Rep. Raskin on Epstein Files: ‘It Is Dangerous to Public Health and Safety Not to Release the Names Publicly’

Wallace: “What do you — what are your questions about what’s in the documents? I mean, what do you want to know the answer to?”

RASKIN: “Well, there have been so many claims made that I think that the members on both sides of the aisle will want to ask those questions. So, is there a list of Epstein clients that he either kept for reasons of solicitation and business, and the execution of a sick conspiracy, or did he maintain that for purposes of, you know, coercion — coercion of people for certain things? Was it a blackmail list? And who’s on that list? There are obviously a lot of names that have been floated out there. I don’t want to repeat any of them, but those names are, you know, all over the internet. And is that true or is it not true? There are all kinds of extravagant claims being made about other people being involved, other institutions being involved. And we either need to get to the bottom of whether that’s true, or we should put an end to all of the propaganda and the conspiracy theories. It’s going to be very damaging for us if the president is going to proceed on on falsehoods and conspiracy theory and then allow that to erode public trust. So, I think there is something to what a lot of the Republicans are saying, that this needs to be done to restore public trust at this point.”

Wallace: “Megyn Kelly essentially accuses Trump of ‘directing’ Attorney General Pam Bondi in what she describes as a cover-up. What do you think of that theory?”

RASKIN: “Well, I — again, I don’t know what is taking place behind the scenes. I would also find it very hard to believe, though, that Donald Trump wants to release it but Pam Bondi is somehow defying his orders in not releasing it. And, you know, I can think of dozens of reasons that Pam Bondi should be asked to resign, especially her complicity with firing all of these January 6th prosecutors, which is outrageous. But this would not be a reason, I think, to demand Pam Bondi’s resignation. Clearly, it’s Donald Trump who’s making the call here for whatever reason. He said he was going to release it and now he’s saying there’s nothing to see here and appears to be wanting to sweep the whole thing under the rug. And I think that’s an irresponsible way to proceed after having inflamed millions and millions of people in the country and raised all kinds of doubts about our law enforcement commitment to prosecuting child sex abuse. I mean, if there are literally other people on this list who are somehow implicated in these actions, it is dangerous to public health and safety not to release the names publicly. If all of it is a concoction and an invention, then I think they need to come clean about that and say they don’t have such a list or it’s made up or what have you. But I think it’s very dangerous just to leave these things hanging out there.”