Rep. Robert Garcia: What Congress Knows about the Epstein Files

Summary

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Bleep! with Ana Navarro

Episode: Rep. Robert Garcia: What Congress Knows about the Epstein Files

Original Air Date: June 29, 2026
Host: Ana Navarro
Guest: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member, House Oversight Committee

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers an unfiltered, deeply personal, and politically charged conversation about the ongoing congressional investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein files. Host Ana Navarro sits down with Rep. Robert Garcia, whose dogged pursuit of transparency and justice for Epstein’s survivors has made him a central figure in the inquiry. They dig into Congress’s behind-the-scenes actions, what is still hidden from the public, and the bipartisan failures across four administrations which have left survivors waiting for true accountability. Garcia and Navarro don’t hold back on tough questions about high-profile figures entangled in the scandal—including Bill Gates and Lex Wexner—and also detour into the emotional cost of public service for immigrants and LGBTQ lawmakers.

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Episode Structure

• Trump’s Reflecting Pool Fiasco (03:39–17:43)
• Intro & California Politics (21:51–24:08)
• Garcia’s Motivation: The Survivors & Bipartisan Failures (25:01–29:08)
• The Bill Gates Questioning & Blackmail Tactics (31:20–39:17)
• The Issue of Withheld Epstein Files (35:13–36:55)
• Lex Wexner, Leon Black, and the Mystery of Epstein’s Wealth (43:26–48:52)
• Pam Bondi, Oversight, and Future Subpoenas (48:10–54:18)
• ICE Detention Facility Conditions & Immigrant Rights (54:18–56:54)
• Garcia’s Personal Story: Immigrant, LGBTQ, and American Pride (63:17–74:42)

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s Reflecting Pool Controversy (03:39–17:43)

• Navarro dissects the debacle of the Washington, DC Reflecting Pool renovation.
  • No-bid contract awarded to “Green Water Solutions”—Trump donor connections
  • Cost has ballooned from $1.5 million to $16+ million with the pool full of algae
  • Trump blames “vandals,” but Navarro says evidence points to Trump’s own misuse (e.g., driving the presidential limo through freshly resurfaced pool)
  • Compared the administrative focus on prosecuting alleged pool vandals with the lack of legal consequences stemming from the Epstein files.

Memorable Quote:
"You know what it does reflect? It reflects Donald Trump. So you can’t see your reflection in it, but I think it is a very apt and accurate reflection of Donald Trump and the fact that his government is not draining the swamp. It is an algae full, a murky water swamp."
— Ana Navarro [07:48]

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2. New York Progressive Wave & Party Tactics (17:43–21:51)

• Navarro recaps the sweep by progressives in NY congressional primaries and the rise of Soran Mandani.
  • Analysis of how narrow margins in primaries can shape political directions.
  • Raises questions about what this means for national party leaders and the future of Democratic leadership (potential challenges to Chuck Schumer, etc.)

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3. California Election Integrity & Trump’s Claims (22:27–24:08)

• Garcia laughs off Trump’s claims of California election fraud.
• Emphasizes the reliability and transparency of local and statewide election processes.
• Warns of Trump’s tactics to depress voter turnout through misinformation and intimidation.

Quote:
"He wants to actually use ICE and the National Guard... to intimidate people from voting. I think we should expect in November for him to also look at ways of... putting the National Guard around polling centers."
— Robert Garcia [24:24]

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4. The Epstein Files—Garcia’s Personal Drive & Congressional Frustrations (25:01–29:08)

• Garcia’s relentless focus: centering survivors in the investigation.
  • Testimonies from survivors: “Their stories are horrific. At the end of the day, the reason why this investigation has really hit a nerve...is because you had a situation where women and girls...went through horrors...and the government turns their back.” [25:27]
  • Bipartisan failure: both parties, multiple administrations failed to act, DOJ never met with survivors.
  • Credit to bipartisan pressure (including from some MAGA figures) for transparency.

Navarro: "It was four different administrations that I feel left these women down." [26:50]
Garcia: "The difference is Donald Trump campaigned on this...and just turned his back on his entire base...Who cares if they're Democrats or Republican or how much power they have...If you harmed women and girls need to be held accountable." [28:01]

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5. Why Have the Epstein Files Not Been Released? (35:13–36:55)

• DOJ still withholds 3 million documents out of 6 million.
• GOP claims some are “duplicative” or “require a court order”; Garcia flatly rejects this, asserting it’s a top-level cover-up.
• Claims President Trump personally intervened against full release.

Garcia: "They need to release the 3 million documents. This is a White House cover up from the very top." [36:00]

Navarro: "If they're duplicative, just release them. That way we don't have anything to argue about." [35:54]

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6. Key Testimonies: Bill Gates, Blackmail & Financial Networks (31:20–39:17)

• Bill Gates’ closed-door testimony: Garcia pressed on why the Gates–Epstein relationship continued after Epstein’s conviction.
  • Gates admitted to knowing about Epstein’s conviction, claims to have underestimated its extent.
  • Epstein paid expenses for women tied to Gates (like tuition for the Russian bridge player), part of a consistent pattern of financial leverage and blackmail.
  • Epstein’s web included paying for visas, travel, schooling for people linked to high-profile men.

Navarro: "How the fuck did Jeffrey Epstein even know that Bill Gates was having affairs?" [31:21]
Garcia: "Jeffrey Epstein was a master at blackmail, manipulation, information gathering..." [31:28]
Navarro: "So when people say 'we didn’t know the extent of the crimes,' does that mean they were okay with 10 girls being raped, but not 1,000?" [32:55]

• Gates–Epstein emails surfaced regarding medical concerns for Melinda French Gates (raised further doubt about scope of blackmail).

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7. The Wexner & Leon Black Connections: Money Behind Epstein (43:26–48:52)

• Lex Wexner described as “the most disgusting, weird thing...”
  • Financed Epstein’s New York mansion, potentially the primary (but not only) source of Epstein’s fortune.
  • Lack of transparency: Congress still awaiting full financial records.
  • Wexner and Black both kept close ties despite clear evidence of abuse and trafficking.
• Leon Black to testify; survivors allege Black personally abused and trafficked by Epstein.

Garcia: "Once we get our hands on all the financial records...we’re going to be able to answer that question a lot more clearly." [47:08]

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8. The Pam Bondi Hearing and Congressional Roadblocks (48:10–54:18)

• Bondi only appeared before the committee after contempt charges were threatened.
  • She testified not under oath, behind closed doors, and Republicans prevented a public hearing.
  • Navarro and Garcia decry lack of transparency and question implications for oversight if Democrats gain the House.

Garcia: "If Democrats retake the House...on day one, we will subpoena an incredibly long list of people. We're talking...everyone from Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, Todd Blanche, [and] the entire administration officials." [50:45]

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9. ICE Detention Facilities and the Power of Congressional Oversight (54:18–56:54)

• Garcia describes conditions as “concentration camp conditions.”
  • “Not just people that are undocumented...in some cases, US Citizens are being sent and kept for days with no access to a lawyer.”
  • Congressional visits now stymied by agency restrictions.

Garcia: "There are people that are being sent to these places...with no water, no food. Some of them are being put in solitary confinement...JD Vance should be ashamed of himself..." [55:16]

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10. Personal Stories: Identity, Representation, and the Weight of Advocacy (63:17–74:42)

• Garcia’s Story:
  • Immigrated from Peru at age 4; experienced being undocumented; became a citizen at 23 via Reagan’s amnesty.
  • Openly gay; came out in college and credits family support, especially his mother’s values of “country and community.”
  • Discusses balancing immigrant, Latino, and LGBTQ advocacy in the political spotlight.

Garcia: “I feel a sense of duty, like reclaim, like American patriotism and what actually being an American is all about. And that is about helping people. That keeps me going.” [57:50]

• Both Garcia and Navarro reflect on loving America’s ideals while not ignoring its serious current failures.

Navarro: “Whenever I say that I love Ronald Reagan, people like shit on me. I fucking love him. I’m a US Citizen because of Ronald Reagan’s amnesty.” [70:31]

Garcia: “I've always been a proud American...Real patriotism is helping people.” [71:41]

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Notable Quotes

• “He is a pit bull with a bone when it comes to the Epstein files—transparency, accountability, and justice for the survivors.”
  — Ana Navarro on Robert Garcia [21:51]

• “If Democrats retake the House in November...on day one, we will subpoena an incredibly long list of people.”
  — Robert Garcia [50:51]

• “True love of country is loving people. It’s loving the people in this country. Real patriotism is helping people.”
  — Robert Garcia [57:50]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Reflecting Pool/Trump segment: 03:39–17:43
• New York Primaries/Progressives: 17:43–21:51
• Garcia on Election Integrity: 22:27–24:08
• Deep Dive: Epstein Files Survivor Focus/Bipartisan Failure: 25:01–29:08
• Bill Gates, Blackmail, and Testimony: 31:20–39:17
• On Withheld Files/DOJ: 35:13–36:55
• Lex Wexner, Leon Black & Epstein’s Finances: 43:26–48:52
• Pam Bondi’s Hearing & Oversight Power: 48:10–54:18
• ICE Facility Oversight: 54:18–56:54
• Personal Story, Immigrant & LGBTQ Identity: 63:17–74:42

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Tone & Style

Candid, urgent, and blunt—with moments of humor and warmth. Both Navarro and Garcia speak frankly, sometimes using strong language, using personal anecdotes to frame policy and oversight failures, and these as calls to action.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This conversation is essential listening for anyone interested in:

• The state of the Epstein investigation, Congressional gridlock, and what’s still hidden
• Behind-the-scenes perspectives on how powerful men evade accountability
• Candid breakdowns of bipartisan political and DOJ failures
• Garcia’s plans to use Congressional oversight if Democrats retake the House
• What it means to be an immigrant, LGBTQ leader in America now

The episode is rooted in fearless dialogue—transforming anger and fear into hope, knowledge, and a renewed belief in genuine American values.

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Transcript

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[Anna Navarro]

Hi everyone and welcome to bleep. This week we have a great interview with Representative Robert Garcia. He's from California. He's the Democratic ranking member on the Oversight Committee, and in that role he's been spearheading the investigations into the Epstein files. He took us behind the scenes. He took us behind closed doors. We talked about the interview with Bill Gates, with Pam Bondi and many other things related to the Epstein files. He also discussed his recent visit to Delaney hall, which is the Immigration Detention center in Newark. That's where there's been protests erupting because of the conditions there. But before we get to that, I want to talk about Trump's latest fiasco. And of course, we're talking about the Reflecting Pool. And by the way, let's just take note that there are nobody, there's been nobody in the United States since the Epstein files have been released, arrested or brought in for questioning by DOJ regarding those files. But there have now been at least five people arrested, accused of vandalism over the Reflecting Pool, wrongly accused, and they are going to apparently throw the book at them and persecute them to the highest extent of the law. So let's talk about the Reflecting Pool, shall we? Because honestly, if it wasn't because it's such a significant, you know, historically significant part of America and monument of America, it really would be comical and funny. In fact, it's still comical despite the fact that it is the reflecting pole. So let's break it down a little bit. I'm sure you guys have heard about this fiasco, but there's just a few things that I think are worth highlighting. First of all, as you all know, Donald Trump offered no bid contracts to two companies, and I kid you not, one of those companies is called Green Water Solutions. I am not making this up. Go look it up. Not only is it called Green Water Solutions, which seem like quite the omen for what would happen to the pool, but it's owned by this Trump donor. And like you know, these guys have been like Trump's pool guys, I guess in Mar a Lago and other places. And this Trump donor, his name is JJ Caffaro or something like this. I am begging you all to go Google this guy and look at his picture. He looks like when I saw, when I first saw his picture, I thought I was seeing him in costume. I thought he was in Halloween costum dressed as a pre ozempic Gomez Adams. But no, this is actually what the guy looks like. I don't even know how it's possible to give a no bid contract. And that's why we have these processes in place in government so that qualified companies bid for the job and also have to prove their qualifications before given the job. So the reflecting pool was built between 1922 and 1923. And it's pretty shallow. It's on the edges. It's got a depth of 18 inches or a foot and a half. In the center it deepens to 30 inches. So it's less than three feet in depth. And it's located in the National Mall directly between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. And you guys know, we all remember, we've all seen the images of Martin Luther King speaking in front of the reflecting pool. We've all seen the images of the reflecting pool in Forrest Gump. And so what happened here? So experts agree that the pool needed drainage work. It's an old pool, over 100 years old. But Trump's focus wasn't on the drainage work, the much needed drainage work. He was laser focused on the cosmetics. He wanted to paint the bottom of the pool American flag blue. Instead. What he's achieved is Kermit the Frog green. Another failed effort to put his stamp on Washington D.C. ahead of the 250th celebration. So we are days away from that 250th anniversary mark. And we are heading into it with a reflecting pool that's falling to pieces, that's full of algae. It is so polluted with algae that even ducklings are dying if they dare swim in there. There's chunks of the flooring coming off in pieces. It started with a $1.5 million to $2 million and two week budget. It's now over $16 million. And of course it's going to grow from that because they have to repair it. And it is a, you know, I mean it's like so shameful and embarrassing and we are well past 60 days. So it went from one and a half million to 16 plus million from two weeks to 60 plus days. And what we have is a disaster of a reflecting pool. You know what it does reflect? It reflects Donald Trump. So you can't see your reflection in it. But I think it is a very apt and accurate reflection of Donald Trump and the fact that his government is not draining the swamp. It is an algae full, a murky water swamp. It'll need to be drained. Trump claims the issues are the fault of vandals. I don't know if you've heard him talk about this, but he is so nuts. I'm telling you over and over again, I hear him say things that are so insane that I think to myself, if Joe Biden had said this, men in white coats would have, would have erupted into the room, grabbed him and put him in, detained him, put, put him in a, in, you know, in shackles and taken him to a mental institution. But Trump gets away with saying crazy shit on a daily basis and people just don't even blink anymore. So he's now claiming that vandals took knives and went for 300ft, that they took these knives and dragged it on the floor of the reflecting picture pool and that that's why There are these 300 foot gashes on the floor of the reflecting pool. You know what could actually be the truth, that Donald Trump, the spectacle that he is, and to insert himself into this entire reflecting pool thing, when it got reflored, when they applied the floor covering, Donald Trump took the beast. The presidential limousine, which weighs 10,000 pounds, 10 tons, took the beast at a whole caravan of cars and they drove through the drained reflecting pool just after it had been covered. Experts agree that this is what could have cost the 300 foot gashes on the floor of the reflecting pool. And you've had people, including a former three time Olympian, David Hearn, who has been locked up, he was locked up for five hours and held incommunicado after he touched the peeling paint and the algae infested pool. So this is what's happening with the reflecting pool. We will have to see how it ends. And again, what a swamp this guy has created. Another thing I wanted to touch on, last week we had the New York primaries and it was a pretty clean sweep for Mayor Soran Mandani. He helped three progressive congressional candidates to victory. And you know, a lot of times politicians endorse other, other politicians. Mandani didn't just endorse, his team, was working for them. He campaigned with them, he was going everywhere with them. He threw his full support and was very visible in their campaigns. So what did Mandani do? He defeated two incumbents and the proxy of a third incumbent. So all the winning candidates, they are progressives like Soren Mandani is. They each ran campaigns that focused on a lot. A lot of it was about AIPAC and American support of Israel. Brad Lander defeated Representative Daniel Goldman, an incumbent, he's a Levi Strauss heir with ties to aipac. And that was such a big part of the campaign. Claire Valdez, she's not a very well known assembly woman and she just crushed the guy that Nydia Velasquez, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez had endorsed. Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez has served in Congress for 34 plus years. She is a Latino powerhouse and staple. And she endorsed a candidate that got beaten like a drum by Soren Mandani's candidate. And the third candidate is Darialisa Avila Chevalier. She's a pro Palestinian doctoral student who won in New York's 13th congressional district. And there again, Soren Mandani beat a powerhouse. Adriano Espellat. He is the first Dominican, the first who came here as an undocumented immigrant. He is the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, very powerful in Congress, very well liked by his constituents. And you know, I will tell you, I was shocked. I was not shocked that Goldman lost. I was not shocked that Nydia Velazquez's candidate lost. I was shocked that Adriano Espalla lost. Because this guy is well known, well respected, and well liked by his constituents. And it tells you yet again how important it is to vote in primaries. And these primary races were, were decided by a couple of thousand votes. I mean, so just people showing up to vote makes a difference. Something like 5% of eligible voters showed up to vote in these primaries. And that's why a few votes here, a few votes there can make or break the election. And it's, you know, Adriano Spallat is a guy who is very visible, very active in his community and in his district. This is not like when Alexandria Ocasio Cortez beat Joe Crowd. Joe Crowd barely showed up in his district, barely campaigned, barely did any work. No, Adriano Spalla showed up and worked and was there time and time again, been on TV a lot, very recognizable face in that district and within the Latino community. And he too got beaten. So I think this tells you a few things. Number one, oh, and the other thing I forgot to tell you. Nydia Velazquez, who Mandani opposed her candidate, she was the first member of the New York congressional delegation to support Mandani. Adriano Spallat was very quick to support him after Mamdani won the primary. So tells you. I think a few things about Mamdani. First of all, he is an ideologue and he wants to change the Democratic Party to be more in his image, to be more to his ideological bent. And behind the very charismatic face, the very nice and friendly and warm smile, this guy is likable, if you've ever met him. He is disarmingly charming. But behind that smile is a ruthless tactician. This guy took on people who had supported him, people who had endorsed him. And these are not. It's not like Adriano Espallad is some sort of mushy moderate. He isn't. It's not like Nydia Velazquez is some sort of right leaning Democrat. No, she's very much a progressive. He just wanted his progressives in and he got them, and he got them in. What it means for the rest of the country. Republicans want to interpret this as having great impact on the midterm elections. Look, this is New York. It's New York City. So the politics here are different than they are in most of the of the rest of the country. But I do think people like Hakeem Jeffries, also from New York, people like Chuck Schumer have to pay a lot of attention. Chuck Schumer. This could mean that there's now more wind in the sails of Alexandria Ocasio Cortez urging her to run against Chuck Schumer in the Democratic primary for the U.S. senate, representing New York. That's a race that we'll see in 2028. And I think Mandani would obviously endorse AOC, not Chuck Schumer. And if I was Chuck Schumer, I'd be a little bit worried right now. Okay, so let's now move on to this great interview with Robert Garcia. He's such a dynamo and just doing such spectacular work, not letting go of the Epstein files.

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[Robert Garcia]

You ever notice nobody remembers just the game fact?

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

It's always like, where were you? The people you were with?

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

For real people in place. That's the real memory for me.

[Robert Garcia]

Backyard at my Theos Carne on the grill.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Everybody yelling, kids running around, learning their first goal celebration, just copying everybody, like, go.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

And there's always that one uncle with the upgrades from the Home Depot. Bet dad approved everything.

[Robert Garcia]

New grill, string, lights, upgrade, patio seating, whole setup leveled up.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Miraesto showing you every little detail.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

But that's what makes it yours. Same spot, same people, game after game.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

That's how the stories stack up.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Yeah, that's where the lore gets strong.

[Robert Garcia]

Your patio, your deck, your lawn. That's the real stadium.

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The Home Depot's got everything you need to make it match day memorable.

[Robert Garcia]

From grills to outdoor lighting to those backyard upgrades that hit different.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

So every story starts in the right spot.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Spot the Home Depot. Learn [e-mail].

[Anna Navarro]

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[Chiquis]

Dose.

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[Chiquis]

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[Robert Garcia]

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[Anna Navarro]

We have as a guest today Robert Garcia. He is a congressman from California. He's on the Oversight Committee. But I'll tell you why. I mean, I admire him for many reasons, but one of the many reasons is because he has been a pit bull with a bone when it comes to the Epstein files, when it comes to getting transparency, accountability and justice for the survivors and victims. And there's so many things I can tell you about him, but I feel like you need no introduction and I want us to get into some of these issues and I think you've got some limited time. So welcome. Robert Garcia.

[Robert Garcia]

Happy to be here. Thank you.

[Anna Navarro]

You know what, though, before we get into the Epstein thing, I have a question for you. Because you're in California, Trump claims, and you're an elected official in California. You have run for mayor, you have run for Congress. Trump makes these claims without any evidence that there is fraud in the California elections. What do you say about that?

[Robert Garcia]

I mean, that's just totally a joke. I mean, there is no fraud in California elections. We count every single vote. Like, I agree, I would love to count votes faster and wish we could, but we count every vote and give opportunity to folks to vote and mail, go to a ballot box, go to a polling center, and so we're going to count every time. And I think that he gets frustrated that we're a progressive state and we, the more we count, the more votes come in. And I think, you know, his candidates may not win, but we're going to continue to do that.

[Anna Navarro]

But actually, his candidate did win. The candidate he endorsed, Steve Hilton, is gonna go to the general against Javier Becerra. So his candidate won for governor, lost for mayor. So I don't know how it is that they can only be cheating on the mayor of LA thing, but not on the governor's thing. That's statewide.

[Robert Garcia]

No, no, that's right. I mean, look, you obviously wanted Spencer Pratt to win in the Ellen mayor's race, and I think it was interesting. Of course, a lot of his supporters were complaining. Of course. Oh, it's rigged. And they didn't count the votes.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Right.

[Robert Garcia]

And of course, Steve Hilton won the. The top two in California as well. So, look, California elections are Secure. People need to understand that elections, especially in California and across the country, are done by counties. They're registered. They're not statewide elections. They're not federal elections. They're done by incredible people. Civil servants count every vote county by county, and that's why they're secure.

[Anna Navarro]

But, Robert, I think that one of the things he wants to do is he wants to depress the vote. He wants to make people believe that voting doesn't matter, that everything is rigged, that everything is, you know, cheating. You know, we need to tell people just so much how much voting matters.

[Robert Garcia]

No, that's right. I mean, not only did he want to depress the bill, he wants to actually use. I really think he wants to use ICE in the National Guard. He wants to use the military to intimidate people from voting. I think we should expect in November for him to also look at ways of putting ice, putting the military, putting the National Guard around polling centers for whatever. His reason is to discourage people to vote. And he wants to put enough doubt in people's minds that the election somehow is rigged to discourage people from voting. So we have to get out and vote. I think California, this last election, we had a great turnout. We're going to have the same thing in November, and it's going to happen across the country.

[Anna Navarro]

I think there's going to be a backlash. I think people are going to come out of every nook and cranny and vote, and they're going to be overwhelmed by just what the reaction is going to be, despite their attempts to try to redraw districts and dilute black districts and all of that. But I want to talk to you about the Epstein thing. You have been remarkable. You have been remarkable. So let me just start by asking you, why do you care so much? You've been relentless.

[Robert Garcia]

Look, I think first, I think it's important what I said from day one, what should center this investigation of the survivors. I have met so many survivors. I talked to them weekly. There's some that I speak to every new, every few days. And their stories are horrific. And I think at the end of the day, the reason why this investigation has really hit a nerve and really moved people is because you had a situation where women and girls, in some cases minors and cultures we know, went through horrors. Being raped, being trafficked, being abused. Then they go to their government, they go to law enforcement, they report these crimes, and then the government turns their back on in many cases, does nothing, in other cases, puts them in danger, and they see the powerful men that Raped and abused them go on with their lives. And that should enrage. It certainly enrages me. And it should enrage every single American that women and girls in this country can't trust law enforcement and government. This is being done by people with the highest, highest levels of power and of wealth. And for me, it become very personal in getting to know these survivors. I want justice for them and I want women and girls to know that when they report something to law enforcement, that law enforcement actually going to have their back and go after the men that give them.

[Anna Navarro]

And you know what? Something that I just, I don't know, I hang my shame. My, my head in shame. It. You know, it's not just Trump. It was four different administrations that I feel left these women down. I mean, the Alex Acosta sweetheart deal with Epstein and his lawyers was under George W. Bush. That's how long these women have been seeking justice and have been just rolled over by their government. And, you know, Republicans say a lot of times Democrats didn't care about this until Trump came into office. I feel like they have a point. I think Merrick Garland, Joe Biden's Attorney general, could have and should have released these files and didn't because I think he was too worried about people thinking he was being political. But, and I do give credit to MAGA and some of the manosphere and people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert because they demanded transparency and never gave up, even when Trump didn't want to do it. So how do you feel about that? The fact that it's been decades and four different administrations.

[Robert Garcia]

So I think that's first of all absolutely right. I think about. You mentioned Merrick Garland, and Merrick Garland failed the Epstein's revival. He had an opportunity to get this information out and put in criminal prosecutions and a complete failure. So it's been both Republican and Democratic administration, of course. The difference, of course, has been that Donald Trump campaigned on this, of course, and just been turning it back on his entire base. But at the end of the day, it shouldn't matter whether, whether it's a Republican administration, a Democratic one, nor should it matter who the men are that committed these crimes. Who cares if they're Democrats or Republican or how much power they have or how much wealth they had. If you harmed women and girls need to be held accountable. And the, the folks in past administration that chose to do nothing. That's why we have a lot of questions for them. I've been asking Republicans, well, to bring in Merrick Garland, we need to ask Merrick Garland, what happened? Why did you drop the ball? And so part of the blame has to go on both sides. And I think that the reason why people in this country, this is the most bipartisan issue in America, poll after poll, Republicans and Democrats, independents alike, we need justice for the survivor. And we're all in the same pole today.

[Anna Navarro]

I would love for you to bring in Merrick Garland about this because I do think he dropped the ball completely. And I want him to get asked questions like, to me, I cannot tell you, Congressman, how ashamed I am that our Department of Justice, not under Biden, not under Trump, all of them have not met with the survivors of Epstein. When I saw that during that public hearing with the congressional hearing with Pam Bondi, I just was like my mouth was agape on the floor that that had happened and it still hasn't. Right as we sit here today, Trump's DOJ has not met with the survivors. Or has. Or have they?

[Robert Garcia]

No, they have not. In fact, they, they refused to meet with them. The survivors have asked on multiple occasions. We want to meet with Pam Bondi. We want to meet with Todd Blanche. We'll meet with Annabeth of New J. There's no meeting. In fact, Pam Bondi interfering. Cue him to even turn around and look at the survivors that were, that were there. She refused to even look them in the eye. They have written letters, they've asked the president himself for a meeting. Nobody will talk to them at the doj. And the fact that we should somehow believe that there's no evidence to actually convict anyone else but Ghislaine Maxwell, who we should talk about in a minute, who are getting up into a very cushy deal right now in a very cushy prison is ridiculous. There are over 1000 women right now who are the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and countless other men. And they deserve answers and been they deserved.

[Anna Navarro]

So I want to ask you to take us behind the scenes and some of these hearings that have not been open to the public and that you've been part of one of the, I mean, there's been so many people in these Epstein files that you just can't believe are in there. But one of the ones that was the most shocking to me was Bill Gates. You were part of the questioning. You were part of that hearing that happened with him, but we weren't. And when Bill Gates came out of the hearing, one of the things he said in his statements is that Jeffrey Epstein had used the knowledge that he was having affairs against him to try to network with him and get him.

[Chiquis]

How.

[Anna Navarro]

How the fuck did Jeffrey Epstein even know that Bill Gates was having affairs?

[Robert Garcia]

So really interesting, a couple things. One is Jeffrey Epstein was a master at blackmail, manipulation, information gathering intelligence. Used his wealth and power to get information about the most rich and powerful people and then use that against them. But as it relates to Bill Gates, the reason why this is so disturbing, I understand Mr. Gates had publicly said he regrets the relationship and he regrets what he did. That's fine. I'm glad he feels that way. But Bill Gates chose to begin and continue a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after Jeffrey Epstein had admitted had been convicted of sex trafficking, of essentially abuse of women. And so imagine you're Bill Gates, one of the most powerful, richest men in the world. You are choosing to build a relationship to try to acquire more wealth, to build your foundation with a man that you know has done some of the worst possible things imaginable. And that's what we asked him. He said, you know, you, you are a smart man.

[Anna Navarro]

Why would he, did he say he knew, did he know that Jeffrey Epstein had been convicted?

[Robert Garcia]

Yeah, he did know it. He, he admitted to knowing and he felt that he had, he told, he didn't know the extent of what had happened and that he had served, you know, his, his con. He had served his sentence, which is bullshit. Who cares if he had served it, sentenced, he did something horrific.

[Anna Navarro]

So when you, when people say we didn't know the extent of the crime, so I guess what does that mean? That they were okay with 10 girls being raped, but not a thousand?

[Robert Garcia]

I, no, I think it's selective memory. I think these, at the time, these cases were very public. Jeffrey Epstein's conviction, which we admitted to, by the way, was very public. And so Mr. Gates knew as much as the rest of the public or anybody else what had happened. Yet he chose to meet with Mr. Epstein multiple times, build a relationship, try to acquire investments for his own foundation. And to me, the level of disgust, the level of the way people feel is not enough.

[Anna Navarro]

We should.

[Robert Garcia]

These men, these powerful men, they knew what was going on and chose to engage regardless.

[Anna Navarro]

Jeffrey Epstein, I mean, explain this to me like if I was a five year old, Jeffrey Epstein was paying for the coding school of the bridge player, the Russian bridge player that Bill Gates was having an affair with.

[Robert Garcia]

Yeah. So this was a very common thing that Jeffrey Epstein would do. So one thing that we've uncovered, it's not just an issue with the information about Mr. Gage. It's been across the board. Jeffrey EPC essentially would pay for a variety of tuition. We found payment that he paid for different schooling while he was paying for visas. He would engage for a variety of different women and very powerful men to pay for schooling, to paying for bills, paying for vacations, paying for all sorts of traveling for folks and then to bring people in from other countries. That is what Jeffrey Epstein did, is he would build this relationship. He would get these women locked in. He would pay things for people that he viewed as friends. And it was constant. And we're seeing that in more and more financial records. And we're not going to know the full extent of what that kind of financial web look like until all the financial records are acquired by our committee, which we're working on, and until they get all of the files. I mean, as you know, we only have half of the files. So there's 6 million files. We have 3 million. The DOJ still has another 3 million files we have not given to the public.

[Anna Navarro]

So JD Vance was on the View, I don't know if you saw the interview. And I pushed back hard on him. One of the things he said is that the reason that the other files, the millions he called it, 2.5 million files, have not been released is because they are duplicative and because they require a court order. Are either of those two things true?

[Robert Garcia]

No, because one, we. We don't know what's in the file. So we can take. We can take his word, or we can take the word of the single most corrupt administration administration that's lied to the American public over and over again, or we can just release all the files. And here's the reality. They've also said. They have said, yes, there's duplicates. Okay, let's see them. They've also said that they're withholding.

[Anna Navarro]

I said that to him on the View. I said, okay, if they're duplicative, just release them. That way we don't have anything to argue about.

[Robert Garcia]

We've told them the same thing, but then they both said, oh, no, but wait. But we also have communication in the files between DOJ official and others that we view as something that we're not going to release. We're not releasing interagency communication. That is bullshit. Because the Transparency act is not allowed for them to keep that. Then of course, we know that they've said, well, if something is privileged, you think. We think there's, you know, there's no reason to release it. There's some sort of executive privilege that does not exist in the subpoena and in our work in getting the files out. They need to release the 3 million documents. And until they this is a White House cover up from the very top. We know that President Trump has said it's a hoax. Don't release anymore, you're going to hurt my friend, et cetera, et cetera, then we'll release all the files. Now if JD Banta saying I saw his the way he was, in my opinion, it's clear that he didn't want to answer the question. He's the one hosting situation meetings to try to exonerate President Trump. Give me a break.

[Anna Navarro]

Yeah, but I pushed back on him hard. I mean, he, he also claimed that Donald Trump wanted to release the trial

[Robert Garcia]

the files, that it's such a lie. I mean, over and over again we have evidence that Donald Trump can want to release the files first. When he first came into office, we know this, he fell in the ag. The ag Pam Bondi is briefing him. He is saying to her, and he reported widely not to release the files. He said publicly it's a hoax. He puts out memos from the DOJ saying there's no investigation, that it's over. He brings in MAGA influence to pretend to release the file in a bunch of binders that didn't say anything. And over and over again he tries to end the investigation. He's never been interested in releasing the files. In fact, he's done everything he can to hide them from release.

[Anna Navarro]

So I'm sorry to be jumping around, but I'm just, I'm a little bit struck by some of this Bill Gates stuff. This email from Jeffrey Epstein about the medicine to give to Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates wife at the time, because he was afraid that he'd been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease. What did you ask him and what did he say?

[Robert Garcia]

Bill Gates essentially said that he believed that Epstein was emailing himself and sending emails was things that were not true and that Bill basically refused to say were true. And so what Mr. Gates position is, is that.

[Anna Navarro]

Why do you keep calling him Mr. Gates? No Mejola.

[Robert Garcia]

Oh, nothing. Bill Gates. I call him Bill Gates. I call him both.

[Anna Navarro]

I mean, come the fuck on. He was, you know, he was hanging out with Epstein. He doesn't deserve the Mr. Thing. And I've admired this guy so much. I've bought his books. I've been a great that we're going to call him Mr. Gates.

[Robert Garcia]

All right? Bill Gates.

[Anna Navarro]

I would call him Socio.

[Robert Garcia]

I mean, look, I get that. I get that look, we don't buy that, of course. And I think that at the end of the day, he gave his testimony. There's a lot of testimony that opened up more questions for us. He did not show the remorse, I think is necessary of any single person that was going to pal around with Jeffrey Epstein after knowing what he did. And certainly the idea that Jeffrey Epstein was somehow emailing himself things that were he knew were not true, I just don't find that to be part of it.

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[Robert Garcia]

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[Robert Garcia]

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[Robert Garcia]

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[Robert Garcia]

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[Anna Navarro]

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[Anna Navarro]

Can we talk Also staying on the Jeffrey Epstein. And I want to talk about lot about Jeffrey Epstein, because I think this is where you've just been a star. Robert, what the fuck? With Lex Wexner.

[Robert Garcia]

Crazy.

[Anna Navarro]

That is the most disgusting, weird thing. And then just talk us through, though, because you all held a hearing in Columbus, Ohio, where Lex Wexner has this compound. I've been in it, by the way. I've been. I've been there because I did a speech there because, you know, this guy Wexner was seen as this huge cultural influence in Ohio. Whenever you go to Columbus, Ohio, and you're driving down, every building has the Wexner name on it. He was like this incredibly admired guy. But, you know, it cannot be. It cannot be that that was the only source of Jeffrey Epstein's money. And I've never felt a real good answer as to where Jeffrey Epstein made all this money that enabled him to have the island, to have the private plane, and to do all the things to rape and molest women. So talk to me about the Lex Wexner of it all and who he is. Tell people who he is.

[Robert Garcia]

Yeah, I mean, this is one of the most bizarre parts. And first of all, I was there at fate to go interview him as well. And I'm totally not credible. In my opinion. In my opinion, he was not fully honest with the committee. So Les Wexer, so people understand this is a very, very successful billionaire. Invested a lot of money early, early on, kind of a lot of shot a lot of clothing brands like Victoria's Secret and others. And so he built this enormous wealth from Ohio. He basically builds a town. He's the founder of a small town that he builds right, right there in Ohio. But he. Well, he basically controlling this town and this town. As you building this town, people begin to notice that the other person that's named kind of the co president of the documents of building the town is Jeffrey Epstein.

[Anna Navarro]

So what year are we talking about?

[Robert Garcia]

So this now would have been 30, 25 years ago. And this guy, what happens is he becomes potentially Epstein's main source of income. Not only, but main source. And we don't know exactly why. What Leon, what I'm. What, what, what we actually will tell you is that he was tricked. He was a con man. The biggest comment of all time, he was giving me tax advice, he was giving me investment advice. He was giving me advice.

[Anna Navarro]

But when you say main source of income, do we know how much we're talking about?

[Robert Garcia]

We don't fully know because I mean,

[Anna Navarro]

Epstein had hundreds of millions of dollars. Are you telling me Wexner was the primary source of hundreds of millions of dollars?

[Robert Garcia]

As of, as of right now, we know that Les Wexner was a primary source, but we don't know the full story of where all the money came from. We just know he's a part of the money because we don't have all the financial documents yet. It's not also for us, it's not believable that Les Wexer was the only main source of funding for Jeffrey Epstein. Les Wexer, by the way, he goes on to give all of his resources. Gracie gives him the money to, to get the house in New York, gets him the money to begin building the island. And there wasn't a lot in return. And so the question and veg is what was actually Les Wexner getting in return for all the investment in Epstein? Les Wexer knew about the crimes. I believe he knew what's going on even though he didn't admit to it. He continued to interact with Jeffrey Epstein and he was intimately involved in the investment. Jeffrey Epster and Les Muncher were essentially co investors. And there's just no way. Well, Les Russia didn't know what going

[Anna Navarro]

on, but nothing's ever going to happen. Right? He's never going to be held accountable.

[Robert Garcia]

I'm not sure about that. I think there's a. We have. I'm not sure about that. I think Wes Webster, somebody in the future is going to have to be held accountable.

[Anna Navarro]

Tell me about Leon Black, he's another

[Robert Garcia]

one that of course was a big investor. Now, Leon Black, also very wealthy billionaire, also invested similar to Les Wexner into Jeffrey Epstein. And in this, in Leon Black's case, the issue is this, is that there are actually survivors. We have testimony from a survivor that says that she was abused, rape, traffic by Jeffrey Epstein to Leon Black. Now, Leon Black is going to be actually in front of our committee under an interview and within a matter of a week. So we have a ton of questions about that incident and of course that survivor and with that survivor is experience. But again, we have no idea why all these, all these men were paying so much money to Jeffrey Epson. Once we get our hands on all the financial records and many of them are under subpoena, we're going to be able to answer that question a lot more clearly.

[Anna Navarro]

Can you tell me a little bit about the Behind Closed Doors interview hearing with Pam Bondi? And let me just before, before you answer, let me just tell you. I've known Pam Bondi for decades. I'm from Florida. I knew her when she was Attorney General. She was a completely different person. I have, when I see Pam Bondi, I have what you call pena agena in Spanish. Do you know that term? Tengo meda pena agena. She, she is like, I'm vicariously ashamed, like she should have shame. I have. She doesn't. But I do. I have vicarious shame on behalf of her. What was that, what was that interview like? What, what did you learn?

[Robert Garcia]

Well, look, I think first, you know, from day one she's been involved with this cover up and of doxing survivors of the way the file got released. She has a lot of responsibility on her. The main thing that came out of that is that first, of course, she avoided to try to testify. It was only until we filed contempt charges in the Congress that an hour later she agrees to testify in front of our committee. That's we had to file contempt charges to get her to agree to testify. She comes in to testify. Our biggest complaint to the Republicans was if you're going to have her testify, you have to put her under oath. It needs to be videotaped and it should be public. They refuse to do any of those. And so she comes in not under oath, by the way, to interview with the committee.

[Anna Navarro]

What do you mean not under oath?

[Robert Garcia]

She wasn't under oath. So Republicans in, in her interview in front of the oversight Committee, they refused to do a public hearing for the Epstein, for the Epstein investigation. They refused to put her under Oath. So now she can't lie to Congress legally, but she was not under oath, which is a huge, huge red flag.

[Anna Navarro]

Can she be charged with perjury if she's not sworn in?

[Robert Garcia]

She, she, yeah, she cannot lie to Congress regardless. But being under owed, obviously, I think in the courts, just region A between different, the different level.

[Anna Navarro]

If Democrats retake the House, when Democrats retake the House in November, despite all of Donald Trump's efforts to rig the election on his, you know, to benefit him, what will change? Like what would, what, what will you guys do that hasn't been done?

[Robert Garcia]

So what would every single.

[Anna Navarro]

Who's going to be chair of the committee if Democrats take the House, who's going to be chair of the Committee of Oversight?

[Robert Garcia]

You're talking to them.

[Anna Navarro]

You're shitting me.

[Robert Garcia]

That would be me. No, I'm the current lead Democrat on the committee.

[Anna Navarro]

So you're the ranking member. You will be the chair of the committee. Okay, so then shit is going to happen.

[Robert Garcia]

Of course.

[Anna Navarro]

What will you do as chair, as chair of the Oversight Committee, what will you do that you can't do in the minority?

[Robert Garcia]

Well, look, on day one, we will subpoena a incredibly long list of people. We're talking about all the folks around Epstein's Orbit, the banks, all these. Everyone from Pam Bonding, Cash Patel, Todd Blanche, Susie Wiles, the entire administration officials. We want J.D. vance to part of the committee. Every single.

[Anna Navarro]

Merrick Garland, Alex Acosta.

[Robert Garcia]

Merrick Garland, Alex Acosta. Every person that was working at the homes, the technology people that want to fix the computers, the folks that provided services to the video system, all the folks, the prosecutors in Florida that went to Alex Acosta and said, we have the evidence to go after these possibly up to 20 co conspirators. Acosta, Mr. U.S. attorney, here is the evidence to go after these 20 people. I want to talk to those prosecutors and I want the name of all of the folks that they had requested to Acosta to actually prosecute.

[Anna Navarro]

You know what's something that I just, I cannot explain today? Alex Acosta was nominated by Trump as Labor Secretary in his first term term and went through a Senate confirmation hearing. And the Epstein issue was a blip on the screen. And I'll tell you this, Robert, I know Alex Acosta. I've known him. He was the dean of the Florida International University Law School. I've known him for many years. My theory on him is he was U.S. attorney under George W. Bush. His term was coming to an end. Very ambitious guy, Cuban, American, from the wrong side of the tracks, poor Cuban American wanting to make it, and I think he was trying to make nice was those high powered attorneys that Jeffrey Epstein had, Roy Black, I mean, all of them. I think it was part of him, you know, part of that. And I also think it was a different time in America before the MeToo movement, when the idea that a rich, powerful, connected guy fucking around with post pubescent girls, even if it was 14 or 15 year olds, somehow we look the other way.

[Robert Garcia]

That's 100% right. And look, we had Alex Acosta come in, we asked him some questions, again, not at public.

[Anna Navarro]

And he pretended not to remember. You know who, you know, you know who you need to have on, you know, you know who you need to interview? The woman who worked under Alex Acosta, the line attorney working under Alex Acosta, who sent him all sorts of memos saying, you cannot make this deal. That's the woman, the person you have to bring in.

[Robert Garcia]

Oh, trust me, she's on a list. And so we are very aware.

[Anna Navarro]

Oh, my God, I cannot wait for you to be the chair of oversight.

[Robert Garcia]

Now we're going to bring all these bills under oath in public hearing.

[Anna Navarro]

But as chairs of oversight, you also can do oversight over what's happening with ice 100%.

[Robert Garcia]

People ask me, who's the first subpoena you're going to send, period? It's going to be Stephen Milley. So there are all issues in front of oversight. There has been nobody more destructive that's hurt, not just the Latino immigrant community, but this country and our valleys and Stephen Miller. So we're going to have our Epson investigation, but Stephen Miller is going to be in front of our committee. He's going to answer a question as to why he's trying to destroy the fabric of a country that is the mastermind in many cases behind so much of the horror or that's coming out of the white national. So we're looking forward to having him in front of this community as well.

[Anna Navarro]

So. So, you know, when J.D. vance was on the View, I said to him, why don't you go to some of these detention centers? Why don't you go to Dilly Detention center where children are being held and they're getting sick and dying because of dirty water, because of lack of nourishment, because of. I mean, it's just horrible what's happening in those places. And he said, well, if I go, they're going to know and they're going to turn it into the Four Seasons. So Kamala Harris got all Sorts of shit. Rightly so, for not going to the border. But when is there going to be oversight over what's happening in these? I mean, they're concentration camps. They're not detention centers.

[Robert Garcia]

Not only are people living in concentration camp conditions in these centers, but they have refused to allow Congress to do the constitutional building and do oversight. We had to actually sue the government to have Homeland Security. We allow folks to come back in that we can go into these centers. It used to be that a member of Congress could just go up to the door and they would have to let you in immediately. Now they're trying to say, oh, no, we need 24 hours notice. Oh, no, you need to let us know before you're on your way. They put in all these conditions to try to slow down and stop oversight at these centers. It is horrific what people are experiencing. There are people that are being sent to these places, as, you know, with no water, no food. There's. Some of them are being put in solitary confinement. They're not being allowed to contact their family. And it's not just people that are undocumented or folks that are here on a work visa or working immigrants. In some cases, US Citizens are being sent and are being kept for days with no access to a lawyer, with no access to actually any sort of content for the family. And JD Van should be ashamed of itself for never going to one of these centers. He should be ashamed of himself for allowing Trumpet and Tihu to be destroying our country at the same time that

[Anna Navarro]

he's clutching the Bible and talking about his Catholic faith.

[Robert Garcia]

I know. Give me a break. There's nothing Catholic or Christian about the way this administration actually acts.

[Anna Navarro]

Can I ask you something, though? So you're dealing with the Epstein thing. You're Latino. Not only are you Latino, you're an immigrant like me. You're lgbtq. One of the, you know, openly LGBTQ members of Congress. And, like, I feel like every community you belong to is under attack. So how do you balance it? How do you. Like, I. I have this issue, right? Like, because I feel like, this weight on my shoulders to represent. Because I, you know, I just. It's not an option. My people are being attacked, but your people are being attacked from every angle. How do you. How do you breathe? How do you balance it so that you're not just completely crazy?

[Robert Garcia]

You know, honestly, I. I feel a deep love of, like, country and community. Like, my mom taught me when we came here, when I came as a young kid and I didn't know English, we Were all immigrants poor. No one in my family gone to college, no education. But we came here for my mom would always stay like the American dream. Worked her ass off. She cleaned houses. She. She worked cleaning clinic. And she just taught. She always taught us. To give back to your country, to. To love. To love your community, to give back to your community, to be kind. And I. I've always shared folks that even at the moment of we're attacking, that we're being attacked, whether it's because I'm gay, whether I'm an immigrant, whatever else, and the communities that feel it, I always think about, like, our. Our. Our country, the value that my mom fought for right here are better than the bullshit that's going on right now. And this warp idea of patriotism. I fucking hate how the far right talked about love of country, because true love of country is loving people. It's loving the people in this country. Real patriotism is helping people. It's helping those that are suffering. It's helping folks that are on the street. It's helping immigrants find value and dignity and work. And so I feel a sense of, like you and others, a sense of duty, like reclaim, like American patriotism and what actually being an American is all about. And that is about helping people. That keeps me going. If my mind.

[Anna Navarro]

You're not answering my question, though. How do you find balance? How do you keep yourself sane?

[Robert Garcia]

Honestly, I look my. Myself saying by remembering the value of my mom. My mom's not with me anymore. She's. She centers me. Thinking about her is what centers me. And then just, of course, enjoying some time with my friends, going to see a movie, reading a good book, you know, hanging out on a Sunday afternoon with friends. But I. At the end of the day, I think that at this moment, if you're in Congress, I don't think you have a lot of time to do shit you enjoy. I think you've got to be in the fight. You've got to give it all.

[Anna Navarro]

That's how I feel about being on tv. If I'm a Latino immigrant on tv, I don't have the option to be, you know, talking about Kim Kardashian and Brooklyn Beckham. I, you know, my people are being attacked.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Podcast is brought to you by the Home Depot, official FIFA World Cup 2026 supporter.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

All right, serious question. Match day at your house. Is it really match day? Depends.

[Robert Garcia]

You got the grill going or just talking for real?

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Not just the girl. I'm talking Carnasada. The smoke hits the block before kickoff. That's how people know where to pull up.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Dang. That first sizzle. Yeah, that's it right there.

[Robert Garcia]

And don't invite me. If the propane tank's empty, that's a red card.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Facts. Before the first whistle, better head to the Home Depot for extra propane or charcoal. If you grill old school cuz people show up hungry. Hungry.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

For me, it's the setup. Backyard on point, outdoor lights, patio seating for for everybody. Big screen. Nobody's missing a play.

[Robert Garcia]

And no chaos at halftime either. Everything set, tongues in hand, playlist going. We locked in.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

That's when it feels like home though. The smoke, the food, your crew. That's match day.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

So if your backyard's the headquarters, you better be ready.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Backyard lit up. Grill hot tings full and pull up hungry.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

The Home Depot's got everything you need to turn your backyard into match day. Central neutral with fast free delivery.

[Robert Garcia]

From grills to propane to the full

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

setup, they're basically your match.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

The assist the Home Depot. Learn [e-mail].

[Anna Navarro]

Game day in mi casa un ca del divertido la terricion estalista los control estambien lo jugues de los ninos. M psa Nacional volumen en la cocina Idrepente todampilas armo tiempo. Derasal y messi entiendas Lowe's y Walmart O en linea en Amazon.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

What's up everyone? I'm Angel.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

I'm Diego. And I'm Jason from Agusto papa.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Okay, be real. What era are we in?

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

I see we got motion podcasts up. Life's moving. But our cars though. Pa be serious.

[Robert Garcia]

That's what I'm saying. Every life update deserves new wheels. Estamos enotra e tapa la tro catambien.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

You level up. Your ride should too low key. More luxury.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Or maybe you're in your hybrid era. Mas milas menos impacto.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

I'm done for the upgrade. Well, that's when you go to cars.com. you can filter anything. Style mileage, price. Over 2 million new and used cars. You can get specific and the dealership reviews.

[Diego from Yagush Baba Podcast]

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[Robert Garcia]

With all the badges and tools, you

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

know it's a good move.

[Robert Garcia]

Sin duda.

[Angel from Yagush Baba Podcast]

Honestly, new chapters deserve the right car. Start your search today with Cars.com. where to next?

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[Anna Navarro]

Tell me about your story coming here. So you came here, you, you're, you were born. Born in Peru?

[Robert Garcia]

Yeah.

[Anna Navarro]

Can you make good ceviche?

[Robert Garcia]

The best ceviche? We invented ceviche. What do you call it?

[Anna Navarro]

No, no, I'm not talking about we.

[Chiquis]

You.

[Anna Navarro]

Can you cook and can you make decent ceviche?

[Robert Garcia]

I, I don't, I don't make great ceviche. I can make good lomo saltado. I can make good lomos saltado.

[Anna Navarro]

I can make great ceviche.

[Robert Garcia]

Okay, that's good. That's good. I mean, well, that's great. I mean, I love, I love a good ceviche. My ceviche is okay. My dad, they kicked me, but yeah, I know I came as a, as a kid, you know, on a, on a visa. They said we overstayed our visas, like a lot of individuals.

[Anna Navarro]

How old were you?

[Robert Garcia]

I was four years old. So I came, I came as a pretty, pretty young. And we came here to la. We all might. There were about eight or nine of us in a little apartment. My mom and my Kia both clean houses. My grandmother watched the kids. Very typical experience. I learned English kind of reading comics, watching tv and learned how to work through my mom and my Thea. And I just saw their struggle.

[Anna Navarro]

So I'm like listening to you speak and, and I'm wondering how come he doesn't have an accent and I have an accent and. Okay, I came here at 8. So I think the difference between 4 and 8 is not having an accent or do you have an accident? I just don't hear it because my ear is so trained to a Latino accent.

[Robert Garcia]

You know what's really interesting? I, I, when I was younger, uh, I used to have much more of an accent. And when I was in elementary school, I would if I was learning English. I also like got picked on for having an accent. I remember I would go home in la. Yeah, yeah. Even in la. I mean, I, so I came to la, but we were in like very San Gabriel Valley. But we weren't like in, in front of the city, but I would get picked on for having an accent, a very strong accent. And so when I was younger, I would. I would try to, like, learn English and Americanize my language. I look back at it and I go, well, that looks stupid. You know, And. And so I think that. And being so young, I think, why some pounds. They probably don't. Don't have an accent.

[Anna Navarro]

So I never went through that because I'm from Miami. And, like, whenever people say to me, you have an accent, I say to them, have you ever heard Emilio Estefan? Have you ever heard Pitbull? I mean, Pitbull was born in Miami. There is no reason why he should have an accent. I never felt a duty or a weight to assimilate. I'm like, no, this is. And I feel like that's a little bit of a difference between being in Miami, where Latinos are the majority, and the establishment, as opposed to being in other parts of the country. But you're also openly lgbtq, so was that hard?

[Robert Garcia]

Yeah, I mean, I think. I think it's hard for everybody. And correct me, okay, you're almost gay. I was an immigrant, obviously Latino.

[Anna Navarro]

When did you know you were gay?

[Robert Garcia]

I mean, I was looking back on it, I probably knew I was gay, you know, going into my kind of teenage years, but I kind of repressed it for a long time. I didn't tell. I actually didn't know I was really gay until college. And when I got to college, and I was like, oh, yeah, I'm definitely dead. And. And then. And that's what I told.

[Anna Navarro]

Are you Catholic, too?

[Robert Garcia]

Yeah, I'm Catholic.

[Anna Navarro]

Oh, Jesus Christ. You're a Latino. Gay, Catholic. That cannot have been easy.

[Robert Garcia]

No, no, it was not easy, but it makes you tough. I hope people always say, oh, you're. You know, I'm doing all this crazy. Yeah, I'm talking.

[Anna Navarro]

Did you come out to your mom?

[Robert Garcia]

I did. I came out to my mom. I was probably 22, 23 when I came out to my mom. She was very supportive, and my dad was very. I'm just. I'm lucky that way. That family was very supportive of me. But you know what's interesting about being gay? I tell people this all the time, say, oh, gay. It defines who you are. It's an important part of who I am. I'm a model for young gay. But the most important part of who I am is being in gay. And nothing has defined me more as a person than my immigrant experience, including parts of me that I do. That to me, is defined. I would say what makes me mean is My immigrant experience, obviously being gay is a part of that, but that has always done to me more.

[Anna Navarro]

And what do you mean by your immigrant experience?

[Robert Garcia]

The values and who I am today is largely because I'm an immigrant. I think the things I fight for, the things I care about, the way I view people that are suffering, the way I view immigration policy, why I'm in Congress, why I took the go into public service, why I went to the edge into education before I got to Congress. All of that stems from my experiences growing up not being fully documented. I mean, we were. I didn't become a US citizen until I was 23 years old. I remember being in college.

[Anna Navarro]

Wait, were you undocumented for a time?

[Robert Garcia]

Yeah, I. I had. So I had. We went over our visa.

[Anna Navarro]

You overstayed your visa?

[Robert Garcia]

We overstayed our visa. We were essentially undocumented. Then we began the process of applying for like, temporary residency and for a green card and began that process. And it was. It was hard. I just remember waking up early, getting in lines, getting denied, getting ripped, my, you know, my mom crying, he got ripped off by lawyers. It's all of that, like, the likeness though, that experience, like I think build you as a person. And. And then having. I remember being in college, not being a citizen and still waiting to believe I was actually going to get citizenship. And it sucks. I mean, what dreamers and people go through. I mean, our doctor students not knowing if we're ever going to be able to have work, be in this country. I got my citizenship at 23 days old. I was leaving college. And the idea that now I can be in Congress and serve this community, I think was fucking one of the things I love about this country.

[Anna Navarro]

Can I tell you? I did too. So I came here legally, and I stayed here legally because I was on a student visa. I was in a private school which allowed me to have an i20A student visa while my family was applying for political asylum. And during that process, which took years and years and years and thousands and thousands of dollars paid to immigration attorneys, Ronald Reagan signed Simpson Masoli, the amnesty law. So you were. You're under Simpson Masoli too?

[Robert Garcia]

Same same, exactly.

[Anna Navarro]

Okay, but how ironic is it that you and I became US Citizens because of Ronald Reagan's amnesty?

[Robert Garcia]

I tell people all the time, this is a really fun. So the day I became a US Citizen, I. When my family, we all became citizens. We walked out of the fairgrounds. Will we raise our right hand? Then the Kansas. And the first thing we saw was a big cable with A big, long Reagan standing. And we all registered as Republican. So my entire family and me, we all were Republicans because we love Ronald Reagan. You were like, oh, my God, Presidente, he got U.S. citizenship. We all became Republican. And it wasn't only, like, after a period of time, of course, that we were like, oh, this is, you know, this is not Barack and my whole family. We eventually became Democrats, but we were all Republican because we love Ronald Reagan. That same exact amnesty bill.

[Anna Navarro]

Okay, can I tell you something? Whenever I say that I love Ronald Reagan, people like shit on me. I fucking love him. I'm a US Citizen because of Ronald Reagan's amnesty. And also he combated communism in Nicaragua. So forget it. For me, he's right there with like a.

[Chiquis]

Like a.

[Anna Navarro]

You know, I mean, he deserves a canonization. He should be a. I want to. I want to end with something. And I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this conversation. I feel like you and I have not talked enough. And I want us to be friends because we have a lot in common. I mean, despite the fact that my ceviche is very good. So I saw this poll, right, where it says that two thirds of Republicans are proud of their country. We're in the 250th anniversary of America, and only one out of five Democrats are proud of their country. And for me, Robert, it's a different experience because I'm an immigrant. And so for me, I've always seen this country as that city on a hill. Right. And I fled Communism, and it gave me refuge and a home and opportunity. Are you proud of this country?

[Robert Garcia]

I am. And I am proud of the values that I believe this country was founded on and the ongoing kind of search and fight for true justice for all people in this country. But I've always been proud to be an American. That doesn't mean that I don't see the horrors that are happening right now. It's disgusting what's being done to people, obviously, across our country. But I've always been a proud American. In fact, I think, like, you know, I've always said I'm a proud American and I'm fighting so, so fucking hard. I want to get back to a country that we can all be constantly part of. I understand why people are part of this country. We have a. We have the most corrupt person as president in the history of our country. But I always want to be a proud American and think that we have certain value in this country and we've got to fight for.

[Anna Navarro]

Can you come Back on the podcast? Yeah, after I. When you become chair of oversight and I'm going to send you all the people I think need to be called into hearings, can you come back and can you keep us up to date with what you are doing? And I cannot tell you how proud of you I am, how represented by you I feel, how happy I am that we spent this time together and we could talk and how embarrassed I am that you can't make decent ceviche.

[Robert Garcia]

I know. I gotta learn, by the way.

[Anna Navarro]

Okay, so it's. It's the World Cup. The World cup was in. Is. Is in. Is in. In the United States and Mexico and Canada. Peru didn't qualify. You were born in Peru. I was born in Nicaragua. They don't even have a soccer team. Football team. So who are you rooting for?

[Robert Garcia]

Well, of course. Ufa. Oh, I'm not, I'm. I'm not looking. Who are you rooting for, honey?

[Anna Navarro]

Argentina. Have you seen Rodrigo de Pol? He is like. I feel jibbed. I never knew soccer players were as hot as they are. And now for some reason, my feed, my. My Instagram feed is inundated by these hot as hell soccer players and they. They take their shirts off after they win. And so I am now a soccer fan. And whatever team Rodrigo de Paul is

[Robert Garcia]

playing for, for I'm rooting for, you should follow the. The Iranian national team. That's how I feel about it.

[Anna Navarro]

No, have you seen the Nigerian goalkeeper?

[Robert Garcia]

I've seen all of them. Yeah, sure. Many soccer players. Many soccer players on my feed right now.

[Anna Navarro]

Okay. I'm a soccer fan. Forget I've told all my gay friends because, you know, all my gay friends watched Heated Rivalry, so they watch Heated Rivalry, and all of a sudden they're all into. Into hockey. And I said to them all, you all got to stop with this. Hockey players have no teeth. We are going to become soccer fans. You watch Heated Rivalry.

[Robert Garcia]

Of course. Who hasn't watched a heated Rivalry? Watch it anytime.

[Anna Navarro]

I don't think Trump has watched it, but that's. That makes it even better. Thank you. I love you. Thank you for being with us.

[Robert Garcia]

Thank you. Of course.

[Anna Navarro]

Mucha Gracia Bleep with Anna Navarro is a hyphenate media group production in partnership with with iHeart's My Cultura podcast network. For more of your favorite shows, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Power Boost Para undrendimeiento Duradero. Lowe's E Walmart O En Linea and

[Robert Garcia]

Amazon 1021 podcast is brought to you by T Mobile Yo Castro here. I've been around soccer my whole life, from playing in Chicago to streaming FIFA to millions. It's always been about the love of the game, and chat knows we don't miss a moment. That's exactly why I'm on America's Best Network Network. Honestly, you won't believe everything I get as a T Mobile member. Weekly perks with T Mobile Tuesdays plus streaming benefits like Hulu and Netflix. Switching is easy, like 15 minutes per line with the Tealife app. If you want more value, more perks in the best network, T Mobile is where it's at. Visit t mobile.com qualifying plan require t Mobile has the best mobile network in the US Based on an analysis by OOKLA of Speed Test Intelligence Data for the second half of 2025.

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[Chiquis]

Hola Vida no siempo tiempo paramis plantas. Si gracias. A Miracle Grow con Miracle Grow Indoor plant food para toda las plantas que des de la crescent fuertes is saludables poqueso grande resultados esun milagro s Miracle Grow Visit a Miracle grow punto com empsa to propio camino decresimiento. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.