Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA11) was on MSNOW yesterday evening; here’s what he had to say.
- “Well, I heard your last guest say that Democrats have turned this into something that was about Trump, and now it’s about a lot of people. And look, from the perspective of Democrats in Congress, certainly me and Democrats on the Oversight Committee, we want to follow this wherever it leads, whether it’s Trump or anyone else, as we’ve learned. I think it’s interesting, you know, that list of 300 people that DoJ sent to the Judiciary Committee, I wish they had next to each name, put how many times each individual was mentioned in the files, because Trump would be at or near the top of that list. Thousands of mentions. We know that he has lied consistently about his long and deep relationship with Epstein. We know that Virginia Giuffre was recruited or trafficked from Mar-a-Lago. We know that Donald Trump lied repeatedly in saying that he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago. I read a redacted document – illegally redacted, in my view – where Epstein’s lawyers had spoken to Trump and Trump made it clear that he never kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago. Why does he keep lying? Why has he done everything in his power to cover this up? Those are important questions, not to take away from any of the other individuals involved here.”
- “So the Judiciary Committee Democrats, led by Jamie Raskin, have coordinated key files that even some based on crowdsourcing that folks in the public have suggested. We need to look at these redactions. And those are all being compiled together with a staff and investigators there. And I think we will have from that a series of questions and additional lines of inquiry.”
- “One of the things we’ve been very focused on on the Oversight Committee and as you know, we have a subpoena separate from the Transparency Act, is following the money. We’ve heard from victims, including the FBI, that there was many as 1,000 victims or survivors of Epstein’s crimes. This was a massive global network and ring. How did the money work? How did the money flow? Who at which bank knew what was taking place, why transfers were being taken place. Wexner is key to that. Epstein had control of Wexner’s money. Wexner transferred his townhouse in Manhattan to Epstein, and many of the crimes were committed there. So I’m hopeful that we’ll get more information from Wexner about how the money flowed and how the money worked that allowed Epstein and others to commit these crimes.”
- “Well, that’s one of the frustrations in the files. I think we have to conclude that that 302 and others are perhaps in the 2.5 million files that have not been released, because we have not been able to identify them. Even in the redacted files that exist. They seem not to have released the survivors’ statements...I’ll go back to the Oversight Committee subpoena, which doesn’t have the same allowed redactions as the Act. And that subpoena is in effect. And I’m very confident that if there’s a change in control of Congress, that subpoena will continue to be in effect, and we will take aggressive action to ensure that it’s complied with.”
- “Honestly, we haven’t had conversations about the Epstein files in the context of the elections. But I think your point is a good one and fair, that for a lot of folks, it’s illustrative of a class in Washington and in the country that seems to get away with whatever they want to get away with. And hard working Americans can’t seem to get ahead. And why is it that the Les Wexners and the Epsteins and others of the world can lie with impunity and get wealthier while they do it, while average American families can’t afford groceries or can’t afford to pay the rent? I think that is layered over the election that’s coming up in November.”
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