Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / House Bill 5723: Can Illinois Launch a State-Level Epstein Investigation?

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House Bill 5723: Can Illinois Launch a State-Level Epstein Investigation? · The Epstein Chronicles

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. One of the biggest problems with the Epstein
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investigation is that the federal government has decided not to
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do its job. And that's why I've called for states
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to get more active if they have information about Jeffrey
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Epstein and potential crimes that were committed by Jeffrey Epstein
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at the state level, because that's really the only way
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to go around the DOJ. Right, if you bring a
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case at the state level, the DOJ doesn't have the
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jurisdiction to come in and kill it. So I think
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that to get around the DOJ that obviously doesn't care,
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that obviously isn't going to do anything to rectify this issue,
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then we have to get creative, right, and that's what
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they're doing in New Mexico. And now we're hearing that
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Illinois are pushing for an Epstein probe with real teeth
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in their state as well, And I say, good, Remember,
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we have no idea just how many victims there really is.
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So I think that having a commission here to try
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and work their way through what could have happened, what
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might have happened, is a great idea because if we're
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waiting for the DOJ to help us out, if we're
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waiting for the DOJ to slap bracelets on people, we're
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going to be waiting a very, very long time. So
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today we have an article from the State Journal Register
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and the headline Illinois lawmakers push for Epstein probe with
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real teeth. The author of this article is Maggie Doherty.
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Illinois lawmakers are calling for an independent commission to investigate
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Illinois link crimes connected to international sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
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Democratic lawmakers Monday joined advocates for women and survivors of
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sexual abuse to introduce House Bill fifty seven to twenty three,
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called the Illinois Epstein Files and Investigation Act. The bill,
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if passed, would create a commission to investigate Illinois based
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crimes connected to Epstein's network. Those would focus primarily on
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the stories of victims in Illinois and crimes that may
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have occurred in Illinois. I'm sure mister Pritzker loves hearing
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this news, considering that he was credibly accused of taking
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part in the abuse. Survivors connected to Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking
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network have been telling us the same thing. That the
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abuse didn't happen in a vacuum, said bill sponsor Representative
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abdol Nazar Rashid, Democrat from Bridgeview. There were systems behind it,
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there was power behind it, and into many cases, there
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were institutions that look the other way, Institutions that were
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supposed to protect these young girls but didn't. Not wrong
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about any of that. Let's do a fact check real quick.
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Oh yep, factual. All these institutions look the other way.
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Epstein could have been stopped all the way back in
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ninety six. They chose not to, and now they should
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have to answer for that. The measure has a long
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way to go to become a law. Rashid was listed
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as the bill's loan sponsor as of Monday afternoon, the
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day it was filed, though he was accompanied by two
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other supportive Democrat legislators. Now, look, I have no idea
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about the local politics in Illinois or Chicago, but I'm
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guessing it's volatile, and I'm guessing a lot of special
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interests have their fingers in the pie. So are the
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special interest in Illinois going to allow this to occur?
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Some kind of truth commission? I don't know. We'll have
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to see and if it does occur and it's created,
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is it going to have teeth? And that's still a
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question I have about what's going on over in New
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Mexico as well. Certainly supportive of the idea and I
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think it's a great step in the right direction, but
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is it going to have teeth? Is it going to
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produce resis? And is it going to be as fearless
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as it needs to be? Those are the questions I have.
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The ten member commission would be appointed by the governor
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and approved by the state Senate. At least three of
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those members must be from a different party than the governor.
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Members of the commission would be unpaid, but could submit
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for reimbursement of expenses should the General Assembly decide to
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provide funding. While Rashid said he would welcome bipartisan support,
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the board's makeup and the governor's power over it may
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make Republican votes difficult to find. Wow, I just don't understand, honestly,
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Like all I've heard for the last ten to fifteen
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years from MAGA is protect the children. What about the kids?
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Don't you care about the kids? Well, here's your chance
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to care about the kids. And unfortunately, a lot of
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people have come up short. Bill advocates say the commission
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is needed to fill a gap left with the federal level,
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as the US Department of Justice faces criticism for withholding
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records from the Epstein files, particularly pertaining to President Donald Trump,
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despite a law that Trump signed mandating their release. Trump's
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mentioned more than thirty eight thousand times in the documents
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that have been released so far. Nothing to see here.
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Come on, stop asking questions, how dare you? What do
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you have Trump derangement syndrome? God forbid you ask questions
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about somebody who's been named thirty eight thousand times in
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the Jeffrey Epstein files. God forbid? I mean, have you
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checked the dow. It's absolutely stomach churning and awful to
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see what these survivors have been through, and to let
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the wheels of justice fall off at the federal level
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is an abomination, said Representative and Stava Democrat from Naperville.
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It's often said the will of justice turned slowly in
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this case. We need to speed that up. Well, that
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would be nice, but I just don't think there's going
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to be the will there there should be, And I
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don't know how anyone could stand against a commission that's
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looking for the truth. Now, of course I'm not naive
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a lot of politics come into play, but that's why
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the Republican should be involved. If you want to make
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sure the ground is of equal footing, well, you don't
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ignore what's going on. You get involved, You work on it,
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You reach across the aisle and say, hey, look, this
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is what I want to do. This is my idea.
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Let's protect the people in our state. But we all
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know that won't happen. It'll turn into some kind of
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mudslinging contest to see who cares about who the most. Meanwhile,
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once again, it's the survivors that are forgotten about. Tony McCombe,
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the Republican minority leader in the House, called Epstein's crimes horrific,
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but added creating a commission here may generate headlines, but
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it does not deliver justice to victims. Well, how do
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you know? Did you investigate anything? Or did James Comer
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tell you that you know, there's nothing left to see
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here and we're gonna move on. I mean, what is
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wrong with people? Do they really think they understand what's
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going on with this story? Like I have bad news
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the vast majority of people have a very surface level
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understanding of what happened here and just how widespread it was.
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But they talk real confidently, don't They like they have
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all the answers and know exactly what went down and
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when breaking news. They don't know their ass from their elbow.
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But let's also be honest. Illinois legislators cannot subpoena federal investigators,
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prosecute international trafficking rings, or conduct a parallel federal criminal
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investigation from Springfield, said macombe, who represents the eighty ninth
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district in northwest Illinois. Well, yeah, you can have a
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commission that does he inventstigation, and then you can refer
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the people that are investigated if crimes were committed to
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local law enforcement. I know, shocking how that works, right,
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mister McCombie. He thinks you're stupid, just like the rest
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of them. The bill would give the commission investigatory authority
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to request records from state and local agencies, issue subpoenas
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for documents and testimony, and provide confidentiality protection to victims
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and other whistleblowers. Victims would not be compelled to testify
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against their wishes. According to Rashid. Like the Illinois Accountability Commission,
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which is investigating potential abuses by federal immigration agents operating
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in Illinois, the Epstein Commission would hold public meetings and
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issue public reports redacted as needed for privacy. YO, whatever
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people want to do in their own state, I don't
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have any problem with it. If the lawmakers want to
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put together a commission and look into the way law
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enforcements behaving good, they should. And if you're in law enforcement,
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you shouldn't be worried. Right, If you're doing everything the
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right way and you have nothing to hide, shouldn't be
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a problem. It would be required to submit an initial
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report within its first year of operation, and another before
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it ceases operation after five years. Any investigative files open
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out the time the Commission closes its doors would be
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transferred to the Attorney General's office. This commission will have
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real teeth, subpoena power, the ability to refer criminal evidence
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to the Attorney General, and the independence to follow the
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facts wherever they lead. Senator Graciela Gusmann of Chicago said
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the bill also strengthens the Attorney General's hand by allowing
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a state wide grand jury when local prosecutors can't or
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won't act. Look, I think it's a good idea. Obviously,
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you have to have evidence, right, and the way to
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do that is to have an investigation. And as you
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all know that that has not happened. So if the
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states want to kick off investigations, I think that's a
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good idea because the federal government refuses to do it.
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So if the state wants to use something like dual sovereignty,
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I'm all for it. The bill will allow the attorney
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General to call the state wide grand jury to investigate
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and prosecute crimes related to Ebstein, including sexual exploitation of children,
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child pornography, human trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, and perjury. Well
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they hit all the bases, huh, all the greatest hits
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because Epstein was involved in all of that. It would
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not replace prosecutor, as Rashid said, but give the state
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the tools it needs to fully investigate where Illinois law
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was broken. If Illinois law was broken, people who broke
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it should be held responsible. Right. Is that some kind
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of crazy, rebellious idea. I think it's the very bottom
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level of what we should expect. The governor's cousin Thomas
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Pritzker recently resigned from his role as the executive chairman
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of Hyatt Hotels after his association with Epstein and accomplice
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Glenne Maxwell came into clear review through emails released in
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the Epstein files. Tranch Oh, that's not all that's been
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said about him. Virginia credibly accused Thomas Pritzker of abusing her.
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Why doesn't anyone ever talk about that? When asked about
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his cousin's connection to Epstein in recent interviews, the government
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said that anyone who has done something wrong should be
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held accountable. I'm not close to my cousin, but I
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can tell you that it's very important that people be
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held to pay the price for whatever it is they
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may have done. Pritzker said. If the bill becomes law,
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Illinois lawmakers would join New Mexico in creating state level
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bodies to investigate Epstein's criminal sex trafficking network. And it
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shouldn't be that way. The federal government should have done
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their job, but no, now we have to go back
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have state investigations when evidence has already walked. People have died,
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people have passed away, people have forgotten things, people have
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been paid off, probably, but sure, let's go back and
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retroactively take a look because the federal government was too
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busy shitting on the rest of us to protect Jeffrey Epstein.
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Epstein's Zoro ranch in New Mexico has faced scrutiny as
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a hub other sex trafficking crimes. New Mexico lawmakers pass
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the bill unanimously in February. Supporters of the Illinois bill
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said that they hope that other states would join the
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fight in lieu of accountability at the national level. For years,
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the country has been told to wait, wait for Washington,
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wait for the next document drop, wait for the next excuse,
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wait while survivors carry the weight. Jane Ruby, president of
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the League of Women Voters of Chicago Total reporters, if
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justice remains a locked door in Washington, then let our
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state be the battering ram, she added, Let Illinois lead
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the way. Hey, good for you guys. If you can
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get it through, that's gonna be awesome. Is it going
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to find anything? Who knows, But we don't know until
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we have an investigation, right, So I'm completely on board,
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and this is something I've been talking about for years.
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So it's nice to see Illinois getting on board with
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this nice to see New Mexico kicking something into gear.
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So now New York you're on the clock. And for
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all the big talk that comes out of New York
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from all the politicians, you'd think they'd be on board
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with this. So let's see what happens. But I think
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having New Mexico and Illinois do this is certainly a
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step in the right direction, and I hope that Florida
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and New York both follow suit. But like usual, we'll
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keep an eye on things and we'll see where it
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all goes. All the information that goes with this episode
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can be found in the description box.