‘A shame’: Garcia rips Comer on Epstein

0:01 Look, tomorrow is actually a IMPORTANT MOMENT I THIS INVESTIGATION.

0:02 FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE'RE GOING TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM SURVIVORS

0:06 IN A HEARING FORMAT WHERE THEY WILL BE ABLE TO TELL THEIR STORIES.

0:10 THEY'LL BE ABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM THE WE'LL

0:13 BE HEARING FROM SOME FOLKS ON THE GROUND THAT WERE

0:17 VERY INVOLVED IN PALM BEACH AND THE WAY THIS INVESTIGATION

0:20 AT THE LOCAL AND STATE LEVEL REALLY REALLY UNRAVELED.

0:24 I MEAN, AT THE CENTER OF THIS, OF COURSE, IS FORMER SECRETARY ALEX ACOSTA,

0:28 JUST THE HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE JOB THAT WAS DONE

0:30 BY HIS THEN DEPARTMENT AND HIM AS U .S.

0:35 ATTORNEY IN PROSECUTING AND TRYING TO WE'LL BRING

0:38 JUSTICE FOR THE SURVIVORS AND GO AFTER OTHER CO-CONSPIRAITORS.

0:41 SO THOSE STORIES WILL BE TOLD WE THINK IT WILL BE AN IMPORTANT MOMENT

0:46 FOR THIS COMMITTEE AND THE WORK

0:47 THAT WE ARE DOING AROUND THE EPISODE INVESTIGATION.

0:50 SO, I EXPECT TOMORROW THERE WILL BE A LOT

0:53 OF INFORMATION BOTH REVEALED BUT ALSO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS BEING ASKED.

0:56 YOU KNOW, I WANT TO DIVE A LITTLE BIT FURTHER

1:00 INTO THE ACOSTA PART OF THIS BECAUSE IT IS, IN ONE SENSE,

1:05 IT'S SET IN MOTION A LOT OF THINGS AND THEN IN ANOTHER SENSE,

1:09 IT SORT OF PUT, YOU KNOW, A BAR AGAINST SOME OTHERS.

1:13 YOU HAVE ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTING BACK IN FEBRUARY ABOUT THE FBI

1:19 CONCLUDING JEFFREY EPSTEEN WASN'T RUNNING

1:21 A SEX TRAFFICKING RING FOR POWERFUL MEN.

1:23 NOTING THE EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION BEGAN IN 2005 WHEN THE PARENTS OF A 14-YEAR-OLD

1:28 GIRL WAS REPORTED SHE HAD BEEN MOLESTED AT the millionaires' home in Palm Beach.

1:33 Police would identify at least 35 girls with similar stories.

1:37 After the FBI joined the probe, however,

1:39 federal prosecutors drafted indictments to charge Epstein.

1:43 But instead, then Miami U .S.

1:45 Attorney Attorney Alexander Acosta,

1:47 struck a deal letting Epstein plead guilty to state

1:50 charges of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.

1:54 It feels to me that what Acosta did was to PREEMPT FURTHER

2:00 FEDERAL INVESTIGATION BASED OFF OF WHAT

2:02 THEY WERE INITIALLY IN FINDING, INITIAL FINDING.

2:05 HOW DO YOU SEE EXPLORING THAT AND EXPOSING MORE OF Acosta's ROLE HERE?

2:11 I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF FEDERAL PROSECUTION THAT KIND

2:12 OF SET IN MOTION SORT OF THE COVER-UP FEEL ASPECT

2:17 OF SOME OF THIS RELATIVE TO THE FACT THAT WE

2:40 DID NOT GO AFTER EPSTEIN AND BRING JUSTICE TO THOSE SURVIVORS

2:45 AND OTHER CO-CONSPIRATORS IN LARGE PART IS BECAUSE OF ACOSTA

2:49 AND THE SWEETHEART DEAL HE PUT TOGETHER AND TO NOT

2:52 GO BEYOND ESSENTIALLY WHAT WAS A SLAP ON THE WREST

2:57 WE'RE GOING TO BE HEARING A LOT ABOUT ALEX ACOSTA TOMORROW.

3:02 AND IN ADDITION, LET'S BE CLEAR, WE ARE IN PALM BEACH.

3:04 PALM BEACH IS ALSO AT THE CENTER OF WHERE THIS WORK HAPPENED.

3:08 WHERE THE LINE PROSECUTORS WERE GOING TO ACOSTA AND ASKING FOR MORE PROSECUTION.

3:15 THIS IS THE SAME LOCATION WHERE AT MAR-A-LAGO,

3:17 WE KNOW THERE WAS ESSENTIALLY WOMEN AND AND GIRLS BEING

3:21 RECRUITED TO THEN GO WORK FOR JEFFREY EPSTEIN IN HIS HOMES.

3:25 SO ALL OF THIS, AND THEN TO GET

3:26 APPOINTED TO LABOR UNDER SECRETARY BY DONALD TRUMP.

3:30 ANOTHER RESIDENT, BY THE WAY, OF THE VERY CITY WE ARE IN RIGHT NOW,

3:34 MAR-A-LAGO WHICH IS NOT TOO FAR FROM WHERE WE I THINK

3:36 TOMORROW IS GOING TO BE AN IMPORTANT REMINDER OF THE AMERICAN

3:39 PEOPLE THAT THIS INVESTIGATION IS JUST GETTING STARTED AND THAT PALM

3:44 BEACH IS AT THE CENTER OF THE WORK AHEAD.

3:47 IT IS JUST STRIKING AS I READ THE INTRO TO NOTE THAT IN 2005,

3:52 THE PARENTS OF A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL CAME FORWARD

3:56 AND YEARS LATER MORE THAN 1200 GIRLS WERE TRAFFICKED,

4:02 abused, sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein and his━and Ghile Maxwell.

4:08 And to think if someone would have taken this family seriously in 2005,

4:14 many people or would have been saved.

4:15 I want to ask you, Congresswoman,

4:17 if we can take a turn about Pam Bondi and her testimony.

4:21 She is supposed to testify about Epstein on May 29th before a House panel,

4:26 this hearing that you are having right

4:29 now was actually scheduled for April 14th,

4:32 but it was moved because that's when Bondi was first ordered to appear.

4:35 Are you confident that you're going to see

4:38 Pam Bondi on the 29th and will she be, will she be under oath and recorded?

4:44 Unlike Secretary Lutnik who was not,

4:46 I mean there is a transcript but it was not on on video?

4:51 Look, I mean whether she shows up or not, we're going to wait and see.

4:56 She should show up.

4:57 She has been, there's a legal subpoena for her to attend.

5:00 And I think it's really a shame that THAT, CHAIRMAN COMBER,

5:03 WHO HAS AS THE LEADER, THE CHAIR OF THE MAJORITY,

5:06 HE HAS THE ABILITY TO DECIDE IF THESE DEPOSITIONS AND INTERVIEWS

5:10 ARE RECORDED OR NOT AND THEN RELEASED TO IT'S HIS DECISION ALONE.

5:15 THE FACT THAT HE CHOSE TO NOT DO SO FOR LUTNIK,

5:18 I THINK IS A REAL SHAME TO THIS INVESTIGATION AND REALLY

5:22 OVERALL JUST GOES TO TO THIS CONTINUOUS COVER-UP THAT IS HAPPENING.

5:25 NOW, LOOK, WHEN THE TRANSCRIPT OF LUTNIK GETS REVEALED,

5:28 I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE VERY INTERESTING

5:30 FOR THE MARINOKAN PUBLIC TO HEAR LUTNIK MAKE,

5:32 ESSENTIALLY LIE AND WEAVE AND TRY TO DEFLECT THE ENTIRE TIME.

5:35 AS THAT RELATES TO BONDI, THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT WE HAVE DEMANDED

5:39 JAMES COMER TO TO ENSURE THAT IT'S VIDEOTAPED,

5:43 IT'S UNDER OATH AND MADE AVAILABLE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

5:46 UP UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT, CHAIRMAN COMBER HAS NOT AGREED TO DO SO YET.

5:50 REPRESENTATIVE GARCIO, DO YOU PLAN TO CALL LUTNICK BACK

5:55 WE HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FOR SECRETARY LUTNIK,

5:58 SO THOSE CONVERSATIONS ARE ONGOING.

6:02 OKAY, THEY'RE ONGOING AND IT'S KIND OF, YOU KNOW,

6:05 SORT OF A I DON'T THINK IT'S GOING

6:07 TO LEAD TO WHAT SIMONE JUST SAID ABOUT PAM BONDY,

6:10 WHETHER OR NOT SHE SHOWS UP ON THE 29TH OF THE MONTH.

6:15 FOR ME, CONGRESSMAN, IT JUST, I DON'T GET TOO WORKED UP ABOUT IT AT THIS POINT.

6:20 AND THE REASON IS, COME JANUARY, THE GAVEL WILL BE IN YOUR HAND.

6:25 AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF FOLKS ARE NOT I'M

6:29 NOT REALLY COUNTING ON OR THINKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF HOW THIS PLAYS OUT,

6:33 IF I'M PAM BONDI OR MR.

6:35 LUTNICK, THAT SOMEHOW THEY'RE GOING TO BE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE DONALD

6:40 TRUMP STILL ENOUGH VOTES THIS NOVEMBER TO FOR REPUBLICANS TO KEEP THE HOUSE,

6:45 BUT THAT'S I WOULDN'T MAKE THAT BET.

6:48 SO WHAT'S YOUR ADVICE TO TO THEM

6:51 ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES THEY'RE BEING AFFORDED NOW

6:55 VERSUS THE REALITY THAT THEY COULD COME TO LIVE WITH THIS TIME NEXT YEAR.

7:02 LOOK, MY MESSAGE FIRST TO THESE THINGS ARE GOING

7:03 TO THOSE THAT ARE IN THE ADMINISTRATION RIGHT NOW.

7:07 CERTAINLY CABINET SECRETARIES, THOSE IN LEADERSHIP,

7:10 THEY WANT TO TESTIFY IN FRONT OF THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.

7:14 WHETHER THEY HAVE TESTIFIED ALREADY OR NOT,

7:16 WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT THESE TESTIMONIES ARE

7:19 DONE IN A WAY THAT IS TRANSPARENT AND OPEN

7:20 TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC AND WE IT'S NOT A LITTLE BIT OF MEN AND WOMEN OF THE FBI,

7:27 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, THE COMMERCE DEPARTMENT,

7:29 OF OTHER AGENCIES THAT I KNOW HAVE INFORMATION.

7:34 THAT WE KNOW THAT MOST ARE WE ARE GOING TO ENCOURAGE

7:40 AND CONTACT US WHETHER IT'S THROUGH OUR WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM OR KNOW THAT WE

7:45 ARE GOING TO ENSURE THAT WHEN WE ARE IN THE MAJORITY WE

7:48 ARE GOING TO BE ASKING WE ARE GOING TO BE ASKING FOR DOCUMENTS.

7:50 WE ARE GOING TO BE ASKING FOR DOCUMENTS.

7:52 WE ARE GOING TO BE GOING INTO EVERY

7:53 AGENCY UNTIL WE GET THE TRUTH ABOUT JEFFREY EPSTEIN,

7:56 ABOUT WHO ALSO COMMITTED THAT'S WHAT THIS INVESTIGATION

7:59 WE ARE RELENTLESS WHICH IS WHY WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE LARGEST COVER-UP

8:03 IN MODERN HISTORY AT ANY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT.

8:06 THAT'S WHAT THAT IS WHAT THIS INVESTIGATION IS ABOUT

8:08 AND SO WE ARE RELENTLESS WHICH IS WHY WE'RE

8:09 HERE IN PALM BEACH AND WE WILL BE EVERYWHERE

8:12 EVERYWHERE UNTIL WE ENSURE WE GET JUSTICE FOR THE SURVIVORS.

8:15 ALL RIGHT.