Lawmakers demand full unredacted release of Epstein files (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Well, we are going to be speaking to Congressman Canna in just a few moments, but first of all, let's get an initial thought from our panel. We're joined tonight by Abel Maldonado, former Republican Lieutenant Governor of California, and Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the former mayor of Baltimore. Welcome to you both. Abel, first of all to you, it was initially the Republicans who were making the running on releasing these files and putting so much pressure on. We saw that from President Trump himself in the election campaign in 2024. Why does it now seem like it's the Democrats pushing for more information, for more unredacted files to be shared?

[00:00:36] Speaker 2: Well, first of all, let's start by saying that this is gross. This is incredible. What we're witnessing every day, something new comes out, a new story. And to have these elite people abusing voiceless and vulnerable people in our country, and obviously throughout the world, is just unacceptable and transparency is everything. So I think we're past the debate of who's holding back or who's not. A law has been passed, a law has been signed, and it's to disclose and release all of the documents. And I think it's taken some time. There's been some redactions, obviously, that I would like to see for young individuals to not hurt them anymore. But the law states, release the documents. And I think that's where we're at. The law was signed by the president. Let's move forward and let's get justice for these vulnerable people.

[00:01:32] Speaker 3: And Stephanie, it was only a few days ago that President Trump was talking about it was time to move on from the Epstein files. But actually, what we're seeing is the opposite. We are seeing that push by the survivors, by their lawyers, by members of Congress. And this is really building in momentum, it feels. Would you agree?

[00:01:52] Speaker 4: I agree. And it's also momentum from the public. I think people see very clearly that this administration was forced, with one arm dragged behind its back, forced into signing the Epstein Transparency Act. And Trump and the DOJ has done everything since to slow walk this process. That is not transparency. That is not justice. And the public is overwhelmingly siding with the survivors. And they want to see people pay for this horrific behavior.

[00:02:28] Speaker 3: OK, Stephanie Abel, we will be back with you very shortly.

[00:02:32] Speaker 1: Well, let's speak now to Congressman Ro Khanna. He's a Democrat from California. He sponsored the Epstein Files Transparency Act with his Republican colleague, Congressman Thomas Massey. And they have both been reviewing some of those unredacted documents. So let's speak to Congressman Ro Khanna now, who joins us live from The Hill. Congressman, thanks for being with us. Now, I know you viewed these files yesterday, and you have named six individuals on the floor of the House today. For the purposes of this live interview, I'm going to ask you not to repeat those names in this forum. I don't enjoy the same privilege that you do on the floor of the House. But can you speak to us broadly about what you saw in those files yesterday at the Department of Justice?

[00:03:17] Speaker 5: Katrina, those names that I said on the floor have actually now been acknowledged by the Justice Department. They have released those names. They were protecting those names. Then Massey and I said, there's no reason for those to be redacted. The Justice Department acknowledged that. But there are many more such names in the files that need to be made public. And the biggest problem is that the FBI redacted files back in March at Trump's direction. And those files still are redacted, even in what they're showing members of Congress. We need those to be unredacted.

[00:03:55] Speaker 1: And how can you force that, given what's in the act that is law? It's been signed into law by the president now.

[00:04:05] Speaker 5: Well, Katrina, that's a pretty remarkable question. You're saying, how can I force the Department of Justice and the FBI to follow the law? Because they're breaking the law. One of the things we need to do is go to a judge and say, look, the FBI is supposed to unscrub those files. They have not unscrubbed those files. The second thing we can do is to make it clear that people who are not complying with the law will have prosecution in a future administration. But the third and most important thing is the public pressure. That's how we've gotten the largest release of these Epstein files in American history. That's how this has created a scandal that is toppling foreign governments and created an enormous amount of pressure here. So I think the American public will demand the release.

[00:04:49] Speaker 1: Now, given that inclusion in these files doesn't automatically equate with wrongdoing, there are many people whose names are mentioned there who are completely innocent. Did you get any explanation as to how the redaction policy was applied?

[00:05:06] Speaker 5: Well, there are two different issues. Some of the Department of Justice redactions were reasonable. They were redacting survivors, women. I think they over-redacted any female name because they said, well, this person, even if they were conspiring with Epstein, may have been a survivor. And that was reasonable. The problem is they also protected some of these men who were named as co-conspirators or who were doing things that were allegedly illegal. And the biggest issue is that Trump's FBI scrubbed these documents back in March, and those scrubbed documents are what was sent to DLJ. They need to unscrub those documents.

[00:05:45] Speaker 1: In terms of the UK interest in much of this and the relationship that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor had with Jeffrey Epstein, the King has said that the Royal Family will cooperate with Thames Valley Police, one of the police forces in the UK, on this. Do you have a message for King Charles for what he should advise his brother to do or, as head of the Royal Family, what he should perhaps instruct him to do?

[00:06:13] Speaker 5: I think the King has already been paying attention to what Thomas Massey and I said. I gave an interview saying that this may put the British monarchy in jeopardy. And the next thing I know, King Charles said, well, we should have a political prosecution or an independent prosecution investigation of his brother. My advice would be to come clean, to do a press conference with the British people, the American people, of what the Royal Family knew, what action they're going to take. They have a large wealth. They should probably be compensating some of these survivors for the horrors that have taken place.

[00:06:52] Speaker 1: We should just say that Andrew has completely denied any wrongdoing there, Congressman. So if you're talking about compensation and so on, there has been a historic settlement with one individual, but he has denied any wrongdoing. But I take your point there about sharing that information. And aside from a press conference, would you like to see Andrew Mountbatten Windsor come to the U.S. and speak to yourself and your colleagues?

[00:07:17] Speaker 5: Absolutely. I think that's appropriate. And it's not just the compensation in terms of it's clear that the Royal Family, from all I've seen, have not been transparent. They finally are now saying there should be an investigation. These women have been denied justice, and they've been denied justice by the powers that be in our country and in Britain and around the world. And I think there has to be a reckoning with that of the global elite.

[00:07:45] Speaker 1: And equally in relation to the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Peter Mendelsohn, we saw the Prime Minister on very shaky ground just yesterday. He has recovered from that at this point. But what would you be saying to him as to how he should be handling Peter Mendelsohn and all of this?

[00:08:05] Speaker 5: Well, look, I think they're doing the right thing. They fired Mendelsohn. They're saying that there needs to be an inquiry about Mendelsohn. They're taking accountability. Frankly, we need to have that kind of accountability here in the United States, the type of accountability that we're seeing in Britain. And I'll let the British process play out about the Prime Minister's future.

[00:08:28] Speaker 1: And just if we speak about matters here in the U.S. and the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, he previously said he hadn't had any contact with Epstein since 2005, said he was disgusted by him. But he was speaking just this morning with a committee of your colleagues there, admitted that he had met him twice since then, shows in the files there were various interactions over a period of about 13 years, including after Jeffrey Epstein's conviction. Do you think Howard Lutnick's position is tenable as Commerce Secretary?

[00:09:02] Speaker 5: It shouldn't be because he lied. He allegedly had business interactions and dealings with Epstein after he was a convicted pedophile. He went to the island after he was a convicted pedophile, even though he went with his family, he still went to the island. So he needs to be held accountable. I think he's a liability for Donald Trump. It seems that they're covering for people who were part of this Epstein class. And I know there are Republicans who want him to resign as well. I hope that he will resign and that he will accept some accountability.

[00:09:33] Speaker 1: OK, Congressman Ro Khanna, thank you very much for joining us here on BBC News.