“Before you got in this job you called for the full release of the Epstein files, telling podcaster Bennie Johnson that the only reason that the list was not released by DOJ and FBI was ‘because of who’s on that list,'” Raskin said. “Upon your confirmation you promised that ‘There will be no coverups, no missing documents, no stone left unturned and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued.'”
“This spring you ordered hundreds of agents to pore over all the Epstein files but not to look for more clues about the money network or the network of human traffickers,” said Raskin. “You pulled these agents from their regular counterterrorism or drug trafficking duties to work around the clock, sometimes sleeping at their desks, to conduct a frantic search to make sure Donald Trump’s name and image were flagged and redacted wherever they appeared, whether in email, a text, a letter, an interview, a photograph, or a video.
“In May, Attorney General Bondi reportedly told Trump that his name indeed appeared multiple times throughout the Epstein files and not long thereafter in July, you and the attorney general released a memo claiming that ‘no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,'” Raskin went on.
“In a few short months, how did you go from being a crusader for accountability and transparency for the Epstein files to being a part of the conspiracy and coverup?” asked Raskin. “The answer’s simple, you said it yourself, ‘because of who’s on that list.’ Donald Trump’s relationship with Epstein over the years is well-documented.”
“A week ago the Oversight Committee released Trump’s disturbing ‘Birthday Book’ note to Epstein written over a drawing of a woman’s naked body, referring to a ‘wonderful secret,'” said Raskin. “The Oversight Committee obtained the note from the Epstein estate not from the FBI, raising questions again of whether the FBI has been withholding documents.”
“While you’re unleashing the FBI to cater to Trump’s desire to shut down the Epstein inquiry, the first nine months of the Trump presidency have seen a spate of political violence and domestic terror events,” Raskin continued. “We saw deadly attacks on political figures on both the left and the right, the brutal assassination of Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the attempted murder of Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife who miraculously survived a combined seventeen gunshots. We saw an arsonist set Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence on fire and of course last week we saw the horrific cold-blooded assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah that has shaken the nation.”
Raskin went on to name numerous other violent incidents and tragedies that have occurred under Patel’s watch, ramming home the point that he has failed to protect this country time and again. This is the kind of profound incompetence you get when you entrust a podcaster with running the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
“I’m afraid Director Patel you’ve given us reason to believe you’ve used the powers of the FBI to serve Donald Trump and his agenda of partisan retribution,” said Raskin. “You’ve broken your promise not to do that. You’ve betrayed Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and survivors. You’ve turned your back on the career law enforcement officers of the FBI and as a result you’ve left all of us less safe than before.”
Later in the hearing, Raskin got a chance for a contentious back and forth exchange with Patel.
“Director Patel before you joined the FBI you railed against it for covering up Jeffrey Epstein’s human trafficking ring. Let me refresh your memory with this clip,” said Raskin, before playing a montage of interviews and podcasts in which Patel did just that.
“So you were sworn in as director more than two hundred days ago, now the black book is under your direct control, so why haven’t you released the names of Epstein’s co-conspirators in the rape and sex trafficking of young women and girls?” asked Raskin.
“The rolodex, which is what everybody colloquially refers to as the ‘black book’ has been released,” said Patel.
“Oh no you’re talking about what the journalists got five years ago? No, that’s not what we’re talking about,” said Raskin. “We’re talking about what you were talking about there, the black book under the direct control of the FBI Director.”
“We have released more material than anyone else before,” said Patel. “The Biden administration, Obama administration had the exact opportunity to release this material and they never did. And if you are selling the man and women of the FBI—” said Patel
“But why—”
“Hang on!” said Patel. “You said we’re not going after child predators. Fifteen hundred child predators arrested this year. Thirty-five percent increase.”
Raskin then reclaimed his time. “Why have you changed your position, there you were saying it’s under the direct control of the FBI Director and all of it should be released. Why have you changed your position?”
“Everything that has been lawfully permitted to be released has been released,” claimed Patel. “And as I told you the investigation was limited. And let me make something crystal clear, I never said Jeffrey Epstein didn’t traffic other people, other women, and there aren’t other victims. This is the investigation we were given from 2006, 7, and 8 and the search warrants from 2006, 7, and 8. That’s what we’re working with!”
“But wait have you released all of the stuff that the FBI has seized from Epstein’s house, the computers, the emails, the file cabinets, the documents?” asked Raskin. “What about the financial records? Have you released all of that?”
“Everything the court has allowed us to release—” said Patel.
“Which court are you talking about?” asked Raskin.
“Three separate federal courts have come in and said—” said Patel.
“We’re talking about the evidence that you’ve got! It’s got nothing to do with what those courts have,” said Raskin.
“Do you have any idea how the law works?” said Patel. “Do you want me to break the law and a federal judge’s orders?”
“No, I want you to follow your own word Director Patel!” Raskin shot back. “You said up there it was under the direct control of the FBI Director. He had the black book.”
Patel then rambled and evaded and Raskin ended the back and forth by slamming him for engaging in obvious “misdirection.”
At this point, you’d have to be a complete fool to believe a single word coming out of this administration. It’s painfully obvious that Trump and Epstein were longtime friends who preyed on young women together. It’s equally obvious that Patel and Bondi are engaged in a coverup to shield their boss and help their political careers. When Democrats take control, everyone involved in this vile miscarriage of justice must be held accountable.
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