Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) described a scene in the House in which a Republican saluted him for his ongoing persistence in obtaining the investigation files around Jeffrey Epstein.
Swalwell, who spoke to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House" Monday, responded to Republican complaints that Democrats could have released the files while President Joe Biden was in office. It inadvertently admits that it's President Donald Trump who is currently refusing their release, and has the power to release the million-plus pages of documents.
Swalwell recalled his demands dating back to 2019 with the late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), who sought the files after Epstein died in prison. He noted that he, along with several others, called for the resignation of Trump's former Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta, who gave Epstein a sweetheart plea deal in a 2008 Florida case.
"Last week, when I was walking to a vote, I kind of came right into a Republican as we were coming from different hallways, kind of almost clashing to each other, and he put out his fist and gave me a fist bump and said, Thank you," Swalwell said. "Now, I had, just over the last couple days, been pretty loudly calling for the release of the files. And so Democrats are doing what Republicans are not willing to do."
He noted that the Democrats are open to speaking with whistleblowers who are willing to come forward. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said that he was made aware that the “FBI was pressured to put approximately 1,000 personnel in its Information Management Division … on 24-hour shifts to review approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records in order to produce more documents that could then be released on an arbitrarily short deadline."
Any of those FBI agents would be given whistleblower protections if they came forward, as an example.
Democrats can't force any votes to mandate the release of the files in the House, because they don't currently hold the majority. Still, Swalwell said that he and other Democrats will force votes in key committee hearings on the matter and that they'll use the Congressional subpoena power.
"But I wouldn't count on these guys [Republicans] one bit to do the right thing and release the files," said Swalwell. "And they have the subpoena power. They have that power! It doesn't take a vote in Congress. The Speaker of the House could subpoena it today, but he won't because he's going to do everything possible to protect Donald Trump."
See the clip below or at the link here.
- YouTube youtu.be
