Video: Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) Says Hakeem Jeffries Is “an exceptionally strong leader”; Mike Johnson Faces “a rebellion in his own ranks”; “no evidence that Bill Clinton ever went to [Epstein’s] island”

Interesting interview yesterday afternoon with Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11); see below for highlights and video.

• “Well, obviously had a series of rulings [by the US Supreme Court]. They made the right decision in my view on birthright citizenship. Really, honestly shouldn’t even have been close. I’m shocked that there were 4 justices that couldn’t read the plain text of the constitution. With respect to the transgender bans being upheld, I just don’t think across-the-board bans like that are right. I think they’re clearly discriminatory, that local sports leagues are in the best  position to determine what’s fair on a case-by-case so all kids can participate. So I disagree with that one.”
• “On campaign finance, we’ve seen  this court committed to allowing the billionares to continue to try to buy elections, and this ruling will  move us even further and that in that direction.”
• “I was in a transcribed interview for about an hour this morning. And, you know, I heard Mr. Band respond to some  of those questions about a  2022 Vanity Fair article where he, you know, talked about his  interactions with Ghislaine Maxwell and Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein. I think it’s important to know with respect to Bill Clinton going to the island, the flight logs, Bill Clinton’s flight logs, Epstein’s flight logs show no evidence that Bill Clinton ever went to the island. There is not a single – we’ve deposed Bill Clinton – there’s not a single piece of tangible evidence showing that that he went to the island. So I think we have to conclude at this point that Bill Clinton never went to Eptein’s island, unless there’s some evidence to the contrary. Mr. Band did maintain a relationship, a correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell over a period of years, which is obviously troubling given the crimes that she was involved in…I don’t think there is new information other than Doug Band, I would say, walking back his previous assertion that  Bill Clinton went to Epstein’s island. He said to us point blank that he didn’t have any evidence that Bill Clinton went to Epstein’s island.”
• “Well, House Democrats, we take nothing for granted with respect to November. We feel  we’re in a strong position and are gonna, you know, run through the tape. I’ve watched Hakeem Jeffries operate for the 10 months that I’ve been in Congress. In my view, he’s an exceptionally strong leader. He has united our Democratic caucus, which is diverse in every way, right, we have a broad spectrum of views and ideologies and folks from different parts of the country. He’s held us together and brought us  together to take on this reckless Trump administration on behalf of the American people who desperately need relief from these Trump Republican policies that are  driving up costs. I’m confident he’ll do precisely that Speaker of the House starting in January.”
• “Wel look, Democratic caucus and you know, I’ve been here as a staff member when we had large Democratic majorities, we had conservative blue dogs and very progressives from New York City and other places and, you know, we have common ground. We’re committed to protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, we’re committed to  bringing down costs for the American people. So we’ll certainly have debates and discussions and disagreements. But at the end of the day, I think we’re going to united in standing up to this Trump administration and delivering for the American people in January…We’re talking prospectively about  what a Democratic majority, what those challenges might be. Today as we speak, Speaker Johnson just had to cancel all  of the votes in the House this week because of a rebellion in his own ranks. So not a single ounce of progress was made on  affordability for the American people because the Republicans can’t govern this Congress. That’s happening right now, today.”