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One Year In, The Epstein Inquiry Still Has More Questions Than Answers (7/9/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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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 major issues that people are
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  concerned with when it comes to the commission that's looking
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  into Epstein's crimes is the fact that the commission itself
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  has no teeth, and now that we're a year on,
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  there really hasn't been much movement, and unfortunately, it looks
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  like everything I thought that was going to happen is happening.
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  The whole entire idea of the committee was to control
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  that blast radius. They never wanted to get close to
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  the truth. That was never the goal. They wanted to
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  do enough that they can come back to you and say, look,
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  we did our best. This stuff is still buried, it's
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  still hidden, and we're just never going to get to
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  the bottom of it. That was the plan, and the
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  discharge petition threw chaos into that plan, and we now
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  know that it left them scrambling so much to the
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  point that they had high level meetings at the White House.
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  So you know, they were panicking behind the scenes, and
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  they should have been. But of course now comes the distractions,
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  and the biggest distraction, obviously was the war in Iran,
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  and I have to tell you, it did its job
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  because the vast majority of people they pivoted. Right, there's
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  a war. People are gonna follow that. There's a lot
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  going on. You have the Israeli issue, just a whole
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  lot going on. So of course people are gonna tune in.
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  They're gonna look at what's going on in the war.
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  They're gonna look at this, that the other thing. And
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  that's what they've always counted on. Exhaustion and people being
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  so confused and tired by this topic that they just
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  keep it moving. And look, I understand this topic is
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  not for the fantom heart. It's depressing, it's not fun,
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  and frankly, there's nothing enjoyable about it. But I feel
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  like this conversation has to happen after all these years
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  and all these failures, I think we owe that to
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  the survivor. Today's article is from the National Post and
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  the headline one year in Epstein inquiry has found few answers.
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  One year try about four decades. This article was authored
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  by Swakar Ali. As the US House Oversight Committee's inquiry
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  and the Jeffrey Epstein approaches its one year mark, the
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  witness list has included some of the highest profile figures
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  ever to appear before the panel, and they were all
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  there voluntarily. Nobody showed up there with any kind of
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  threat of actually being in trouble, and that was all
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  part of it. Billionaire moguls, members of Epstein's inner circle,
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  and the former US President have been among the dozen
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  plus witnesses Olive saw to distance themselves from the deceased
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  sex defenders crimes. None have had much to say to
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  help lawmakers bring charges against any wrongdoers. Yeah, because they're
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  the wrongdoers themselves. Breaking news. People aren't on themselves, not
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  unless you threaten them with serious jail time. And wouldn't
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  it be nice if the government had a tool to
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  do that? Oh wait, they do, they chose not to
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  use it. Imagine going after Jeffrey Epstein in any regard
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  and not using RICO tell me the fix is in
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  without telling me. In the UK, ties to Epstein caused
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  the leadership crisis, led to the former Prince Andrew losing
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  his honors and princely title, and triggered police investigations and
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  Andrew getting arrested. Kind of significant senior officials in Norway, Sweden,
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  France and Slovakia have all faced a reckoning for their
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  associations with the disgraced financier. In the US, prominent figures
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  have been forced to resign, while some have been grilled
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  by lawmakers. Oh grilled is it more like praised? Oh
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  he answered all the questions. Oh he's such a nice guy,
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  Bill Gates. Thank you for all of your philanthropic work.
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  Thank you for helping people with vaccines. I don't give
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  a fuck about any of that. If you want the truth,
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  I have one question, and one question only, Why were
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  you associating with Jeffrey Epstein? And I want the truth?
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  Now your bullshit answer. I want the truth. What were
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  you guys doing together? And if you tell me philanthropy,
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  I'm going to tell you you're a liar? How about that?
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  But a group of Epstein's survivors say the truth is
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  still hiding. They have criticized committee interviews for having largely
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  been voluntary and not under oath. Well, who does that
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  sound like? Almost like me and the survivors are on
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  the same page. Huh. Billionaire investor Leon Black took a
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  stance shared by many of the witnesses when he said
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  at his closed door testimony, I knew jekyl I didn't
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  know hyde did they all get together to come up
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  with that defense that line? Leon Black and Leslie Groff
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  both used it. Look, I have a lot of doubts
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  about what's going on here, and I certainly have a
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  lot of doubts about the people that are in charge
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  of the whole process on both sides of the aisle.
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  Like people who can play they're politics all they want.
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  I'm so far away from that and so removed from
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  that that I don't even care if people want to
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  run around and think they're a party. Gives a fuck
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  about them? Cool, great, have about it. There is nothing
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  I can say that's going to change someone's mind. So
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  for me, all I care about is that we agree
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  about this topic here. We can have our disagreements later on,
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  but about this topic, I don't give a shit what
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  side of the political aisle you're on. I really don't
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  care what your beliefs are. As long as you want
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  justice and you want the people who are responsible for
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  this held accountable, And if that's you, then we're allies
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  at least right now. Later on down the road, well
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  we can discuss what we don't agree on, But for
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  right now, on this topic, I think we should all
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  agree that these powerful people should be held accountable. And
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  I think that most Democrats and Republicans and anything in
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  between shares that view. Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution
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  from a minor in two thousand and eight and spent
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  thirteen months in jail. He died in August of twenty
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  nineteen in a Manhattan jail cell, a month after being
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  indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. Black, the co founder
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  and former CEO of Apollo Global Management, had paid Epstein
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  more than one hundred and fifty million from twenty twelve
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  to twenty seventeen. The private equity firm commissioned a report
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  that found the payments were for bona fide tax, estate
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  planning and other related services one hundred and fifty million dollars.
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  Here's an idea, just pay your taxes. I know, crazy idea,
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  mister rich guy Lean Black got to get an extra penny.
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  Got to make sure he has an extra dollar. If
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  you haven't figured it out yet, I'm disgusted by all
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  of them, and I've had enough. I've literally had enough.
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  Republican Chairman James Comer full reporters Black cut the meeting
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  short after being asked about the non disclosure agreements he
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  had signed with women. Of course he did. He's a coward,
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  he's a chump, and he's a pussy. The NDAs are
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  between him and other women. Comer told reporters after Black
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  walked out about an hour into the voluntary interview. We
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  want to know was Jeffrey Epstein involved in the NDAs?
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  Was he involved in writing? Was he involved in awarding
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  funds to the women for the NDAs? What was the
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  reason for the NDAs? What was he involved in intimidating
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  guzel Ganieva? Did he reach out to the FSB to
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  have people in Russia presser and flex honor? Yeah, he
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  most certainly did. We saw the email, So what the
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  fuck are we talking about here? Black was issued to
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  subpoenas for him to appear at another hearing, which will
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  be held under oath on July sixteenth, and to divulge
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  information about any NDAs. Look, I hate to throw some
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  rain on the parade here, but I have my doubts
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  that we're going to get the truth from Leon Black.
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  Do you really think a guy like Leon Blae is
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  in scheming and conniving behind the scenes, right? Now. Oh,
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  he most certainly is Richard Kahn, who worked as Epstein's
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  acountant for more than a decade, testified in March that
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  he received money from Black, along with billionaire retailer Les Wexner,
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  Hedge von Magnate, Glenn Dubin, former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky,
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  and members of the prominent Rothchild family. Comerce said Wexner,
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  who was alleged to be behind much of Epstein's wealth.
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  Pole Committee members in February, Epstein was a con man
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  who duped them out of millions of dollars. Oh, you
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  mean the conversation that the Republicans didn't bother having. That's
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  I'm never gonna let that down. I'm never gonna let
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  it die, and I'm never gonna let them off the hook.
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  How don't you go and talk to Les Wexner when
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  you say you're serious about justice. It is so absurd
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  that it's hard to wrap my mind around. Democratic Congressman
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  Suhas Submaranium described Cohn as a fixer who played a
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  central role in Epstein's financial activity. He made payments for
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  tuition and to girls directly, and his name appeared on
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  shell companies used to channel Epstein's money Submarannium noted con
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  said in prepared remarks shared with the media that he
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  was not aware of the terrible and unforgivable things that
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  he did to women and girls. Nah had no idea.
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  I was just around for all of it, paying these
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  girls off. But I saw nothing. I did nothing. How
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  dare you even question me? Today? We heard from mister
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  Kahn a lot of inability to recall, inability to recall emails,
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  text messages he was involved in. Democratic Representative James Walkinshaw
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  said if he was ignorant of mister Epstein's crimes, he
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  was wilfully ignorant. Well, I can agree with that. Not
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  a lot I agree with with mister Walkinshaw, but I
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  agree with that if you say you're ignorant here, it's wolful. Sorry,
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  nobody could be around this dude like they were and
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  not know. The congressional probe was spurred by public pressure
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  and appeals from surviv over the US Department of Justice
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  handling of the case against Epstein and does associate Glenn Maxwell.
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  Maxwell is the only other person besides Epstein to be
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  charged by the Justice Department. She's serving a twenty year
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  sentence for her role in recruiting some of the underage
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  victims abused by Epstein. She should be under the prison,
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  by the way, not a Camp Brian under the prison.
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  The Justice Department review into the Epstein investigation concluded last
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  year that it did not uncover evidence that would predicate
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  an investigation against uncharged third parties. The same memo also
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  noted that Epstein had harmed over one thousand victims. Being
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  associated with Epstein does not imply criminal culpability. The Department
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  has said, yeah, what if you got money from him
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  while he was running a criminal enterprise? That kind of
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  makes things marqino. While the interviews have fallen short of
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  uncovering criminal activity, they have revealed damaging information about power
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  for men. Bill Gates admitted that he had three affairs,
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  including one with a Russian bridge player and another Russian
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  nuclear physicist, that Epstein became aware of. Based on emails
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  released in June, Epstein may have been considering waste of
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  blackmailum Gates told the committee, well, that definitely tracks. And
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  for all the people out there who think that Epstein
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  was not blackmailing people, he most certainly was. Maybe not
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  to the level some people say, but don't think for
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  a minute he wasn't collecting Compromont and dossier's he was.
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  Milinda French Gates has said her husband's affairs and associations
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  with Epstein contributed to her seeking to end their twenty
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  seven year marriage. Meanwhile, a prominent member or members of
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  US President Donald Trump's second administration have also been called
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  before the committee. Pam Bondy, who was ousted as Attorney
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  General in April, told lawmakers that the release of the
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  files was under the purview of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
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  Has there ever been a bigger failure as an Attorney
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  General than Todd Blanche. This dude is an absolute clown,
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  not qualified, and certainly not somebody that should be in
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  that position. During the questioning, Miss Bondi invoked mister Blanche's
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  name more than thirty times, pointing to him as the
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  person responsible for the DJ's actions involving the review withholding
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  and boch release of Epstein related records. Garcia said, well,
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  that's true, throw them right under the bus, and that's
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  right on brand for Pam Bondy. For his part, Blanche
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  briefed the committee in March, but has since been called
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  on by survivors to testify under oath. A New York
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  Times investigation revealed that Blanche was in the situation room
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  with Trump and other administration officials to discuss how to
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  contain the political fallout from the release of the Epstein files. Trump,
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  whose name appears thousands of times in the files, has
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  not been accused of criminal misconduct. Well, let's start talking
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  about cover up. Then there might be some problems. Survivors
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  released a joint statement that said they were deeply disturbed
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  by the Times report and came out against Blanche's nomination
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  as Trump's permanent attorney General. Blanche failed to deliver transparency,
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  and he has gravely failed survivors, they wrote. US Commerce
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  Secretary Howard Lutnik, who was Epstein's next door neighbor in
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  New York, testified May that he had met him three times,
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  once during a tour of Epstein's house with his wife
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  in two thousand and five, another brief conversation about scaffolding
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  on their property, and the meeting with Lutnick's family on
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  Epstein's private island for lunch in twenty twelve. He denied
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  having any close relationship with Epstein. The testimony was criticized
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  for being voluntary and not under oath of all the
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  issues where you let people come in voluntarily, this is it.
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  I mean, come on, they've never told the truth. What
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  makes you think they're going to tell the truth now
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  that you're letting them come in entirely. Bill Clinton, who's
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  well documented relationship with Epstein went back more than two decades,
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  was sworn in. He said his relationship with Epstein ended
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  in two thousand and three after he learned that Epstein
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  didn't seem interested in his global health initiatives. Was that
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  before or after he donated to your initiative, mister Clinton?
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  And if you think for a minute, I believe what
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  Clinton said, I don't. He perjured himself, him and his
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  wife both. If he had been aware of Epstein committing
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  any crimes, I would have turned him in myself, Clinton said.
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  Last week during testimony, Doug Band, a longtime Clinton made,
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  contradicted a previous statement to Vanity Fair that Clinton had
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  visited Epstein's island. Lawmakers noted, well, what about Virginia. I
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  believe what she said. That's it, that's the whole statement.
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  And she said that she saw Bill Clinton on the
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  island do with that as you will. Emails exchange between
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  Band and Maxwell in the early two thousands included pet
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  names such as baby cakes and Booboo. The Epstein files
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  have revealed. Banned reportedly said he had taken steps to
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  take Clinton out of Maxwell and Epstein's orbit. The former
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  Prince Andrew and Trump, whose names appear in the file
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  thousands of times, should also appear before the committee, survivors
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  have said. Following closed door meetings with survivors in June,
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  Comer has said he will also call Alan Dershowitz to testify. Look,
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  everybody should be called in, and everybody should be sworn in.
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  None of this should be on a voluntary basis. That
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  should have never even been an option, but unfortunately it was.
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  And when you're dealing with something like this that's been
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  buried in secrecy, it makes people wonder. And I think
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  people are right to wonder, because if you want to
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  be trusted, you have to be trustworthy, and this committee
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  is anything but. All the information that goes with this
• 15:56
  episode can be found in the description box.