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: of political anesthesia. Lobbies bubble up around good intentions, and
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: suddenly people who suddenly have been loud were muted by
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: the comfort of access. That's the anesthesia. It numbs your
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: outrage until it becomes optional. And when it wears off,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: you look around and discover survivors were bleeding out the
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: whole time while you sat comfortably pretending your ass didn't
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: see a thing. Now, some of them act surprised by
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: the facts. But surprise was a luxury they clearly budgeted for.
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: You don't waltz into Epstein's orbit without budgeting for embarrassment later,
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: unless you believe embarrassment is someone else's problem. And clearly,
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: that's what they thought. Someone else's problem. Survivor's problem. Journalist problem.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: Never theirs. Until it was. Until the optics shifted and
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: suddenly the safe bet was outrage. That's the problem with
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: budgeting for embarrassment. It always comes due. There we stand
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: with survivor placards are script flawless. They read great on camera,
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: but words are cheap and applause even cheaper. The survivors
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: don't need applause. They need accountability. Actual accountability. not the
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: performative kind that looks great in magazines. Accountability means explaining
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: why you looked the other way when Epstein was writing checks.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: It means detailing why the money mattered more than the
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: warning signs. That's the kind of accountability you won't find
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: on a podium. This newfound compassion looks less like contrition
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: and more like crisis management. Rapidly assembled, exquisitely coiffed, and
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: utterly unserious about systemic change. It's the difference between a
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: donation and a dismantling. A donation is easy. Smile, cut
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: a check, get the headline. A dismantling requires tearing down
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: the very power structures that allowed Epstein to thrive. And
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: that's a step too far for politicians who benefited from
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: those same structures. So instead, we get sympathy theater, not reform.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: And let's not pretend the political machinery hasn't always known
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: the tune. For too long, the soundtrack was money, access,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: and a mutual nod to convenience. Now they sing a
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: different chorus, but the sheet music remains embarrassing. They can
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: hit the high notes of Outrage now, but the melody
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: is still off-key, because it's sung by people who are
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: part of the original ensemble. Their sudden dissonance doesn't sound brave,
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: it sounds desperate. If they're serious, true test, the first
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: act should be to open up their own archives, their Rolodexes,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: their calendars, their foundations. Let the light fall everywhere it
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: might sting. If they flinch, the performance continues. If they don't,
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: we'll know that their outrage rings hollow. But no, the
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Rolodexes stay locked, the calendars edited, the foundations scrubbed. They
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: think that the outrage without receipts is enough. It isn't,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: and it never will be. So, by all means, let
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: them headline investigative hearings and moral sermons on cable. Let
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: them practice outrage in public until it feels real. But
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: please spare us the self-congratulation if they won't follow the
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: easy moral test. Own what you accepted, explain why, and
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: do more than posture. Posturing doesn't heal survivors. It doesn't
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: dismantle systems. It just props up politicians who should be
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: explaining their own complicity. The survivors deserve better than performative
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: politics and fundraising afterthoughts. They deserve a country where outrage
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: is an auction to the highest bidder. And where lawmakers
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: don't learn compassion at the same pace, they learn to
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: cut a check. They deserve the truth, transparency, and consequences.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: Not another generation of crocodile tears. And when the microphones
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: cool and the op-eds stop trending, keep watching. Because the
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: real measure won't be the press conferences, the committees. It
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: will be whether the people who profited from proximity now
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: invest the same energy into justice that can't be clipped
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: into a tweet. Spoiler, they won't. Because justice that isn't
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: marketable rarely makes the rounds. So clap if you must
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: when they cry on cue. But remember, the theater can't
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: replace restitution. The next standing ovation should be for survivors
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: getting the truth, not for politicians getting their PR back.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: Until then, the only thing worth applauding is the public's
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: refusal to let this charade go unchallenged. All of the
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: information that goes with this episode can be found in
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: the description box.