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Leader Jeffries We saw Trump's 'extraordinary meltdown in real time' over Epstein files bill · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Leading off our discussion to night is House Democratic Leader
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  Speaker 1: Kim Jeffries. Thank you very much for joining us tonight,
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  Speaker 1: Leader Jeffrees, and I lead in with Donald Trump there
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  Speaker 1: because that's the guy who House Republicans were being asked
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  Speaker 1: to follow. Senate Republicans were being asked to follow a
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  Speaker 1: guy who obviously is willing to stand up there and
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  Speaker 1: tell that pathological lie about a poll that absolutely never happened,
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  Speaker 1: in a conversation that never happened, a completely invented conversation,
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  Speaker 1: the kind of conversation that if your grandfather did it,
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  Speaker 1: you'd try to get him some care. That's the person
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  Speaker 1: who Mike Johnson was trying to get every Republican to
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  Speaker 1: support on this vote until he knew he couldn't.
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  Speaker 2: That's exactly right. What we're witnessing is an extraordinary meltdown
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  Speaker 2: in real time. Donald Trump and Republicans have failed the
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  Speaker 2: American people from the very beginning of his presidency and
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  Speaker 2: were starting to see the reality of that hit my
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  Speaker 2: report Publican colleagues, and we saw that with the unconditional
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  Speaker 2: surrender resulting in the Epstein files being released. Now it's
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  Speaker 2: wild to me that Donald Trump would suggest that I
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  Speaker 2: guess he's saying he could beat Jeorge Washington in Abraham Lincoln.
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  Speaker 2: This guy couldn't beat Richard Nixon right now because he's
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  Speaker 2: been such a disaster as our president.
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  Speaker 1: I want to ask you about Donald Trump's attack on
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  Speaker 1: you tonight in his announcement I have just signed the
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  Speaker 1: bill to release the Epstein files. He surrounded it with
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  Speaker 1: this long screed against a lot of people, including you.
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  Speaker 1: And the quote from the statement that he wrote tonight
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  Speaker 1: is minority leader Hakim Jeffries, who asked Epstein to donate
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  Speaker 1: to his campaign after Epstein was charged, and we found
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  Speaker 1: the email that he's referring to. It's a twenty thirteen
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  Speaker 1: of fundraising email that looks like that. I'm sure you've seen.
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  Speaker 2: What is your response to that, Yeah, he knows that
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  Speaker 2: that's a lie as it relates to anything that I've
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  Speaker 2: personally asked for. In fact, you had some House Republicans
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  Speaker 2: suggesting on the House floor that I had somehow met
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  Speaker 2: with Epstein, had dinner with Epstein, raised money from Epstein,
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  Speaker 2: none of which is true. This random email that he's
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  Speaker 2: referring to was first brought to my attention yesterday, and
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  Speaker 2: so what we're seeing from Donald Trump and the Republicans
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  Speaker 2: is that they've repeatedly tried to distract after failing with
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  Speaker 2: their effort to suppress the Epstein files. This was in
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  Speaker 2: a victory for the survivors. It's the victory for the
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  Speaker 2: American people. It's a victory for transparency. And we're going
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  Speaker 2: to stay on the case until these files are released,
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  Speaker 2: and once that happens, there's going to be real accountability.
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  Speaker 1: About the email. I just want to clarify for the audience.
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  Speaker 1: The email is not from you. It's from someone named
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  Speaker 1: Lisa Rossi, and it clearly it is addressed to Jeffrey Epstein.
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  Speaker 1: And it's the kind of email that goes out literally
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  Speaker 1: by the thousands to fundraisers like this, and clearly is
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  Speaker 1: introducing you to Jeffrey Epstein as someone they presume he
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  Speaker 1: has no idea who you are. It's filled with biographical
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  Speaker 1: information about who you are on the assumption that he
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  Speaker 1: doesn't have any idea who you are. And it's an
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  Speaker 1: invitation to contribute to these groups, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,
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  Speaker 1: the Democratic Senate a campaign committee. It's the kind of
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  Speaker 1: fundraising email that does go out by the thousands upon thousands,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm sure there'll be a lot more coverage of that,
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  Speaker 1: Leader Jeffries. As Donald Trump continues to tell this lie
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  Speaker 1: that this was his idea, that this vote was his idea,
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  Speaker 1: he is assuming his followers are willing to believe absolutely everything.
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  Speaker 1: You know what this fight took. You know that this
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  Speaker 1: just charged petition made history. Just very few of them
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  Speaker 1: have ever passed the House. And as we go forward,
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  Speaker 1: as you realize, the question becomes, now, what will the
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  Speaker 1: Trump Justice Department actually release?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct, and we expect that Pam Bondi, the
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  Speaker 2: so called Attorney General, they're going to play games as
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  Speaker 2: it relates as it relates to trying to selectively withhold documents,
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  Speaker 2: and we're going to stay on the case. Listen, Representative Massy,
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  Speaker 2: Representative Conna, this coalition, certainly the survivors House Democrats partnering
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  Speaker 2: with Senate Democrats. We're going to make sure that the
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  Speaker 2: documents are released, that you have full and complete transparency,
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  Speaker 2: and then the chips will fall where they may, and
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  Speaker 2: that's what the American people deserve at this particular point
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  Speaker 2: in time. We're also going to continue to press our
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  Speaker 2: case on these issues that matter, driving down the high
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  Speaker 2: cost of living, fixing our broken healthcasses, them certainly fighting
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  Speaker 2: hard to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, and Lawrence,
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  Speaker 2: I think you know. House Democrats have launched a discharge
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  Speaker 2: petition to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for
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  Speaker 2: three years in order to try to make sure that
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  Speaker 2: tens of millions of Americans don't experience dramatically increase premiums, copays,
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  Speaker 2: and deductibles. And all we'll need is a handful of
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  Speaker 2: Republicans Republicans to join us, and we can force that
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  Speaker 2: bill onto the House floor for an up and down vote.
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  Speaker 1: And it seems the discharge petition now is the route
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  Speaker 1: to legislation in the House of Representatives. It never was before,
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  Speaker 1: but Mike Johnson has completely lost control. Does this vote
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  Speaker 1: tell you that there are new possibilities in the House
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  Speaker 1: for your discharge petitions?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's absolutely correct. What we've seen is the ability
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  Speaker 2: to defy the Speaker of the House when we've made
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  Speaker 2: our caseccessfully to the American people. And it certainly is
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  Speaker 2: true that over the last several weeks we've raised the
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  Speaker 2: stakes around the issue of the Affordable Care Act tax
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  Speaker 2: credits and the need to make sure we're protecting healthcare
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  Speaker 2: for working class Americans, middle class Americans, and everyday Americans
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  Speaker 2: so they can afford to go see a doctor when
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  Speaker 2: they need one. The pressure will continue to mount the
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  Speaker 2: closer that we get to the end of December, and
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  Speaker 2: this is a viable vehicle available to us to get
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  Speaker 2: things done for the American people.
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  Speaker 1: What do you make you know? I normally don't talk
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  Speaker 1: about polls very much here, but that poll is quite
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  Speaker 1: striking that you Democrats now have a fourteen point advantage
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  Speaker 1: in the ballot in the general ballot poll in congressional elections.
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  Speaker 1: That's what it was a year before you won back
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  Speaker 1: the House representatives last time. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: No, And it's consistent with everything that we've seen, including
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  Speaker 2: the very real results a few weeks ago during the
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  Speaker 2: general election, when Democrats were successful all across the country
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  Speaker 2: in Virginia, in New Jersey, in New York, in California
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  Speaker 2: with fifty in Pennsylvania, in Mississippi, in Georgia, and in
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  Speaker 2: many other places throughout the nation. We're going to continue
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  Speaker 2: to see the American people rejecting the failures and extremism
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  Speaker 2: of Donald Trump and the Republican Party and embracing the
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  Speaker 2: Democratic message that listen. In this country, when you work
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  Speaker 2: hard and play by the rules, you should be able
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  Speaker 2: to afford a good life. Afford to live the good life,
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  Speaker 2: good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education
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  Speaker 2: for your children, and a good retirement. That's what Democrats
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  Speaker 2: are fighting hard to achieve.
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  Speaker 1: What does it mean for Donald Trump's presidency if that
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  Speaker 1: poll turns out to be true and the Democrats do
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  Speaker 1: take back the House representatives.
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  Speaker 2: Well, at that point we're able to cut his presidency
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  Speaker 2: in half. Legislative begin to really hold the administration accountable.
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  Speaker 2: The House will no longer function as nothing more than
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  Speaker 2: a reckless rubber stand for Donald Trump's extreme agenda in
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  Speaker 2: most cases, instead will be a check and balance on
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  Speaker 2: an out of control executive branch, which is exactly what
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  Speaker 2: the Framers intended the House to be.
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  Speaker 1: House Democratic Leader King Jeffrees, thank you very much for
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  Speaker 1: starting off our discussions tonight.