Afternoon all. Sending along a timely interview I just completed with Rep. Robert Garcia, the Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee. A video recording is above, and a full transcript can be found below.
Some highlights from our important conversation:
The Ranking Member reminds us that it was a critical July House vote that led to the first set of subpoenas of Epstein-related material, including from the Epstein estate. That subpoena produced those Epstein emails released last week that implicated Trump and raised questions about Epstein’s relationship with the Kremlin.
He explains that there are two processes working now to get the Epstein files - the bill just signed by Trump, in essence forcing himself to release the files (LOLOLOL) that has some restrictions; and the Committee subpoena issued in July that has none, and that the DOJ continues to largely ignore. As he reminds us Trump and Bondi’s rancid cover up is still in full swing.
Rep. Garcia addresses the concerns many have about suppression of evidence or destruction of the material - “there’s no scenario where the full truth doesn’t come out eventually.”
It’s a very informative conversation with one of the true heroes of the moment, and I hope you can get it to it as soon as you can.
This morning, in a related move, Senator Ron Wyden released a report calling for an investigation into JP Morgan Chase’s role in enabling Epstein illegal activities. Here’s an excerpt from a new NYT story about Wyden’s report:
The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee issued a report on Thursday calling for an investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase deliberately underreported more than $1 billion in suspicious transactions by Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
The report from the senator, Ron Wyden of Oregon, said the compliance failures by the nation’s largest bank during its nearly 15-year relationship with Mr. Epstein were “alarming” and impeded law enforcement’s ability to examine the “financial infrastructure that enabled Epstein’s cross-border sex trafficking organization.”
The report, based on recently unsealed court records that shed more light on JPMorgan’s financial dealings with Mr. Epstein, focuses on suspicious activity reports, or SARs, which banks are required to file with the Treasury Department when they suspect a financial transaction may be involved in an illicit activity such as money laundering, terrorism or sex trafficking.
The report said JPMorgan filed suspicious activity reports covering $4.3 million in transactions by Mr. Epstein from 2002 to 2016. But it waited until after Mr. Epstein’s arrest on sex trafficking charges in 2019 and subsequent death to file reports that described some $1.3 billion in transactions as suspicious.
Internal bank emails suggest JPMorgan may have waited to file those reports because it wanted “to continue working with Epstein” as a source of referrals for business even after firing him as a client in 2013, the report found.
Mr. Wyden, in a statement, said it was “clear that JPMorgan Chase ought to face criminal investigation for the way it enabled Epstein’s horrific crimes.” The report said both Congress and the Justice Department should investigate the bank.
The bank has repeatedly said it regrets its dealings with Mr. Epstein and did all it could with the information it had at the time. “The second the government finally made public the sex trafficking details in 2019 — information they clearly had for years — we identified for law enforcement a range of Epstein’s past transactions intended to assist with the investigation,” Patricia Wexler, a spokeswoman for the bank, said in a statement on Thursday.
Mr. Epstein has been a matter of intense focus in recent weeks, as well as those close to him — including JPMorgan Chase, which paid $230 million in 2023 to settle a class-action lawsuit by his victims that accused it of enabling his crimes.
President Trump, a one-time friend of Mr. Epstein’s who did an about-face this week and signed a law that directing the Justice Department to release information on Mr. Epstein’s crimes, has called for the department to investigate JPMorgan along with several prominent Democrats who had associated with Mr. Epstein.
Also this week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a subpoena to the bank seeking documents and records about its dealings with Mr. Epstein.
As we discussed in this morning’s post and video this has been a momentous week. The entire Congress rose up and repudiated Trump for his ongoing cover up of the Epstein affair, something that some have rightly called a “cancer on the Presidency.” In listening to Rep. Garcia and reading this new report from Senator Wyden it sure feels like we are only in the beginning of this Epstein scandal, and that much more lies ahead.
Keep working hard all, and please join me in thanking Ranking Member and his remarkable team for their incredibly valuable service to the country. They have really stepped up for all of us at this critical time - Simon
Simon Rosenberg:
Welcome, everyone. Simon Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles, back with another great event. Today we’re joined by one of the real heroes of our fight for democracy these last few months, Congressman Robert Garcia. Welcome, Congressman.
Rep. Robert Garcia:
Happy to be here.
Simon:
It’s been a momentous week. Donald Trump just lost a vote in the House, 427–1. He doesn’t like to lose, and Congress had to step in to force him to release files he’s been suppressing. Can you take us back to how all of this began over the summer, and where we are now in the fight for the Epstein files?
Garcia:
Sure. Back in July, I had just become the ranking member. It quickly became clear that the Epstein investigation was being stalled. DOJ was signaling that there was nothing to report, despite obvious concerns from survivors and the community.
We devised a plan to force Republicans to vote on a subpoena for all of the Epstein files. We introduced the subpoena in a subcommittee where members like Nancy Mace had already expressed interest in releasing the files. The subpoena passed, and that set off a chain of events.
From there, Republicans requested depositions, which we agreed to. We subpoenaed the Epstein estate and began receiving documents. Some came from DOJ, but very limited. Much more came from the estate — including the birthday book Trump claimed didn’t exist, flight logs, and a large batch of documents showing Trump’s relationship with Epstein and others.
Parallel to this, Ro Khanna and Tom Massey launched a petition on the House floor. These two efforts together got us to a unanimous House vote. The Senate moved it forward, and the president ultimately signed the legislation.
So today we’ve got both a piece of legislation and an active subpoena forcing the release of these documents. We’re demanding that Pam Bondi deliver the files. DOJ has provided very little, but we’re committed to getting justice for survivors.
Simon:
When the emails from the estate came in — ones DOJ didn’t turn over — is it your understanding that DOJ actually had them?
Garcia:
We don’t know what DOJ has. We believe DOJ has many of the same emails the estate has, but DOJ also has far more: documents, photos, videos, financial records — an immense volume of evidence the estate doesn’t have.
The White House is involved in a cover-up. That’s what this is. The president is directing it, the attorney general is going along, and Mike Johnson has been complicit. But their refusal to act isn’t going to stop us from getting the truth.
Simon:
And your subpoena, unlike the legislation, doesn’t allow DOJ to withhold evidence because of an “active investigation,” correct?
Garcia:
That’s right. The legislation includes language that could allow DOJ to withhold some evidence. Our subpoena does not. Congressional committees often receive classified or confidential information — DOJ can’t use that exception to avoid producing documents to us. That’s why the subpoena and the legislation together are so powerful.
Simon:
The DOJ has now been ignoring this subpoena for months. What additional pressure can you bring? Senator Wyden, for example, is pushing Treasury to release relevant financial records that are also being suppressed.
Garcia:
We’re working every angle. I’ve been personally meeting with survivors. We’re talking to people who’ve helped compile these files.
Some worry the files will be destroyed, but there are many patriotic civil servants who’ve worked on this case. There’s no scenario where the full truth doesn’t come out eventually.
Simon:
Some in our community fear Trump will somehow make this all disappear. But as you said, you can’t make a thousand FBI agents vanish.
Garcia:
Exactly. Many people who’ve worked on this case are already concerned. The attorney general knows she’s not the only one who has seen these files. Everyone is being thoughtful and focused on protecting survivors.
My team is scrappy, aggressive, patriotic, and focused on transparency. We don’t care who is implicated — Democrats, Republicans, wealthy, powerful, government officials — we just want the truth for the survivors.
Simon:
One last question. Epstein’s emails mention a relationship with the Kremlin and imply he was helping them manage Trump. He referenced Russian bank accounts and possible cooperation with foreign intelligence services. Should this spawn a separate investigation?
Garcia:
We are actively looking at links between foreign governments and the money that flowed through Epstein’s trafficking ring, which was much larger than just the sale of children and women.
It didn’t go unnoticed that the Secretary of Commerce — who defended Trump’s economic strategy on TV daily — said publicly that Epstein used his material for blackmail, and then disappeared from TV entirely.
Simon:
We’re seeing consequences for people like Alex Acosta, Lutnick, the former prince, and Larry Summers. The truth is coming out.
Congressman — or rather, Ranking Member Garcia — thank you. Your courage, patriotism, and effectiveness have been inspiring. Thank you for stepping up at this critical moment.
Garcia:
Thank you.
Simon:
Everyone, please share this interview. It addresses issues deeply on people’s minds across the country. We’ve had a series of major wins this week in the fight for democracy. We’re at the beginning, not the end.
Keep fighting — and send a note of thanks to Congressman Garcia and his office. They’ve been extraordinary.
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