Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / A Senate Hearing Turns Combative Over Epstein’s Finances (6/5/26)

Transcript

A Senate Hearing Turns Combative Over Epstein’s Finances (6/5/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
• 0:03
  Epstein Chronicles. On Wednesday, June third, twenty twenty six, Treasury
• 0:09
  Secretary Scott Bissent had an appearance before the Senate Finance Committee,
• 0:14
  and as you can imagine, things went sideways very quickly,
• 0:18
  and Scott Bissent came out swinging. He had a lot
• 0:22
  to say about Senator Ron Wyden and Ron Wyden's son,
• 0:25
  who was also found in the Epstein files. And I
• 0:28
  think that one of the things that gets lost here
• 0:31
  is that while both sides are throwing accusations at each other,
• 0:34
  both sides have plenty of blame to bear. I mean,
• 0:37
  we're talking about decades of failure, Republican and Democrat. And
• 0:41
  if Senator Widen wants to be taken seriously, then he
• 0:43
  has to clean up his own house, literally and figuratively.
• 0:47
  And as far as Bisent goes, well, what's the big deal?
• 0:51
  I thought Epstein was a hoax. So if Senator Widens
• 0:53
  son was hanging out with him and getting money from him,
• 0:57
  why do you care. Epstein wasn't up to no good.
• 0:59
  He was a great guy, remember, just alone. Predator certainly
• 1:03
  nothing to the level that we've heard right, mister Bescent,
• 1:07
  So what's the big deal? You See, here's the big problem.
• 1:11
  Both sides want to use Epstein when it's convenient and
• 1:15
  when they think that they can use it as a
• 1:17
  political cudgel, they're going to do that. But not only
• 1:20
  is that a losing strategy, it's damaging to the case overall.
• 1:25
  When you have people retreating into their bunkers talking about, oh, well,
• 1:29
  my side is right and your side is wrong, and
• 1:32
  nobody on my side could have done anything that you're saying,
• 1:36
  then all hope is lost. And honestly, it feels like
• 1:39
  we're getting to that point. If we can't come together
• 1:41
  over a topic like this, then we're just cooked. And
• 1:44
  I don't think there's ever going to be any going
• 1:46
  across the aisle or getting somebody on the quote unquote
• 1:50
  other team to believe what you believe. Those days are over.
• 1:54
  It's not about policy anymore. It's about personality. Today's article
• 2:01
  is from the New York Post and the headline Scott
• 2:03
  Pscent goes scorched Earth against Senator Ron Wyden over the
• 2:07
  Epstein claims. This article was authored by Emily Gooden. Treasury Secretary.
• 2:12
  Scott Piscent came out firing had Democrats on the Senate
• 2:15
  Finance Committee Wednesday offering a cheeky response when asked about
• 2:19
  a widely reported altercation with a fellow member of the
• 2:22
  Trump administration. Pascent started his appearance before the panels slamming
• 2:27
  Senator Ron Wyden, the committee's ranking member, over family ties
• 2:31
  to Jeffrey Epstein. But I thought Epstein was no big deal,
• 2:35
  and I Fron Wyden's family ties were important, then so too.
• 2:38
  Wouldn't that mean that the Trump ties are important? Like,
• 2:41
  I don't know if Scott Pscent thought this one through,
• 2:44
  or maybe he did, and he just knows that people
• 2:46
  have made their minds up already and no amount of
• 2:49
  evidence at this point is going to change it. And
• 2:51
  that's what happens when you overly politicize something. And look,
• 2:55
  that's what the Democrats are doing. They haven't given us
• 2:59
  anything of substance. They have talked a big game, but
• 3:02
  what have they done. Who have they held accountable? All
• 3:05
  those people going to Congress and lying, Nobody held in contempt,
• 3:09
  nobody charged with perjury, no teeth to the bill. So
• 3:14
  it all seems performative. And then when you add to
• 3:16
  the fact that you have somebody like mister Widen making
• 3:20
  all kinds of crazy allegations about Epstein, and then his
• 3:23
  son has ties to Epstein as well. I mean, you
• 3:26
  would think that you'd be very upfront about that. Look,
• 3:29
  I have a lot to say about Jeffrey Epstein. My son,
• 3:32
  my own son had business dealings with him, and we're
• 3:35
  gonna investigate that too. But no, it's always about the
• 3:39
  other side. It's never about taking accountability for what you
• 3:43
  did or what your buddy did. Senator Widen has mendaciously
• 3:50
  slandered the Treasury Building in an attempt to cover up
• 3:53
  his son having an investment meeting with Jeffrey Epstein to
• 3:56
  ask for funding. Bascent charged in his opening statement referring
• 4:00
  to an April twenty sixteen gathering that Adam Widen attended
• 4:04
  at the convicted sex offenders Manhattan mansion, at which he
• 4:07
  sought investment backing for his hedge fund ACM Capital Management. Okay, cool,
• 4:13
  I think that he should be investigated, and if his
• 4:16
  son took any money from Epstein, that should be looked
• 4:19
  at too. But if that's a big deal, isn't it
• 4:22
  a big deal that Donald Trump was on the plane
• 4:25
  and then lied about it? Look, folks, we got to
• 4:28
  call balls and strikes for what they are. And for me,
• 4:31
  it would be a whole lot easier to choose one
• 4:33
  of these dumbass teams and grift. But I'm not going
• 4:36
  to do that. I refuse to do it. The whole
• 4:40
  entire thing is fucked up. It's not just one side,
• 4:43
  not when it comes to Epstein. And look, I'm not
• 4:45
  one of these people that likes to use oh, all
• 4:47
  sides right, because sometimes it's not all sides, But in
• 4:52
  this instance, it is absolutely both sides, and both sides
• 4:57
  have a lot of blame that they need the shoulder.
• 5:00
  And if I was one of these survivors, I wouldn't
• 5:02
  trust anybody in Congress, Republican or Democrat. Where were all
• 5:07
  these people previously? You know, they all want to talk
• 5:10
  a big game, But where were they when Virginia was
• 5:13
  asking for help? Where were they when Maria was telling
• 5:16
  her story that's right nowhere to be found? Or trying
• 5:20
  to lump everybody together with the q A non weirdos,
• 5:24
  that's what was happening. But now all of a sudden,
• 5:27
  these Democrats on this committee, they care so much. Please
• 5:33
  and make no mistake, I'm under no illusions that they
• 5:36
  care about what happened. I'm simply using them as a vehicle.
• 5:40
  I think I've been pretty clear that I don't trust
• 5:42
  any of these people, and for the first time of
• 5:45
  my adult life, I'm probably not even going to vote.
• 5:49
  I mean, what else can you do? Right? What else
• 5:51
  can you do to show these people that enough is enough?
• 5:54
  If other people want to vote party line and give
• 5:57
  out rubber stamp votes, cool, I'm not taking part in that.
• 6:01
  This country is in a bad way, and the more
• 6:03
  bullshit the this of politics that get thrown at us,
• 6:06
  the worse it's gonna get. An email from the younger
• 6:08
  Widen to Epstein is included in the voluminous files released
• 6:12
  by the Justice Department. Jeffrey, I wanted to thank you
• 6:16
  for taking time to meet me. I thoroughly enjoyed our
• 6:19
  conversation and hope my passion and dedication for my business
• 6:22
  came through in the meeting. Adam wrote on April twenty eighth,
• 6:26
  twenty sixteen. I intensely appreciate like minded individuals and would
• 6:31
  very much look forward to having you join us at
• 6:34
  the fund. Oh well, isn't that nice way to go?
• 6:38
  Mister Adam Widen daddy's little boy. And this is the
• 6:42
  kind of shit. I mean, if you want to be
• 6:44
  taken seriously, why don't you try being serious? And if
• 6:47
  Senator Widen wants people to take him serious, then he
• 6:51
  has to make sure that he is going after everybody,
• 6:53
  even if that includes his son. I know that's crazy
• 6:56
  to say, but hey, here we are. And look, I'm
• 6:59
  not saying that Adam Widen did anything wrong. Maybe you
• 7:03
  just out of associations with Epstein and maybe he was
• 7:06
  just trying to get his money. Cool say that. Does
• 7:10
  it make it any less reprehensible? Not in my opinion,
• 7:13
  especially because of the timing. Like I've told you, the
• 7:16
  timeline matters. It matters a lot. And if you're trying
• 7:19
  to get money from him after he's already been convicted,
• 7:22
  then you, sir, are a scumbag. And I don't care
• 7:25
  what letter is next to your stupid name. Ron Wyden,
• 7:29
  who is investigating Epstein's finances and claimed that he doesn't
• 7:33
  talk to his children about their businesses, brushed aside the
• 7:36
  sense charge, saying, let's be clear here, nobody's interested in
• 7:40
  the rambling of a capo in the most corrupt regime
• 7:43
  in American history. We want to get some facts about
• 7:46
  this deal. That's what we're here for. And that kind
• 7:49
  of dismissive shit is unacceptable. Buddy, your son is in
• 7:52
  those files. Meanwhile, you're pushing to get the financial trail.
• 7:57
  You want the money trail. What if it leads to
• 7:59
  your son? Can we trust you? Now? Look, I know
• 8:02
  that there's people out there that are you know, Democrats,
• 8:04
  that are like, yeah, we can trust him. He's a
• 8:06
  trustworthy dude. What are you talking about? And that's great
• 8:10
  if you want to trust him, cool me personally, never
• 8:13
  gonna happen. We would like to hear what Adam Widen
• 8:16
  and Jeffrey Epstein talked about. Bisent replied, did your son
• 8:19
  and Jeffrey Epstein talk about pole dancing? As he begged
• 8:22
  him for money? And I don't care what side of
• 8:24
  the isle you're on. That was actually a pretty funny
• 8:27
  snapback by Bissent, especially considering that Ron Wyden son and
• 8:33
  the company that they you know he has, is a
• 8:37
  gigantic investor in Rix Cabaret. The exchange was one of
• 8:40
  many spikey moments in Bescent's testimony, including when Senator Tom
• 8:44
  Tillis asked a Treasury Secretary about a report that he
• 8:47
  threatened a punch Federal Housing Agency boss Bill Poulty in
• 8:52
  the fucking face at a private dinner with Trump officials. Yeah,
• 8:55
  you know Bill POULTI the construction dude who's now the
• 8:58
  head of d and I that same guy got it. No,
• 9:03
  Sir Bascent replied, I actually said I was going to
• 9:06
  kick his ass. I'm going to kick his ass. What
• 9:09
  are you guys? Fifteen? What was this high school? Oh?
• 9:11
  I'm gonna beat his ass. No, you're not. You're not
• 9:15
  gonna do anything of the sort. You're gonna talk some
• 9:17
  shit and then you're gonna run to Trump and try
• 9:20
  and get him to fire somebody or protect you. All.
• 9:23
  This tough guy bravado is hilarious, especially considering that they're
• 9:27
  getting absolutely dog walked by Iran in these negotiations. The
• 9:31
  whole entire tough guy thing, the whole facade is completely
• 9:35
  worn away. Enough is enough already? The Secretary went on
• 9:39
  to downplay the argument, saying it happened last summer and
• 9:42
  that many teams have fights in the locker room and
• 9:44
  then go out and win for the team. Well, then
• 9:47
  there's other teams like the Jets, back in the day
• 9:49
  where the starting quarterback Gino Smith gets punched in the
• 9:52
  face by a backup, gets his jaw broken, and then
• 9:55
  he ends up getting traded, meaning Gino Smith. So there's
• 9:59
  that side of the co And it's always very obvious
• 10:03
  what politicians don't actually follow sports or know about sports
• 10:07
  from the commentary that you hear them make like, bro,
• 10:10
  just stick to what you know. Stop it. Besson added
• 10:14
  that he called Pulti Tuesday to congratulate him after he
• 10:17
  was appointed acting Director of the National Intelligence and he
• 10:20
  looked forward to working with Pulty on Iran and other issues.
• 10:24
  Oh yeah, go and capitulate to Uran some more. After
• 10:27
  you started a war, you bunch of morons. The Treasury
• 10:32
  Secretary also held his own when Senator Elizabeth Warren pushed
• 10:36
  him about President Trump' stock trades accounts tied to Trump
• 10:40
  executed thousands of transactions in twenty twenty six, worth more
• 10:44
  than two hundred and twenty million in volume, according to
• 10:47
  the president's financial disclosure reports. But don't worry, folks, he's
• 10:51
  not getting a salary. It's all good. There's no market
• 10:54
  manipulation occurring, Like what are we even doing here? And
• 11:00
  the amount of people that are just going along with it. Bro,
• 11:05
  I hope you enjoy that cup chair. Pointing out to
• 11:08
  Bascent that the two of them agree that it is
• 11:10
  a conflict of interest for members of Congress to trade stocks,
• 11:14
  Warren asked, do you also agree that it's a conflict
• 11:16
  of interest for President Trump to trade stocks? Bassent brushed
• 11:21
  off the question, telling Warren president Trump is not sitting
• 11:24
  in the Oval office engaging in a high frequency training strategy.
• 11:28
  Clearly he had an outside manager who was doing that problem.
• 11:33
  Who's manipulating the markets? I mean, let's be very clear,
• 11:36
  that's what's happening. Oh, the war's going to be over,
• 11:39
  the war's back on the Strait's going to be opened.
• 11:42
  Enough is enough. It's obvious what's going on all these
• 11:46
  markets wings. They're looting the corpse, and while the rest
• 11:49
  of us are facing recession and maybe worse, these people
• 11:53
  are putting money in their pockets. Hand over fist. Bascent
• 11:57
  then fired his own shot at Warren, suggesting Congress get
• 12:00
  their house in order before you move on to the administration. Well,
• 12:04
  that's true, but it's Congress's job to provide oversight. So yeah,
• 12:08
  they should be worried about what the President's doing. That's
• 12:11
  kind of like, you know, their job. How about we
• 12:14
  get the White House in order. At the same time,
• 12:16
  Warren said, before continuing our line of questioning, please lead
• 12:20
  by example. The sent insisted, to which Warren shot back,
• 12:24
  I would like to see the president lead by example.
• 12:27
  Oh he is. Have you seen all the foot soldiers
• 12:30
  that have taken the queue. It's a hoax, it's fake.
• 12:34
  The survivors are liars, and Donald Trump is just once
• 12:37
  again wrongly maligned. But for me, the biggest takeaway here
• 12:42
  is that both sides are shoulder deep in this and
• 12:45
  that's why they just keep blaming each other instead of
• 12:47
  ever doing anything about it. And look, Senator Widen has
• 12:50
  been talking a big game for quite some time now,
• 12:54
  so I think it's long past the point where he
• 12:56
  either puts up or shuts up. Put together a bill,
• 13:00
  put together some kind of legislation, and let's see the
• 13:04
  financial records of Jeffrey Epstein, because until then your words
• 13:08
  are just wind. All the information that goes with this
• 13:12
  episode can be found in the description box.