Thursday, March 12, 2026. The House Oversight Committee hears from
Epstein's accountant that a woman who accused Epstein and Donald Chump
of assault got a settlement, questions remain about where the other
papers from The Epstein Files are on the woman accusing Chump of
assaulting her when she was underage (and no one knows if this is the
same woman that Epstein's accountant was speaking of), Chump has wasted
over 11 billion of our tax dollars on his illegal war of choice with
Iran, Senator Patty Murray calls out Republicans who don't want to get
honest about ICE, and much more.
Jeffrey Epstein. Chump's friend from the
80s through when? No one's really sure. Chump likes to pretend it was
2005 or 2006 but there are e-mails carrying the timeline up to 2016 --
November of 2016. Jeffrey Epstein was Chump's friend for years. He
died in prison. In 2019. With new revelations regarding Epstein's death, Ari's put together a timeline.
Bill Barr was Attorney General in 2019 -- under Chump. He remembers
or 'remembers' (I don't buy what he says, he wasn't at all convincing
when he spoke to Tara Palmeri) having two conversations about Epstein
with Chump -- the first when Chump told him that he and Epstein were no
longer friends and the second
was after Epstein died in prison when he says he broke the news to Chump.
Those
were their only conversations? They didn't have one about New
Mexico? Even though something happened in New Mexico when Barr was in
charge of the Justice Dept?
Rep.
James Comer (R-KY) said President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice
asked New Mexico investigators to shut down a 2019 probe into a ranch
owned by convicted child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Comer
joined Fox News’s Jesse Watters on Tuesday evening after New Mexico
authorities searched a ranch in the state once owned by Epstein. Victims
of Epstein have said they were trafficked at the ranch. This is the
second time the property has been investigated.
The
property was being probed in 2019, but federal investigators reportedly
took over and shut things down. Epstein died of an apparent suicide in
2019 while incarcerated awaiting sex trafficking charges.
Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said on Tuesday:
The
federal government asked New Mexico to stop their investigation, I
believe, back in 2019 of that ranch. So there’s just so many questions
about how the government failed, the victims and how government failed
in trying to prosecute Epstein sooner. I mean, this whole thing doesn’t
make sense. Everyone has conspiracy theories on how Epstein was able to
get away with it. Was it because he had powerful friends? Was it because
he was an agent? We don’t know, but we’re gonna find out and I’m glad
that they’re on the ground now in New Mexico searching that property.
Bill Barr was Attorney General when that investigation was shut down.
Did Comer ask him about that? Did anyone?
Jeff
Sessions and Alberto Gonzalez were supposed to be deposed by Comer's
Committee; however, they both swore in letters that they had no
knowledge of anything. And then they were told that they didn't have to testify. So why did
they make Hillary Clinton testify? She'd been very clear prior to
appearing before the Committee that she had no knowledge of Epstein.
An
accountant who worked closely with Jeffrey Epstein for more than a
decade and serves as an executor of his estate told members of Congress
on Wednesday that he "was not aware of the nature or extent of Epstein's
abuse of so many women until after Epstein's death."
Richard
Kahn was one of Epstein's closest associates in his final years,
managing his finances, investments and other minutiae, such as
renovations on Epstein's private Caribbean island. He was subpoenaed to
appear before the House Oversight Committee, and testified behind closed
doors that he did not socialize with Epstein.
"Had
I learned of any of his horrific behavior, I would have quit work
immediately," he said, according to his prepared opening statement,
which was provided to CBS News.
Democratic
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia said during a lunch break that Kahn
told the committee the Epstein's estate had reached a settlement with a
person who had also made accusations related to President Trump.
Subramanyam did not give further detail on what was said about that
settlement or the accuser.
Was
that person -- the one who had also made accusations regarding Chump --
the same woman that NPR discovered? Or is this another woman who has
accused Chump of assault?
TAMARA KEITH: And we're back. And NPR political reporter Stephen Fowler is here with us. Hey, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hello.
KEITH:
There were a number of developments in the long-running Epstein files
story this week. And Stephen, I want to start with your latest reporting
on files that were missing or redacted from the original public
release. Some of those files have now been posted by the Justice
Department. What do they have in them?
FOWLER: Just to
recap, we found that there were 53 pages that appeared to be missing
from that public Epstein files database. They all related to an
allegation that President Trump sexually abused a minor in the early
1980s. There was a mention of this explicit allegation found in a
Justice Department PowerPoint from last year that was in the files and
also an FBI email kind of recapping all of the claims made about Trump,
but we couldn't find it anywhere else in these files. Looking at some of
the other documents, we were able to find that the FBI interviewed this
woman as an adult in 2019 four separate times. Only one of those
interviews was initially published in the Epstein files, and it didn't
mention Trump at all.
Now, we do have some of those files,
16 pages covering three other interviews, plus a two-page sheet
detailing the initial tip that was called in. These interviews do go
into more explicit detail about what Trump was alleged to have done to
her when she was a teenager, forcing her head down onto his penis. She
allegedly bit it. He said foul words and hit her head. There's also an
interview, which was the final one in 2019, and this woman was asked
whether she, quote, "felt comfortable" detailing her contacts with
Trump, and she reportedly asked, quote, "what the point would be of
providing this information at this point in her life when there was a
strong possibility nothing could be done about it." And remember, these
interviews took place during Trump's first term in office.
KEITH: Stephen, how is the White House responding to this?
FOWLER:
We should also note here that Trump denies any wrongdoing related to
Epstein and has not been charged with a crime. The White House has
repeatedly said that Trump is, quote, "totally exonerated" by the
Epstein files. The latest statement from White House press secretary
Karoline Leavitt says that these are completely baseless accusations,
backed by zero credible evidence. They also point on background to two
different articles that claim to discredit the woman's accusations, but
we haven't verified those things. In fact, Tam, looking at the release
of these documents, it doesn't actually shine any more light on how
credible federal investigators viewed these claims or how they were
resolved, or why these allegations were included in the Justice
Department slide presentation summarizing the cases against Epstein and
his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
KEITH: But there are still records that haven't been released. What has the government said about the delays in the release?
FOWLER:
It's been a shifting story. I mean, back when the Epstein files were
released on January 30, the Justice Department said they were all done
in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act law Congress
passed. When we asked specifically about these documents, the Justice
Department would not comment on them directly and said anything that
might've been withheld was because of privilege, or they were
duplicates, or they were part of an ongoing federal investigation. After
more people reported on the documents and there was more of a public
backlash, the story changed again. The Justice Department said they were
reviewing to see if anything was accidentally mistakenly tagged as
duplicate, and if they found something, of course, they would publish
it.
So fast-forward to Thursday night, where there were a
thousand new pages uploaded, including some documents that it discovered
were, quote, "incorrectly coded as duplicative" and a few more
documents related to prosecution memos that the Southern District of
Florida determined could be published while protecting privileged
materials. That said, we still know based on looking at the serial
numbers stamped onto these documents and the logs of files turned over
to Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney in her case, that there are still 37
pages, at least, that still haven't been published.
KEITH:
Domenico, this is a story that is just not going away for the
administration, and it comes when they have all kinds of other issues
related to their base and possible disillusionment with respect to the
war with Iran. You know, it's one thing to be fighting a messaging
battle on one front, but this is now two fronts that they're on. Where
do you see this going?
MONTANARO: Well, certainly, this
isn't going to go away anytime soon. You know, it's going to continue to
be a thorn in the Trump administration's side. I mean, Trump would very
much like this to go away, but there are a lot of people on both sides
of the aisle who don't want that to be the case, and it's not
necessarily because they're targeting Trump. You know, there are lots of
men with power and influence who are named in these files, many of whom
have not faced any consequences whatsoever. You have lots of victims
who are continuing to speak out and are trying to make sure this story
doesn't go away.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Last week, an NPR investigation
revealed some Epstein files related to President Trump were being
withheld from the public. They related to an allegation that Trump
sexually abused a minor in the 1980s. Now some of those documents have
been published, and they raise new questions. And a warning, we want to
let you know the story does include a description of sexual abuse. NPR's
Stephen Fowler is here with an update. Hi, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.
DETROW: Let's start with this - remind us how we knew there were documents missing and that they mentioned the president.
FOWLER:
Well, in the millions of Epstein files that were released, there was
this PowerPoint slide and an email from the FBI that talked about a
claim that Trump sexually abused a minor four decades ago, but there was
no other mention of where it came from, what investigators did about
it, or why it made it into this roundup about the Epstein case. NPR was
the first to piece together other records in the files to discover the
FBI interviewed this woman four times in 2019. Only one interview was
made public, and there was no mention of the abuse claim.
DETROW:
OK, so that was the initial reporting. We have now gone from documents
that were missing to the Justice Department publishing some of them
yesterday.
FOWLER: Well, at first, the Justice Department
would not directly comment about these documents. They said that,
generally speaking, they wouldn't publish anything that included
privileged information, duplicates or documents that were related to an
ongoing federal investigation. The House Oversight Committee had some
members ask the attorney general to answer if there was an ongoing
investigation. They noted that there was nothing that appeared to be
privileged related to these interviews and pointed out that you can't
have duplicates of something that doesn't exist. So then the Justice
Department said they were checking to see if something was mistakenly
flagged as a duplicate, and if it was, they'd publish it, which they did
Thursday night, along with 1,000-plus other pages that were flagged.
DETROW:
And ever since then, you have had a chance to read through these
interviews. What do they tell us about the allegation against President
Trump?
FOWLER: An adult woman in 2019 gave graphic details
during interviews with the FBI about what she said Trump did when she
was a teenager, mainly that he forced her to perform oral sex and then
he reacted angrily when she bit him. In the fourth and final interview,
she reportedly asked the agents, quote, "what the point would be of
providing the information at this point in her life," because she said,
"there was a strong possibility nothing could be done about it."
DETROW: Are there any indications whether investigators viewed this as a credible allegation?
FOWLER:
We don't know. We know that Trump has not faced criminal charges from
this claim. We don't know ultimately how this was addressed or resolved.
We also don't know why this allegation was included in the Justice
Department's slide deck presentation last year that gave an overview of
the cases against Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his accomplice. And the
new release of materials is 16 pages, meaning there are at least 37
more pages related to these claims that still are not published.
Documents detailing FBI interviews with a Jeffrey Epstein victim who accused President Donald Trump of sexually abusing her when she was 13 are being kept under wraps.
More than three dozen pages remain missing, according to an NPR analysis, including “files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor.”
The
Department of Justice, which has slow-walked its legally-mandated
release of the Epstein files, published 16 pages regarding the accuser
last week. However, 37 pages, including notes from the interviews, a law
enforcement report, and license records, are still classified.
Meanwhile,
as entirely new conspiracy theories have begun to flourish, pretty much
no one in America is happy — not the victims who were insulted by
Attorney General Pam Bondi during her latest daylong series of outbursts
on Capitol Hill; not President Donald Trump, who effectively created
this mess by fueling Epstein conspiracies as a presidential candidate
and who remains the subject of intense scrutiny based on unverified
allegations against him in the documents that he has strenuously denied;
not the American public, most of whom believe that the government is
still hiding information; and not the lawmakers who drafted and
ultimately passed the law requiring disclosures with the near-unanimous
consent of their colleagues in both houses of Congress. In a remarkable
bipartisan rebuke, the House Oversight Committee voted last week to
subpoena Bondi to testify with five Republicans joining the Democrats on
the committee over the objection of Chair James Comer (R-Ky.).
"who
remains the subject of intense scrutiny based on unverified allegations
against him in the documents that he has strenuously denied"
Huh?
Chump
has claimed the files exonerated him. That was before NPR, MS NOW and
others discovered -- after Chump began saying he was exonerated by the
files released -- that the Justice Dept had held back three reports on
one woman who was accusing Chump of assaulting her when she was
underage. I've never heard Chump address that. Those are allegations.
He has not "strenuously denied" them.
Ankush
is an attorney, he knows words and he knows words matter. To read his
trash piece for POLITICO is to know that he's downgrading The Epstein
Files and doing so intentionally. He really goes after Virginia Giuffre, for example.
Chump's guilt? It can't be determined at
this point. But he looks guilty. That judgment call is based on
the sweetheart deal he gave to Ghislaine Maxwell and upon his refusal to
state, "No, I won't pardon her. She was convicted of preying on young
women and girls and I will not pardon her."
New details have emerged about Ghislaine Maxwell's lonely life behind bars.
In
a recent interview, a woman using the pseudonym Raven Johnson — who
said she was incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution
Tallahassee from November 2023 to November 2025 — alleged the disgraced
British socialite, 64, stood out among inmates for her behavior, hygiene
habits and sense of entitlement.
Johnson
claimed Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for conspiring with
Jeffrey Epstein to recruit and abuse underage girls, was often viewed
harshly by fellow prisoners.
"People
don’t look at you as if you’re actually even human," Johnson alleged of
inmates convicted of crimes involving minors while speaking to The U.S. Sun.
"If you have crimes against children, you’re trash. It doesn’t matter
how much money you have or who you are in the real world."
According
to Johnson, Maxwell’s reputation inside the facility meant she kept a
relatively small social circle. The former inmate claimed the socialite
primarily spent time with women convicted of violent crimes, including
one prisoner who had been jailed for murdering members of her own
family.
Johnson also alleged Maxwell frequently tried to bend prison rules to her advantage.
"She
could file a complaint, and things are going to change," Johnson
claimed, adding that Maxwell reportedly submitted hundreds of grievances
about everything from food portions to shower conditions.
At mealtimes, Johnson said Maxwell would allegedly bypass long cafeteria lines.
"There could be 50 or 60 people waiting in the chow hall," she recalled. "She’d just walk right past."
The former inmate further claimed Maxwell’s personal hygiene became a running joke among prisoners.
"This
lady worked out every day but rarely showered," Johnson alleged. "There
are a lot of bad smells in prison, but she still stood out."
That's
when Maxwell was in a prison that her crimes demanded she be in. Then
she met with Chump's Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch last summer and
got transferred to Club Fed in Bryant, Texas. She also had the
documents that NPR found. They were turned over to her attorneys in
discovery. We don't know if she let Todd Blanche know about that. We
just know that Chump campaigned on protecting women and girls and taking
on the Epsteins of this world. But he put Maxwell in a comfy prison
that she's not legally allowed to be in due to what she was convicted
of. He's breaking the rules for her.
It makes him look guilty.
David Edwards (RAW STORY) notes, "Trump,
however, appeared far more times in the files on the infamous sex
offender. The New York Times found that Trump was referenced in more
than 5,300 of the files released so far. Reportedly, hundreds of
thousands of files have not been made public." So much has still not
been released -- and this despite Congress passing a law.
Nicole Charky-Chami (RAW STORY) notes Congressional anger regarding Attorney General Pam Bondi:
Attorney
General Pam Bondi has come under fire as a bipartisan group of senators
has called for a new investigation on Wednesday over her handling of
the Epstein files.
Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL),
Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
have demanded that the Government Accountability Office launch a probe
to investigate the Department of Justice's efforts, The Daily Beast reported. The
group has questioned Bondi's DOJ and its "controversial efforts" with
its partial release of documents, such as missing the December deadline
required under the Epstein Transparency Act to release all the
materials.
"This sloppy job was nearly the
opposite of how information regarding some powerful people was treated,
they argued," The Beast reported.
A
foreign hacker compromised files relating to the FBI’s investigation of
the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a break-in at the bureau’s
New York Field Office three years ago, according to a source familiar
with the matter and recently published Justice Department documents
reviewed by Reuters.
The
details of who accessed a server at the FBI’s New York Field Office,
including the allegation that a foreign hacker was involved, are being
reported here for the first time.
In a statement, the FBI said what it described as a “cyber incident” was “an isolated one.”
“The
FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network.
The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments
to provide at this time.”
On
Tuesday afternoon, Energy Secretary Chris Wright posted six words on X
that moved global oil markets more than any airstrike this week: The
Navy, he wrote, had “successfully escorted an oil tanker” through the
Strait of Hormuz.
Crude cratered at the fastest
pace in years. West Texas Intermediate, a reliable benchmark, plunged
as much as 19% as traders who had spent days pricing in a prolonged
closure of the world’s most critical energy chokepoint suddenly
scrambled to unwind their positions. An exchange-traded fund tied to oil
futures shed $84 million in market cap in just ten minutes. Then, the
post disappeared, and the White House confirmed no such escort had taken
place. A Department of Energy spokesperson called it an “incorrectly
captioned” video clip. But the damage was already done.
“The
market is depending on accurate information from the administration,”
Andy Lipow, president of analyst firm Lipow Oil Associates, told
Fortune. “And when a tweet is posted and deleted quite rapidly, it
brings into question what exactly is happening.”
What exactly is happening, over the past few days, has depended entirely on which administration official you’re listening to.
On
Monday, crude oil had surged to $119, until President Donald Trump told
CBS that the war was “very complete, pretty much.” After that, crude
slid by nearly $34 in a matter of hours, dropping below the
psychological barrier of $100 a barrel. Then, on Tuesday, Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth promised that day would contain the most intense
strikes yet— “the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes.” It
didn’t seem like the war was over, so oil climbed back toward $90.
Wright then said the Strait disruption would last “weeks, certainly not
months.”
The result of all
the mixed messaging is a market that has swung 36% from peak to trough
in two sessions—the largest such move since April 2020—driven less by
the fundamentals than by the inability of traders to distinguish signal
from noise when the executive happens to be the source of both.
Waves of
airstrikes shook Beirut and Tehran on Wednesday and into Thursday
morning, adding to the toll of the war in the Middle East, as the
Pentagon told Congress that the U.S. cost of the war was more than $11.3 billion in just the first six days.
The
dollar figure, disclosed in a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill, did
not include many of the expenses associated with the operation, now in
its 12th day, so the ultimate cost for American taxpayers is expected to
be much higher. The briefing was described by three people familiar
with it, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive
information.
The Middle East war showed no sign of letup on multiple fronts.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:
Senate Republicans once again block
Murray’s bill to fund everything at DHS but ICE and Border Patrol, as
they drag their feet on common-sense reforms to protect Americans from
violence at the hands of ICE
Murray: “Democrats
are not going to write a blank check for rogue agencies that are
trampling on the rights of Americans. Nor are we going to accept the
premise that the only way to fund TSA or disaster relief is by giving
money to ICE. That’s absurd.”
Murray: “Here’s the
simple truth: if Republicans agreed to simple reforms, all of DHS could
be funded tomorrow. And if Republicans stopped blocking the bill I just
offered, TSA could be funded today.”
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s floor remarks***
Washington, D.C. — Senate Republicans once again
blocked straightforward legislation to fund every agency within the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—except Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the Office
of the Secretary. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate
Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor to slam Republicans
for dragging their feet in ongoing negotiations over common-sense
reforms to rein in ICE and Border Patrol.
Senator Murray sought unanimous consent to pass her legislation
to fund DHS agencies like the Transportation Security Administration
(TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and other important DHS functions
while talks on ICE and CBP proceed.
Yet again, Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) blocked Senator Murray’s request to pass the legislation.
While negotiations on ICE and CBP proceed, Senator Murray’s bill:
- Funds FEMA, TSA, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Secret Service, CISA, and other important DHS components.
- Excludes funding for ICE, CBP, and the Office of the Secretary.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“M. President, it’s extremely frustrating to me that despite all
their talk about how important it is we fund TSA, and FEMA, and CISA,
and more—and despite Republicans’ own acknowledgement that they already
funded ICE and Border Patrol with their big reconciliation, I call it
the big ugly bill, from last summer—now Republicans are
unwilling to work with us to fund some of these programs that keep
Americans safe, while we keep trying to get somewhere on ICE and Border
Patrol accountability.
“Worse than that—they are acting like they have no idea why Democrats
are not willing to accept the premise that to fund TSA, we have to cut
some blank check for ICE.
“Republicans are acting like they
didn’t see the same awful footage of Renee Good and Alex Pretti getting
shot in cold blood. Republicans are acting like they don’t remember that
little boy in the bunny hat arrested like some violent criminal.
Republicans are acting like they don’t remember the family that got tear
gassed on the way back from a basketball game, or the American citizen
marched out of his house, in the freezing cold, in his underwear.
“As a reminder because apparently Republicans need it: The
Senate has had at least two hearings on this since Alex Pretti was
murdered by CBP officers. And with a couple of exceptions, we have not
heard any Republicans in those hearings suggest they want to work with
us on reforming the agencies and reining in DHS.
“And yet, some Republicans, are acting like they have no idea
why we are demanding things like body cameras, visible identification,
adequate training standards, and basic standards, as the senator just
spoke about—same as our local police—on things like use of force and
requiring warrants before some agents smashes in your door and drags
someone away.
“Republicans know exactly what Democrats have been asking for,
because weeks ago, Democrats provided Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune a
list of ten critical reforms needed to pass the Homeland Security bill.
“Unfortunately, Republicans have been saying no on many of these
items—as far back as last year. Or in some cases, first, they would say
‘Sure we’ll work with you,’ and then Stephen Miller and the White House
would get involved and Republicans would say, ‘never mind!’
“Last year—Democrats were already talking about many of the reforms
we are talking about today. In July, some of us introduced a bill
calling for no masks and for clear identification.
“And then we saw federal agents shoot citizens and lie about it, like
in the case of Marimar Martinez. And we heard horror stories of masked
agents dragging away American citizens for no reason.
“One American citizen was dragged off and detained twice. Not charged
with any crime. Not arrested with a warrant. Just picked off his
worksite—until ICE realized he was a citizen. That happened twice to the
same guy!
“That’s exactly why Democrats had been saying—let’s take off the
masks, we cannot have unaccountable agents. But Republicans said no to
that idea.
“And then the world watched, as Renee Good was shot and killed by an
ICE agent, and denied any medical care—something even the most basic
training—to say nothing of morals—should have told officers was wrong.
“So, Democrats pushed in our DHS funding negotiations, we said—this
is exactly the kind of thing we are gravely concerned about. We need
serious reforms and accountability. Still, Republicans said no.
“Then an innocent man, an American citizen, was dragged out of his
home in the freezing cold in his underwear. Agents refused to even look
at his ID which showed—they had completely the wrong guy. And yet when
Democrats pushed to require real judicial warrants, Republicans said no.
“A little boy in bunny ears was ripped away from his home for absolutely no reason, Republicans said no.
“A family on their way home from a basketball game was tear gassed. Republicans said no.
“A woman on the way to a doctor’s appointment had her window smashed—she was dragged out of her car, Republicans said no.
“And Alex Pretti was tackled to the ground and shot in the back
several times by federal agents—another completely unjustified killing. A
murder of an American citizen. And the Trump Administration tried to
slander him as a terrorist!
“For a moment, even some Republicans said that was concerning, that
was unacceptable, that was wrong. But we all know what’s ultimately
happened: Republicans have, for weeks now, refused some pretty
basic steps to make these agencies accountable. Once again—Republicans
have said no.
“Well—the American people are not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.
“Stephen Miller is not above the Constitution.
Donald Trump is not a king who can just sic an army of masked thugs on
whatever city he wants to punish next.
“And Democrats are not going to write a
blank check for rogue agencies that are trampling on the rights of
Americans. Nor are we going to accept the premise that the only way to
fund TSA or disaster relief is by giving money to ICE. That’s absurd.
“Now, some on the other side are claiming that the bill I just
offered would defund Customs—or Homeland Security Investigations. M.
President, that too is absurd.
“All the bill I just offered does is fund the rest of DHS
while talks continue on ICE and Border Patrol—and the simple fact is
Republicans have already funded these agencies when they gave them more
money, than most militaries by the way, in their Big Ugly Bill.
“And Republicans’ latest tactic—trying to use a war as leverage
against accountability for Americans is just plain wrong. It’s cynical
and it is utterly transparent.
“We are not going to give Trump a pass on citizens getting shot and
killed here in America, just because he singlehandedly chose to start a
war that has led to Americans being killed across the globe as well.
“Who in the world thought that argument would fly? Did Stephen Miller
tell Republicans two wrongs make a right here? Did you think that was
going to convince anybody?
“Look—we are going to hold Trump accountable for his reckless war,
and we are going to hold him accountable for using ICE to terrorize
American cities.
“As for the rest of DHS that does important work to keep Americans
safe like FEMA, Coast Guard, TSA, Democrats are here, we are trying to
fund those agencies—while ICE and Border Patrol negotiations continue.
But, Republicans will neither agree to the reforms we need to rein in
ICE and protect Americans nor fund the rest of DHS while those talks
continue.
“Here’s the simple truth: if Republicans agreed to simple
reforms, all of DHS could be funded tomorrow. And if Republicans stopped
blocking the bill that I just offered, TSA could be funded today.
“But Republicans don’t want to take serious action to prevent
rogue government agencies from gunning down American citizens, we just
heard that on the floor from several Republican senators who spoke. They
don’t want to take new steps to make sure masked federal agents don’t
kidnap people off the street. They don’t want to pass legislation to
make sure federal agents only target people who they have a judicial
warrant for—instead of breaking down windows and dragging away
completely innocent people. That is the crux of the problem right now.
“Let me state that again: the problem right now is not a lack
of communication between both the sides—that’s absurd—the problem is a
lack of willingness on the part of Republicans to pass some pretty basic
reforms—or to even fund the rest of DHS while talks continue.
“Republicans don’t want to protect Americans from rogue ICE
agents. You know how I know that? Just listen to what they said—and what
they didn’t say—right here on the floor.
“Are Republicans talking about the fact American citizens have been
gunned down by ICE and Border Patrol? Are Republicans talking about the
fact that peaceful protesters are being tear gassed, or pepper sprayed,
or tackled to the ground?
“Not a word about that right here.If Republicans cannot talk about
the obvious, blatant abuse we have all see from ICE and Border Patrol,
how do they expect to work with us to address that? The answer is they
don’t.
“Instead, they are pretending this is about FEMA—which I’ve offered
to fund, or TSA—which I’ve offered to fund, or CISA—which I’ve offered
to fund, and they are pretending this is about ICE funds running
low—even after Republicans spent weeks acknowledging the agency has
plenty of funding left from their Big Ugly Bill.
“What this debate actually is about is accountability. It is long past time Republicans get serious about that.”
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