Mike Johnson Makes Shocking Claim About Trump Involvement In Epstein Saga
'The president knows, and has great sympathy for the women...'
Sara Gonzales wonders: Will latest Epstein document dump backfire?
On Tuesday, September 2, the House Oversight Committee released over 33K pages of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents. Once again, it seems that the majority of the information had already been released.
Even the tiny bit of new information proved to be disappointing — most notably the infamous missing minute from Epstein’s prison cell surveillance footage on the night he supposedly committed suicide. The latest document dump provided the missing time, but it revealed nothing of consequence.
“I love this administration, but they seem to be just bungling every single aspect of this particular issue in ways that I just can’t quite comprehend,” says Sara Gonzales, BlazeTV host of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”
“Everything about this stinks.”
“Obviously people are saying, ‘This isn’t enough. We want the rest of the files, and more importantly, we don’t just want a file dump. We want something to be given to us in an organized manner that says who the hell was helping traffic children, who the hell was having sex with children, who knew about it, who was in on it,’” Sara says.
“I want to know who was committing crimes against children, and I want them to suffer greatly from it. And I think that that’s what the majority of Americans want.”
It appears to be what Epstein’s victims want as well. The day following the document dump, a group of nine alleged Epstein survivors held a press conference on Capitol Hill and threatened to compile their own list of names if the government fails to do so.
“We know the names. Many of us were abused by them,” survivor Lisa Phillips said.
“I want to understand this so badly because I believe in President Trump. I believe in the America First agenda,” Sara said.
But she can’t ignore the discrepancy between his campaign promise to declassify the Epstein files — which everyone assumed would include the client list — and the administration’s refusal to release specific names.
“Thus far, this administration, not President Trump himself, but the people who have been in charge” have done nothing but “[gaslight] the American public,” Sara says.
She expresses frustration and confusion about how Attorney General Pam Bondi made a spectacle of passing out Epstein binders to conservative influencers, including Blaze Media’s Liz Wheeler, at the first Cabinet meeting to tease a big Epstein unveiling that never came.
“It’s incomprehensible how badly this has been bungled,” Sara reiterates.
She fears that as long as names are kept secret, President Trump risks fueling false accusations against him.
During the press conference, one alleged victim said, “[Epstein] bragged about his powerful friends, including our current president, Donald Trump. It was his biggest brag, actually.”
“That is what has gone viral. That is what you’re going to see on CNN. That is what you’re going to see on MSNBC,” Sara says.
What we will almost certainly not see on mainstream news is the snippet from NBC’s exclusive interview with the victims where they all admitted they never once saw President Trump engaged in inappropriate behavior.
“No one has been able to tie Donald Trump to anything related to any of the disgusting, despicable acts that Jeffrey Epstein did with children. ... But the problem is that if the government, if this administration, does not take charge of what is in whatever these files are and show it to the American people, you are going to have people like that woman” shaping a false narrative around President Trump, Sara says.
“We need the truth, and we need it from this administration,” she adds.
To hear more of her commentary, watch the episode above.
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Epstein victims speak out! Will PREDATORS finally be revealed?
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has released over 33,000 pages of Epstein-related records that were provided by the U.S. Department of Justice — but Americans have been conditioned to wonder if this is real transparency or just D.C. political theater.
The same uncertainty applies to apparent meetings taking place behind closed doors that may be uncovering more information about the predators involved.
“Speaker Mike Johnson and Oversight Chairman James Comer actually quietly pulled something together that you almost never see. It’s been a rare bipartisan closed-door meeting,” BlazeTV host Jill Savage explains on “Blaze News: The Mandate.”
“They had six women who survived Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, and for at least two of them, it was the first time that they had ever spoken out,” she says, noting that Johnson called the meeting both “heartbreaking” and “infuriating.”
According to Johnson, some of the women had been “groomed” for over 30 years.
“There’s so much that’s happening behind closed doors, and we still just don’t know. Are we going to get the transparency that we want, or is this more of the actual political theater?” Savage asks.
“There’s not much new, but what is new is that, you know, we’re told that these women have provided names of additional persons of interest, so that is interesting. Who are those people? Will that come out? Will we talk about that? I don’t know,” BlazeTV host Matthew Peterson says.
“We also have about a thousand pages ... that are new, flight logs from him flying out of the country. But what we don’t have so far is actual names, and that’s what most people want,” he continues.
Blaze media senior politics editor and D.C. correspondent Christopher Bedford isn’t too pleased with how long it’s taken for them to interview these women in the first place.
“It’s the kind of attention that Congress probably should have paid to this from the very beginning, which is bringing in victims, having closed-door meetings, which, you know, are more serious than open-door meetings,” Bedford says.
“Open-door meetings are theater for MSNBC, CNN, and Fox,” he continues. “They’re not real. There aren’t real questions. It’s just, ‘Let me see how many points I can get. Let me see how many points I can put on the board.’ … But closed-door sessions are much more serious.”
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Epstein victims make huge announcement on Capitol Hill: 'We know the names'
A group who say they were victims of disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein held a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, demanding transparency.
The self-proclaimed survivors voiced support for the Democrat-led Epstein Files Transparency Act, which calls on the attorney general to "release all documents and records in possession of the Department of Justice relating to Jeffrey Epstein."
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who sponsored the bill, appeared with survivors in D.C. alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), as the victims made a shocking revelation.
'It will be done by survivors and for survivors; no one else involved.'
Lisa Phillips, who has spoken extensively about surviving abuse at the hands of Epstein, took the podium at the Capitol to make a series of statements.
"Transparency is justice. Release the files," Phillips stated in one clip from the event.
Phillips has been vocal about her claims recently, saying she was sex-trafficked by Epstein when she was a young model in the early 2000s. However, it was at the press conference that she dropped a bomb.
"Several of us Epstein survivors have been discussing creating our own list of names," Phillips revealed. "We know the names. Many of us were abused by them. Now, together as survivors, we will confidentially compile the names we all know were regularly in the Epstein world, and it will be done by survivors and for survivors; no one else is involved."
RELATED: White House slams Massie's Epstein bill as a 'very hostile act' — some Republicans sign on anyway
As one of 23 co-sponsors, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has filed a petition to force a vote on Khanna's bill in Congress. He would need 218 House members to sign the petition to force the vote, which would likely include all 212 Democrats.
According to BBC, four Republicans have already signed, including Massie himself, Greene, Nancy Mace (S.C.), and Lauren Boebert (Colo.).
In a comment to NBC News this week, the White House slammed Massie's push for the bill to get a vote, calling it "a very hostile act to the administration."
Massie has responded, stating that President Trump "may be covering for some rich and powerful people," according to The Hill.
RELATED: Epstein victims have identified other 'persons of interest,' House Oversight Committee chair says
In comments alongside the Epstein victims, Greene called the fight for transparency "the most important" battle currently in Congress.
"Fighting for innocent people," Greene added, stating that the women she stood with have never received justice.
Greene continued, noting she become aware that Epstein rubbed shoulders with elites in the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
"Jeffrey Epstein, somehow, was able to walk among the most rich, powerful people, not only in America, but foreign countries," Greene claimed.
She stressed that the scandal is something that should "never happen in America" and that the issue is not something that should drive a political wedge between Republicans and Democrats.
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White House slams Massie's Epstein bill as a 'very hostile act' — some Republicans sign on anyway
While the White House has tried to move past the Epstein files, some Republicans are reigniting the pressure campaign for transparency.
The commotion surrounding the Epstein files largely subsided in early August after Congress left Washington, D.C., for its annual five-week recess. Now that the Hill is back in full force, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is once again leading the charge to release the Epstein files.
'They’re threatening anyone who helps bring true transparency.'
Massie filed a discharge petition on Tuesday as soon as Congress came back into session. The discharge petition, should it reach at least 218 signatures, would force a vote on his bill to make public all Epstein-related materials with minimal redactions.
Although Massie's petition has gained traction with Democrats, a White House official warned Republicans that signing on to the petition would be viewed as a "hostile act" by the administration.
RELATED: Thomas Massie leads pressure campaign, forcing Congress to address Epstein
"Helping Thomas Massie and liberal Democrats with their attention-seeking, while the DOJ is fully supporting a more comprehensive file release effort from the Oversight Committee, would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration," the official said in an email to NBC.
Within two hours of Massie's filing, the petition secured the backing of 131 Democrats and three Republicans: Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado. Assuming all 212 Democrats back Massie's petition, he will need six Republicans besides himself to meet the 218 signature threshold.
"I’m committed to doing everything possible for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein," Greene said in a post on X. "Including exposing the cabal of rich and powerful elites that enabled this."
RELATED: FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: 'Nobody is believing this'
"They’re threatening anyone who helps bring true transparency and justice for the survivors," Massie said in a post on X. "This is a tacit admission the Oversight Committee data release is woefully incomplete."
The data release Massie is referring to came from the House Oversight Committee Tuesday afternoon and includes over 33,000 Epstein-related documents that were made publicly available.
"As a survivor, I stand with victims demanding justice and full transparency," Mace said in a post on X. "I also just signed the discharge petition to ensure the full truth comes out."
House Republicans also scheduled a vote later in the week to allow the House Oversight Committee to "continue its ongoing investigation" into the government's "possible mismanagement" of the Epstein case. Massie pushed back, calling it a "meaningless vote" meant to provide "political cover" for politicians who don't want to support his bill.
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Epstein victims have identified other 'persons of interest,' House Oversight Committee chair says
The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee said that some "persons of interest" in the Jeffrey Epstein case had been named by victims during a meeting Monday.
The members met with the six victims for over two hours in a closed-door meeting, according to Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky. Afterward, he told reporters that they had "learned of some additional names today."
'There was outrage. It was both — I would describe it as heartbreaking and infuriating.'
A representative for the committee said the people identified "possess information" about Epstein or those who allegedly participated in his sex trafficking ring.
"Some of the ladies have shared these stories publicly before, but at least two of the women had never told their stories before, one for the very first time in the room, and so there were tears in the room," said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
"There was outrage. It was both — I would describe it as heartbreaking and infuriating," he added. "That justice has been delayed so long."
Also on Monday, the committee released a trove of 33,295 pages from the Epstein files, though it was unclear what percentage of the release was new material.
"DOJ has indicated it will continue producing records while ensuring the redaction of victim identities & child abuse material," Comer said on social media.
"It was as bipartisan as anything I've seen in the nine years I've been here," Comer added about the meeting with victims.
"Some of the women in the room began to be groomed by Epstein and his accomplices, Ghislaine Maxwell and the others, 30 years ago," Johnson added.
"Some of them began civil litigation against Epstein and the Epstein evils and everything associated with it 20 years ago," he continued. "This has gone on for a long, long time, and they, they shared their stories."
President Donald Trump has lashed out at his supporters who continue to demand more information about the Epstein case and accused them of falling for a Democratic scheme.
"Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this 'bulls**t,' hook, line, and sinker," Trump said in July. "They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years."
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Thomas Massie leads pressure campaign, forcing Congress to address Epstein
As lawmakers return from their five-week recess, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky is wasting no time to address the Epstein files.
Just as Republicans managed to drown out much of the Epstein drama, Massie is reigniting the fight for transparency surrounding the files.
'Massie promptly pushed back on the move, calling it a "meaningless vote."'
Massie announced he will file a discharge petition as soon as the House is back in session on Monday, which would force a vote in the House to release the Epstein files, so long as he collects at least 218 signatures from his colleagues. If all 212 Democrats sign on, he will need signatures from at least six more Republican lawmakers.
"I pray Speaker Johnson will listen to the pleas of these victims for justice and quit trying to block a vote on our legislation to release the Epstein files," Massie said in a post on X.
RELATED: Democrat lawmaker pounces on Epstein drama, calls for congressional vote
Massie's bill, which is being co-led by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, requires all Epstein-related materials in the DOJ, FBI, and the U.S. Attorney's Offices to be made publicly available within 30 days of the bill's passage.
The legislation would also require Attorney General Pam Bondi to submit a report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees listing all the categories of the records that were released and withheld, a summary and legal justification of all the redactions made, and a list of government officials and "politically exposed persons" named in the materials "with no redactions permitted."
With respect to redactions, the bill clarifies no information may be withheld for purposes of "embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary."
The bill does allow for redactions for any content that violates the privacy of any victims involved; for child sexual abuse materials; if it jeopardizes an ongoing federal investigation or depicts death, abuse, or injury of a person; or if it is in the interest of national defense.
RELATED: FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: 'Nobody is believing this'
While Massie and Khanna continue their push for transparency, the House leadership also scheduled their own vote on a bill that would direct the House Oversight Committee to "continue its ongoing investigation" into the government's "possible mismanagement" of the Epstein case.
Massie promptly pushed back on the move, calling it a "meaningless vote" that simply provides "political cover" for members who don't support his bipartisan legislation. Massie and Khanna are also set to hold a joint press conference on Wednesday with 10 of Epstein's victims to raise awareness and bring attention to their bill.
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DOJ releases interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, reviving unanswered questions in Epstein scandal
The Department of Justice released several transcripts and audio recordings of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, 63.
The senior Trump administration official met with Maxwell and her lawyer, David Oscar Markus, over two days in July at the federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, where she was previously held while serving her 20-year sentence.
'Except for the names of victims, every word is included. Nothing removed. Nothing hidden.'
Maxwell, who was moved to a minimum-security federal prison in Bryan, Texas, earlier this month, was convicted in 2021 for trafficking minors for sex as Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirator and confidante.
Transcripts and audio recordings from their meeting revealed that Maxwell still does not believe that Epstein committed suicide in 2019. When asked to speculate about who might have killed him, she stated she did not know.
She claimed that Epstein did not have a client list, and she was unaware of him previously being accused of blackmailing or extorting anyone, suggesting that his death was unrelated.
RELATED: Clinton appointee blocks DOJ push for Epstein transparency
"In prison, where I am, they will kill you, or they will pay — somebody can pay a prisoner to kill you for $25 worth of commissary," Maxwell said. "That's about the going rate for a hit with a lock today."
Maxwell insisted that she never witnessed President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton do anything inappropriate. She rejected claims that Clinton traveled to Epstein's island.
She noted that she met Trump before Epstein and believed the two were "friendly like people are in social settings," but added, "I don't think they were close friends."
"President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me. And I just want to say that I find — I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now. And I like him, and I've always liked him. So that is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him," she said.
Maxwell also insisted that she did not introduce Epstein to Prince Andrew and called claims that Epstein worked for or communicated with an intelligence agency "bulls**t."
"That is a flat untruth," she said.
RELATED: Ghislaine Maxwell opposes unsealing of grand jury testimony requested by Pam Bondi
Blanche stated that the interview files were released "in the interest of transparency."
"Except for the names of victims, every word is included. Nothing removed. Nothing hidden," he remarked.
Markus applauded the DOJ's decision to publish the files. He claimed that Maxwell was "innocent and never should have been tried, much less convicted, in this case."
"She never committed or participated in sexual abuse against minors, or anyone else for that matter. In fact, the government has admitted that it did not even consider her a conspirator during the extensive investigation into Epstein in the Southern District of Florida. The only reason she was ever charged is that she served as a scapegoat after Jeffrey Epstein died in prison," Markus stated.
"We are thankful to the Department of Justice and to Todd Blanche for making these tapes and transcripts public so that people can judge for themselves. We are also grateful to the president for his continued commitment to the truth in this matter and for refusing to cave to the mob," Markus added.
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