← Have A Seat with Chris Hansen
Have A Seat with Chris Hansen
Rep. Anna Luna on Take It Down, Child Protection, UFOs & the JFK Report | Have A Seat
00:48:09
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- [00:01]
Anna Paulina Luna
So good, so good, so good.
- [00:03]
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- [00:27]
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- [00:55]
Venmo Advertiser
Foreign.
- [01:06]
Chris Hansen
Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida inhabits a very interesting position in Washington. She is very vocal about a lot of issues ranging from Jeffrey Epstein to UFOs to the JFK assassination to cleaning up the ethics problem in Congress. And sometimes her positions run contrary to Republican leadership and to the President of the United States. But she gets no blowback or very little. Is it because she's always right or is it because they're a little bit afraid of Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who joins me now to take a seat and talk about a wide range of issues. Congresswoman, thank you very much for taking time for me.
- [01:49]
Anna Paulina Luna
Thank you so much for having me. Big fan and happy to be here.
- [01:52]
Chris Hansen
Well, I appreciate it. You know, I spent some time down in your neck of the woods as a reporter for the NBC station in Tampa years ago, back when Grady Judd wasn't Sheriff Hughes Lieutenant, that's how long ago.
- [02:02]
Anna Paulina Luna
Wow, that's. Hey. And you know what?
- [02:06]
Chris Hansen
Exactly. So there's so much going on here. And, and I, I just want to start talking about this Safe Kids act that's being talked about both in the Senate and Congress and, and, and in holding these companies responsible, Meta, Snapchat, Google, they seem to go in front of Congress and the Senate and say we're going to change, we're going to do stuff. And then six months later, lobbyists have gone in and watered down legislation and nothing ever happens. Where is this for you as a priority and what can be done to make them toe the line?
- [02:46]
Anna Paulina Luna
I'd say it's top priority. Unfortunately, I don't sit on the committee of jurisdiction. I think it's actually running through House Judiciary and our Ways and Means. I'm actually on Oversight and Foreign Affairs. But look, just from a Personal perspective, not just as a mom, but as someone who has gone out firsthand with the Florida Probation department, has done the inspections on homes of convicted pedophiles and sex offenders, and knows firsthand what's happening on the dark web, specifically against crimes against children. Not to mention there have been groups specifically using the Internet and these social media sites to target young people and children specifically. I think it's a top priority. You know, we just passed something recently, the Take It down act regarding AI potentially creating images that are falsified images, as well as another piece of legislation that Lauralee is working on. But all that to say that, you know, it's our job not just in regards to balancing the budget and really the power of the purse, it's our job to ensure that our community and our country is safe. And it goes hand in hand with this legislation specifically pertaining to kids and young people.
- [03:53]
Chris Hansen
You know, you mentioned pedophiles and getting out of prison. In your district in St. Petersburg, there are a couple very interesting places, frightening places, really. I think there's one, there's a trailer park that's been profiled, and I've always wanted to walk through there with a camera crew just to get the reaction because it's filled with sex offenders who've been recently let out of prison who are on the list. You also have a couple of different hotels there that you've taken a good hard look at. Are we doing enough to monitor these guys once they get out of prison? I'm shocked sometimes in our investigations. And we just did a sting in Marion County, Florida, with Cheryl woods there. And Congresswoman, in six days, we found 58 men. And we saw scenarios that I've not seen in 22 years of conducting these predator investigations. They will go away to prison. Many of them some 10, 20 years, perhaps in more serious cases, if they've had some sort of illegal material on their phones as well. But are we doing enough? And what have you seen right there in your own district in St. Petersburg on this?
- [05:04]
Anna Paulina Luna
Oh, gosh, this is going to be a very long answer, so just stick with me on this. So to be clear, like on my background, I actually got involved because of the State Department in politics in general as a counter trafficking advocate. Right. So I got the trafficking in persons report that the State Department puts out every single year. And as you had mentioned, it's not just an issue specifically pertaining to Pinellas county or to Florida. It's actually one of the top issues we as a country are facing is especially right now with AI generated images of children that you'd be horrified to realize that it's still not technically illegal because the way that the statute's currently written is that if a child is not actually harmed in the process, there's. There's no crime that has been committed. But the problem is, is that these pedophiles don't just stop there. And what we are seeing is that once someone has offended the first time, it's rarely ever the case that they don't do it again. Specifically pertaining to the areas that I actually went with the Department of Corrections out and actually did some of the no knock inspections to those people that had been let out of jail and were on probation to ensure that they didn't have Internet access. Because a lot of the times, once you've been convicted of child pedophilia or have pedophilia in general, they can't have access to the Internet. They can't have access to any devices that would allow them to communicate with a child. Chris I remember we were going through, or the corrections officer was going through someone's wallet, one of these guys, and he had cutouts from magazines, like I'm talking photos of, I don't know if you remember those Sears and Roebuck catalogs that go out of Toys R Us with kids. Yeah, he had cutouts of children in his wallet that were clearly not his, to probably about maybe 60 or 70 different photos. And after that, I talked to my husband, actually got home that night and said, I will never willingly or publicly really share my son because of the fact that I'm afraid of people taking those images and then obviously doing wrong things with it. But it doesn't just stop there. You know, in the state of Florida this past couple of years ago, we actually were able to pass legislation. It was Bernie Jacques in the state House that had proposed this legislation. Strike to bring capital punishment against those who are convicted of crimes against children, specifically pertaining to, I believe it is assault of a child 13 years and under in the state of Florida. So if you come to the state of Florida now and you do something like that, you are facing the death penalty. And I recently actually just reached out to James Uyer specifically pertaining to a case. It was the most horrific case I have read into as a legislator in my time in office, as well as representing Pinellas County. There was a press conference that our sheriff had actually done on this. It was a foster parent who had, over the years, had over a dozen little boys in his care, and he was convicted of multiple counts of pedophilia, essentially raping children and bestiality involved. And I don't think that that type of person you can trust to be in society and not refund. So I did ask the attorney general to consider the death penalty.
- [08:02]
Chris Hansen
This is the John David Ballard case in P County, which is a horrific case. And as you mentioned, he had, you know, foster children in his care. The allegations are just absolutely brutal. What do you think the odds are that he'll face the death penalty?
- [08:16]
Anna Paulina Luna
I think that it's very likely. I personally had reached out to our attorney general and I think the evidence that exists, remember this is not just made up stuff. There's hard evidence to convict someone like this. But I'm happy that with the state legislature that we have and the governor and leadership that we really have out of Tallahassee, that they've really set the bar in regards to zero tolerance on this stuff. And I wish that more states would follow in line. At the federal level, I think it's crazy that the minimum sentencing for crimes against children specifically isn't as tough as it should be. And I've been pushing for that. But you're probably not surprised to find out that there's really no appetite to. To push that. I've had the legislation introduced now, multiple Congresses, and there doesn't seem to be a push on it. And so what I would say is that at least what can you do from your own individual perspective? I mean, see something, say something. Also, too, if you are a parent, be very careful about who you bring around your kids. And then also to get involved at the local levels, if you are seeing this type of stuff taking place, you should contact your local district attorney, you should be contacting local officials to, to actually forwardly voice your concern for and say that we can't tolerate it in a community because this is not the first time we've heard of it happening. We've heard of many trafficking cases across the country. I mean, specifically pertaining to sometimes open border. But then again, you know, this also ties into the stuff that we uncovered within the Jeffrey Epstein investigations and some of the stuff that we saw that was being written in the emails, in the unredacted portions that were sent or that we were reading over at the Department of Justice. And so clearly it's not just isolated, it's clearly a systemic issue, not just here, but I think throughout the world.
- [09:58]
Chris Hansen
You know, it's interesting because one of the jurisdictions in which we do our predator stings, the takedown stings, Polk county, and of course you know, Sheriff Grady Judd there, who I've known.
- [10:07]
Anna Paulina Luna
I love Grady 42 years.
- [10:08]
Chris Hansen
He's great. He's great. I've known him since he was a lieutenant. Grady Judd. But he always says when we do these interviews that the death penalty is mandatory in the most extreme cases. And I've come around to agree with him. Not just because it's among the worst crimes imaginable in humanity, but it gives prosecutors a tool to demand a heavy sentence in a plea bargain. You know, we see these plea bargain cases all the time in these predator stings. And we had one in actually in Polk County, a guy was offered a 10 year deal and he said, go pound sand. And he went to trial. He was found guilty. Not only did he get busted in our sting, but he had, you know, ccm, child porn. And the judge appropriately sentenced him to life in prison. So he had a 10 year deal that he gave up to go to trial. He got 10 years. But I think if the prosecutors across the country, including federal prosecutors, had in these severe child predator cases, the ability to impose the death penalty, it gives prosecutors a hell of a tool in, in the plea bargain process. You know, they're likely to get these heavy duty sentences without, you know, having to drag a child or, you know, to have a lengthy trial.
- [11:19]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, I mean, and I'd also like to add in specifically, what we're finding is, you know, I've sat down and I talked to multiple officers, not just in Pinellas county, that specifically deal with CCM cases and some of these things, but then also to some of our federal agents out of the Tampa office. And you would not probably be surprised to know that most of the most dangerous raids that they're going on and arrests are actually of people that they know are going to jail for a very long time and, or facing death penalty because of crimes against children, specifically with ccm. In. One of the last agents that was unfortunately shot during one of these raids was because this child predator realized that they were going to jail for a very long time and shot through the door and killed the federal agent. So, I mean, these people know what they're doing. They're intentionally undermining and hiding from the law. And they know when they go down, at least in Florida, they're facing a pretty heavy penalty. But again, you know, I want to explain it to people like this because there are some people that aren't on board with the death penalty. But the way that I see it, when you do that to a child, you are fundamentally essentially emotionally murdering that child, they will never be the same, whatever they set out to be. I mean, yes, you have people that can recover, but that will still forever be a mark on their soul. So the way that I look at it, it is a life for life. And unfortunately, in this case, specifically to this last individual that we were just discussing regarding what he did to those foster children in Pinellas county, the only price that he has that he can pay with is his life for doing what he did. And so I stand by that decision.
- [12:51]
Chris Hansen
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- [14:15]
Anna Paulina Luna
Priceline Negotiator.
- [14:17]
Priceline Negotiator
It's me, the Priceline negotiator. We don't need the jingle twice.
- [14:22]
Anna Paulina Luna
What about a third time?
- [14:23]
Priceline Negotiator
Stop it. This is about vacation inflation and how Priceline negotiates amazing deals on hotels, flights and rental cars.
- [14:30]
Anna Paulina Luna
Seems like he decided.
- [14:32]
Priceline Negotiator
Yeah, but I didn't mention that you can save up to 60% off hotels in the Priceline app.
- [14:36]
Anna Paulina Luna
Time to read the timeline.
- [14:38]
Priceline Negotiator
Fine. No one deals more deals than. Please stop. Touche.
- [14:43]
Anna Paulina Luna
Priceline.
- [14:44]
Priceline Negotiator
Priceline.
- [14:45]
Chris Hansen
Speaking of predators, the Jeffrey Epstein case. You've been very vocal about that, supporting the survivors. I've had a number of survivors on this program talking about what they went through. Have we seen everything that's relevant in this case? Are you demanding that we get things that haven't been released yet? Where do we stand on that as far as you?
- [15:05]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, so I've been tracking this since really, I think November of even 2023 is, I think when I first saw that there was a senator who had blocked the release of the flight logs, it was a Democrat senator. And so I, I then was like, look, this is crazy. Why are we blocking the release? Everyone should know who went to the island. And then in around January, once the new administration took over, I was kind of banging the drum on where the heck are these files? And then ultimately I had a whistleblower come forward. Actually I was able to talk with him directly twice that had stated in February of 2024 that there was apparently destruction of evidence under the former Deputy Director of the FBI, which I thought was interesting. I forwarded that to the FBI to investigate further. But as a result of that I actually had introduced the no Shred act, which would increase the mandatory minimums for federal workers and or federal officials that were caught destroying evidence specifically pertaining to some of these investigations. And then also we found out that there was a massive cyber attack on the New York facility. And this was actually widely reported in the news during the Jeffrey Epstein Ghyli Maxwell trials in New York City to the point of terabytes of data were being deleted. So to answer your question, I don't think that we will ever get the full documentation. I think that it's very similar to what happened with just destruction of evidence pertaining to jfk, destruction of evidence pertaining to MK Ultra that they discovered in some of these hearings. I think that it's very similar in that the people that did commit probably some of these most heinous crimes probably had their information deleted. And more importantly, I think that specifically pertaining to Epstein, what the unredacted emails were showing is some of the co conspirators that should be sitting in jail with Glenn Maxwell were given these plea deals where they said if you testify against both of them, we'll basically drop your sentencing and then you'll be given victim status. One of those individuals actually came in to testify to House Oversight. But the fact is, is that when I reached out to the Department of Justice, they said, hey, you know, they've already accepted the plea deal, so it can't, you know, go back and undo the work of the former justice departments. But then I did suggest that maybe they could potentially look at hitting these people with, you know, human rights violations and see if they could charge them that way. And then you had the aspect of some of the survivors that actually came to Talk to Congress. I was there. It was bipartisan, Democrats, Republicans, and the speaker was there. And the attorney had made a mention that there were individuals, I assume, perpetrators reaching out to them in order to settle, because at the time, they were in the midst of. Of a lawsuit with Deutsche Bank. So I don't fully know forever and get the full story, but what I can tell you is some of the worst perpetrators in some of these emails were women. There were definitely doctors that knew what Jeffrey was up to. And if I was at the doj, I'd consider hitting them with different charges under that human rights violation statute.
- [17:59]
Chris Hansen
Well, and that's the thing, though. I mean, Epstein himself and Ghislaine were covered under that plea bargain that was reached in Florida with the U.S. attorney's office down there. They ended up charging both of them. Again, I mean, there are ways to do this. That sounds to me like it's kind of a shallow excuse. I mean, you know how the system works. You can indict people and, and. And get them, I think, and ask questions and get answers.
- [18:20]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, I think people want to see people go to jail for that, and rightfully so, because you can see that, how these people were operating. And then there's this weird aspect that. And I know some people, you know, maybe even on my side, disagree with me on this, but I saw the files just like everyone else did. Where you guys had. Or where there was specifically, I think it was Marcus something or other. It was an alias that Jeffrey Epstein had kept in his safe along with the cash and everything else.
- [18:46]
Chris Hansen
Well, he had a passport name.
- [18:47]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, yeah, it was a passport with an alias, and it was an Austrian passport, had a Saudi address. So the guy was clearly intelligence. The question is for who? I don't think that he was necessarily operating in our own space without us knowing it yet. The CIA had no, allegedly no record of him being an asset. So. Very interesting. But again, you know, the cyber attack that took place in New York that deleted essentially a lot of the data that was there, that can really only happen from another country with that type of ability to hack, specifically an institution like that, that has that type of cybersecurity.
- [19:22]
Chris Hansen
So do you think that was. You suspect that was a state action of some sort?
- [19:26]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yes, most certainly.
- [19:28]
Chris Hansen
That's kind of shocking.
- [19:31]
Anna Paulina Luna
I mean, it was reported. I was surprised that then the news didn't pick up on it more, but then again, I was like, no, I've seen it.
- [19:36]
Chris Hansen
But I mean, the way you phra it and the timing of it is shocking. I Mean, there's no way around it. I mean, somebody got into our stuff, deleted stuff that could have been released, that could have led to the prosecution and investigation of unknown perpetrators or people who've gotten away with the crime. Do you think Elaine Maxwell should get a deal?
- [19:55]
Anna Paulina Luna
No, I've never supported that ever. And I'll continue to voice my opinion against that. I think she's the worst. I don't think that, you know, she. She likes to say to people that, you know, she's a victim and all this. No, I think, you know, what she knowingly decided to do as a willing adult, what these other women decided to do as willing adults. They were no longer victims in this situation. They became accomplices and they enjoyed it.
- [20:20]
Chris Hansen
Do you have confidence in this administration to do the right thing with the rest of the files?
- [20:25]
Anna Paulina Luna
I think Todd has specifically been pretty active in saying, like, hey, if you guys can bring us names. And they have specifically been actively working with some of the victims to get those names. If you guys can bring us names of perpetrators. But the problem is, as I stated earlier when we had the victims in with their attorneys, and then the attorney is saying that, hey, we have people reaching out. Once someone signs an NDA or a settlement, settlement with an NDA, then there goes access to actually bringing prosecution against someone. So Todd is willing and open, but the question is, is can we find any remaining evidence? I also suggested that they, you know, do a bipartisan task more specifically on this. And I don't know that the. The answer is no. But what I will say is that specifically with, you know, restoring trust with the American people, the fact that we are only. Are dealing with a partial deck here and that no one else is in jail except for Ghislaine Maxwell is. Is a problem.
- [21:23]
Chris Hansen
Well, it's shocking. I mean, and then you have the Zorro Ranch down in New Mexico.
- [21:28]
Anna Paulina Luna
That was creepy. The Zorro Ranch is so incredibly creepy.
- [21:32]
Chris Hansen
Juliet Bryant, who's a survivor who lives in South Africa, came on this program and talked about waking up in an operation room setting, operating room setting, not knowing what had happened to her. She'd been the subject of a medical experiment, but she was clear as day on this. And she's not the only one who tells similar stories. And it seems like it's time for the feds to go down there and dig around. I mean, I know the locals are investigating. There have been some examination of the grounds there to. To look for graves and whatnot. I don't think anything has turned up or nothing that I've seen. But it seems like, you know, if you're the FBI, you'd want to go down there and. And check it out. At least.
- [22:14]
Anna Paulina Luna
I support that. I think the issue, from what I understood about the specific location of Zora Ranch is Jeffrey Epstein got the property. Property specifically because it's considered a no man's land. So it also busts up against tribal territory. And if it's tribal territory, we can't operate how we would typically in regards to sending in the FBI. And so it was specific, like he knew what he was doing to kind of be outside the bounds and purview of traditional law enforcement, to kind of make it a gray area. But, I mean, when you're reading through some of these diary entries of some of the victims talking about, you know, forced. Being either forced to carry children and. Or I think there was one part where they're talking about forced abortions. I mean, the fact is, is that whatever Jeffrey Epstein was doing was very much so. At least it feels like he was focused on some form of eugenics. And it was disgusting and disturbing. And the fact is, is that I think all resources going into what the heck actually happened there that shouldn't be looked over. And I know that there's a representative from New Mexico specifically that's in her area. I think it's Representative Stansburg. He's been very, I think, actively involved specifically with that location. But, yeah, Zora Ranch, of all the locations you had, obviously, you know, the Virgin Islands, which was creepy as well. But Zor Ranch, I don't think a lot of people are aware of how dark that truly was. And the fact is, again, that Galen Maxwell sitting here acting like she doesn't know anything. I just. I don't buy that.
- [23:46]
Chris Hansen
Do you think he committed suicide?
- [23:50]
Anna Paulina Luna
No.
- [23:52]
Chris Hansen
Very few people do. There was an article in New York magazine suggesting that they had come to the conclusion he did. In the beginning, I thought, well, you know, he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison. He saw where this is going. In his mind, he had a good run and he was going to end it. But I don't know, Congresswoman, you look at all the evidence and I can't.
- [24:13]
Anna Paulina Luna
You know, I was.
- [24:14]
Chris Hansen
You know, I've been a crime reporter for 44 years. I don't. I don't pretend to be an expert on these things, but I've seen a lot of stuff in my day, and it. I am hard to buy into this suicide thing at this point.
- [24:26]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, I was in a deposition with Both Bill and Hillary Clinton. And that question was posed to, I believe it was President Clinton. And he wasn't so convinced. And that's actually recorded in the deposition. And what's really interesting is, is maybe he. I think what's possible and what could have happened is that he was probably presented with options either, you know, like being forced into potentially doing something like that and, or it wasn't a mistake. I just don't see, at least from what I've seen, with the amount of intentional effort by, you know, outside forces, whatever that might be specifically. I mean, look, pointing to the attack on the data where, you know, you had a bunch of information deleted, that doesn't just happen. The very rich and powerful people that he was around and operating with. I just, I don't know, it doesn't feel right to me.
- [25:20]
Chris Hansen
And I love the corrections officer who. The corrections officer who had the mysterious cash deposit right around the time that.
- [25:27]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, literally, I think it was like 15,000 or something like that. Right? It was like, it wasn't like a huge. But yeah, it was like five grand and it's right beforehand and then, you know, the cameras happen to go down. It's just the whole thing's weird.
- [25:39]
Chris Hansen
Now she was called in front of a committee, right. That corrections officer, didn't she testify?
- [25:44]
Anna Paulina Luna
I believe that it was a, a closed door interview. But what I will say is that, you know, everyone surrounding this and look, look, I've even talked to some of the victims directly. I was actually able to assist in getting one of the victims her file that had been denied for a very long time. Actually, Todd directly helped with that, specifically pertaining to whether it was like images, correspondence, anything specifically pertaining to her. So help go through, you know, therapy and kind of put this behind her, which I can't even imagine what that would be like to have to go through that. But, you know, I just. When you think about what specifically Jeffrey Epstein was, who he was interacting with, and then the fact that we're only operating off of a partial picture here, I think that all the clues kind of create this mosaic and, and you know, what it potentially means. But obviously, you know, whether or not we're ever going to have the smoking gun, per se, I don't think we will because again, destruction of evidence, of which, you know, I had been on this a lot earlier, I think, when I was the only Republican in the House actually talking about this, and people were just like, why are you so, you know, adamantly opposed to it? And I was like, look, this is these files at least specifically pertaining to what the American people have questions on and what they're owed, they should at least know. And ultimately, that's kind of why I testify the way that I did specifically for him. But, you know, the one part that I hated about these investigations is that it did, at a certain point, become very politicized. And that's the part that I didn't like. And so, you know, it's one thing to investigate and kind of hold the same standards across the board, but when you start, you know, accusing people of, you know, being child molesters, of which they did with the president, that's when I was like, this is not, you know, you guys are taking this and trying to skew it, and I'm not going to get behind that.
- [27:33]
Chris Hansen
And when you say Todd, you're talking about Acting Attorney General Todd Blank.
- [27:37]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yes.
- [27:38]
Chris Hansen
No, I. I knew. I know. I think most people. Most people understand you talk about predatory behavior. You have been incredibly vocal about holding members of Congress responsible when it comes to ethics. And, you know, you've been very loud about, you know, Corey Mills, Tony Gonzalez, Eric Swalwell. You know, this is not a new issue in Congress. I remember in 2006, when we first were doing the predator investigations, there was a political cartoon. I have it in the wall of my office, and it's a picture of the Capitol and men running out like there was a fire inside. And the caption reads, I'm Chris Hansen with To Catch a Predator. And it was, and I treasure it. It's one of my favorite things in my office. But it was right after Congressman Mark Foley got dusted up for inappropriate contact with young male congressional interns. And he was a Florida congressman at the time. In 2006, 2007, he got jammed up on Deal and ended up resigning. I don't think there was any criminal charges filed, but. But the. The point is, there are issues in Congress both along these lines, as I just mentioned, with those I named, as well as ethics. When it comes to insider trading and things like that, is it ever going to change?
- [29:04]
Anna Paulina Luna
I have been very vocal on these issues to debating in credit rating.
- [29:09]
Chris Hansen
Yeah.
- [29:10]
Anna Paulina Luna
And unfortunately, as a result of that, which I'll take it as a badge of honor, I have been punished because of it. You know, they don't like my legislation coming to the floor or they will claim articles about me saying, I'm just doing. Imagine this saying that I'm just doing this for attention. So you're hearing firsthand about the congressional issues that are existing to include insider trading issues and they will say specific things of, you are just doing this for attention. Meanwhile, they are actively turning a blind eye to all of this and allowing it to continue. And mind you, these are the same people that are supposed to be telling you, right, you know, how they're going to protect you, what they will serve and do best for you and your family, and how they are going to fix this country. And they're actually all part of the problem. And unfortunately, actually, what you just stated earlier, there's a huge problem with even some investigations currently happening that they are slow rolling because we are going into the midterms. It's happening on both sides. There's multiple members of Congress right now under investigation, whether it's for campaign finance issues, whether it is criminal investigations and, or whether it is for inappropriate conduct with staffers both in the House and the Senate. And yet they're not doing anything because both parties have essentially accepted that they will, you know, be down numbers. And for them, unfortunately, the number and the whip count is more important than upholding justice. And so that's kind of the environment that we're facing up here in D.C. but tuning it to your question, I do think it changes when you can shine a spotlight. And as you saw in the event with Shifless McCormick, Tony Gonzalez and Eric Swalwell, I had basically metaphorically at gunpoint, stuck them up and told them, if you don't resign, I'm going to vote to expel you. And I had done the whip count, reached out to Democrats and understood, both Democrats and Republicans, that the threshold was met for the 2/3 to be met for an expulsion for all these people. And so I knew I had the numbers for the other members. There are again, investigations currently taking place and I don't know that the numbers are there for expulsion, but what I will tell you is that it's a problem. And that is why I think we need more families up here and specifically why we need younger people up here. Because what happens is with the consolidation of power, some, some of these people will just sit on it. And it kind of is a good old boy system.
- [31:29]
Chris Hansen
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- [33:53]
Chris Hansen
You know, in the Gonzalez case, I read where you were told there's a process. We can't rush this. Here you got a case where a member of Congress who was allegedly involved romantically with a staffer who committed suicide in the most public, horrifying way, who was married, you know, who was obviously distraught over this, and you're told there's a process.
- [34:17]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, I was told there was.
- [34:18]
Chris Hansen
What process is that, Congresswoman?
- [34:20]
Anna Paulina Luna
I was told that it had to run through ethics because we can't accuse people of things that they haven't been convicted of. That's what I was told. And I was fuming at that response because this woman had lit herself on fire. And it was very clear because Tony would not leave his wife. And it was not the first time that he had had an inappropriate relationship with a staffer and. Or with a member of his campaign team. And so ultimately what had happened was I had talked to an attorney who was representing the family, her widowed husband, and I obtained text messages and I basically went to powers that be and I said, this is what I have. And this is the process that House Ethics has been sitting on for months. They got these text messages over a month ago. And this stuff is so abhorrent, I'm not gonna. I. I gave the family my word that I wouldn't publicly release them because there's a little that, you know, his. That Tony's now deceased staffer has, and that little boy will be able to read things about his mom. And so that was the promise that wouldn't publicly release these. But they're so horrific in nature that. That they also too realized that. That the process was broken and that it couldn't play out the way that it was. And so that's when you saw statements come out from leadership regarding him stepping down from office.
- [35:45]
Chris Hansen
Yeah, I mean, this wasn't even a close call.
- [35:48]
Anna Paulina Luna
And he admitted it.
- [35:50]
Chris Hansen
Yeah, exactly. Now, UFOs, we could do a whole episode on this. And I know that you've got a lot going on today and we only have so much time, but what's it going to take? Has the government been started to become transparent about opening up the files on what we know? What is in the government possession in terms of UFOs? How many times beings from another planet have landed on our planet? You know, has there been intelligent life found on other planets? And has that intelligent life come to this planet? I mean, where do we stand on this? If you had to summarize the current status of UFOs, and.
- [36:34]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, so look, when I first dropped the task force on declassification of federal secrets, a lot of people thought that I was being set up to fail. And as you're saying, there still are
- [36:44]
Chris Hansen
people that think this is like finding some bogeyman like Sasquatch, but there's evidence that this stuff exists.
- [36:53]
Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, so we had been stonewalled. We had been stonewalled for over two years until the task force was up, the new administration came in. And I will say that multiple members of Congress, myself personally, Representative Burchett, we'd both talked to the President about this, and Stephen Miller's currently helping to run the D class out of the Department of War right now, specifically pertaining to those UAP videos that you. Or ufo, better known videos that you're now seeing being released. But this is the biggest bipartisan and bicameral, meaning both the House and the Senate are invested in figuring out what's what with this. Now, are we ever going to be able to roll out a little green man on a train and say, here's proof of biologics? I don't. I don't think so. But what I can tell you is it was a massive problem when you had multiple members of Congress, multiple senators, both Democrat, Republican, being denied access to, saying that we don't have the proper read in authorities, and yet we're writing these massive checks to the Department of War and then they're failing audits. Who are running these programs? Are these programs legitimate? Are these. Is this a disinformation campaign? I mean, what is the really truth to this? And so what I will tell people is it's not my job as an elected official to tell you what to believe. You should look at the evidence and decide for yourself. But what I will say is that for the witnesses that we have interviewed that we find to be credible, they never say extraterrestrial, they say interdimensional. And of the information that has been released specifically pertaining to some of these videos, specifically pertaining to conversations we've had with investigators at the SBI and now the declassified FBI reports that you are saying the phenomena is real, it does exist, and there is technology that we cannot explain and is not built by the US Government in some of the.
- [38:32]
Chris Hansen
Is there anything, you know, Congresswoman, that you can't talk about that will come out that will shock us all?
- [38:39]
Anna Paulina Luna
I think that we've been pretty transparent about the stuff that we have seen. The last really thing that we are doing as a task force is we have put together a list of names of which we are presenting to the White House to get these people basically immunity if they can truly point to or give, you know, they say that they have information pertaining to locations or programs of crash retrieval and. Or biologics. We're simply following up on the investigations to this to see if there's any there there. But offering immunity to some of these people is very big. And the White House has said that they're willing to play a ball on this. And so let's see where the clues
- [39:17]
Chris Hansen
lead to JFK assassination. Do you think we know everything we need to know and how much more is there to uncover?
- [39:24]
Anna Paulina Luna
I actually have a final report on the JFK assassination coming out this November. It's going to be written by Jefferson Morley, who is an investigator, I would consider a subject matter expert Specifically pertaining to the JFK investigation. I think he has over 30 years in research specifically on this topic. And of the evidence that we have been able to compile going through some of those declassified files, new admissions from the CIA, kudos to Director Radcliffe specifically pertaining to this. And then witness testimony stating that there was never just one shooter, there were multiple shooters, and President Kennedy, rest his soul, was shot from both the front and the back, meaning that they wanted to ensure that he was dead. And you'll find all of that in the report. But it is interesting to note, as I had stated earlier, just like MK Ultra, we do know for a fact that there was evidence destroyed specifically pertaining to JFK, even as early as the 90s. And so again, we're only dealing with partial records here, but of what we have been able to uncover and kind of the mosaic that it's been created. It is in my belief that a small faction within the intelligence agency knowingly and or helped to organize, without external factors, the assassination of President Kennedy. And it fortunate truth. Correct.
- [40:44]
Chris Hansen
And the motive, do you think?
- [40:46]
Anna Paulina Luna
The motive. The motive was that he was a radical and they did not like his position on Cuba, they did not like his position on Vietnam, and they did not like that he was back channeling conversations at the time with the Russian government, of which in the 90s, Congress had actually tried to access some of those KGB files to see because the Russians conducted their own investigation. Remember, obviously in dealing with any other country, specifically their intel services, you want to make sure that it's not disinformation, but what we were able to confirm with the help and the release of those files from the historical archives of the Russian Federation is that they came to the same conclusion that we also came to separately in the release of the declassified files from the F. From the CIA, the FBI and various agencies once the declassification order came out from President Trump. And ultimately what I will say is that everyone, the military industrial complex, the mob, even lbj, stood to benefit from the removal of Kennedy. And it is a sad day because if you see really where the distrust in this country stems from, it really starts after the assassination of Kennedy.
- [41:54]
Chris Hansen
Are you satisfied with where we are in Iran right now?
- [41:59]
Anna Paulina Luna
I think the fact that there's a peace deal is the best thing possible. You know, I have always, and I'm a veteran, so I've always been from the perspective of not wanting to engage in endless foreign wars. And from the get go, I talked to Secretary Rubio, I talked to President Trump, and I was very clear on the fact that I did not believe that we should ever put American boots on the ground. And they had always made very sure and specific to me at least, and I think to the American people, as they'd stated, that they were not going to do that. But there were many people here in Congress and in Senate that wanted that to be, I think, a longer term thing. And ultimately the evidence that we saw, evidence of the nastier plan, that there was imminent threat to our troops. You know, the President made a decision, a very difficult decision that I don't think anyone would want to have to be in. But ultimately he represents the United States and no other country. And I'm happy to see that there is a peace deal. It's okay for our allies not to like the peace deal. It's not for them. It's for us and for our people. And I'm hoping that long term it will establish a region that is no longer focused on war, but can benefit from economic opportunity and incentive. And I've said this before, but I think that the Abraham Accords and the various relationships that exist with this administration, whether it's President Trump's relationship with Israel or Qatar or Russia, all of those factors do play a hand in this, in ensuring that that peace deal is held up. And I think right Now, Secretary Rubio, J.D. vance and the President are all working very hard at that.
- [43:35]
Chris Hansen
It seems at least like the door is farther open for regime change. I mean, it's not ideal. There's nothing ideal about it, but there never is about war in these matters. It's never clean when you're dealing with a country like Iran. But it seems like there's been enough activity where maybe, just maybe, you know, the good people of Iran can start to take some control back from the, the radical, bloodthirsty element of Iran.
- [44:08]
Anna Paulina Luna
Well, look, that's going to be for them to decide, right? Ultimately, though, there is entirely new group of people that the administration is dealing with, and those are the people that are upholding the peace deal, saying that they will support American inspectors coming in and that they will not engage in a nuclear weapons program. And ultimately, I'm not a part of those conversations, but what I will say is just in talking directly with the president, talking directly with the State Department, and then seeing and observing and actively communicating daily with the White House on this, I'm never going to advocate, you know, to completely eradicate a people pool. I think that economic opportunity is how you incentivize. But obviously I don't think taxpayer dollars should be going towards that anyways. And so I think the way that the administration did this, way different than the former deal under Barack Obama, is our taxpayer dollars aren't going towards paying them to mothball or suspend their program. What's going to happen is there's a coalition of Gulf Kingdom countries that are coming together saying that if you hit these benchmarks, then we will invest in economic opportunity. And if you guys, if you give people economic opportunity, then they're less inclined to fight for war. Right. And so I think that that is a change that we can bring forward. And I think that it was pretty genius for the administration to negotiate in that way. And I know that maybe not everyone agrees with it, and that's fine. But, you know, I will say that having talked with the president directly, I think his head's in the right spot, and I look forward to the peace deal holding up.
- [45:35]
Chris Hansen
Congresswoman, thank you for having a seat with me. I know you got to get going. I promise that we'll have you back and talk about this some more, and maybe we'll get together next time I'm in Florida to catch some predators.
- [45:46]
Anna Paulina Luna
You're welcome to come to Pinellas County. We'll walk through that mobile home park.
- [45:50]
Chris Hansen
You got a deal. Thank you. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of St. Petersburg, Florida, thanks so much for joining us. As I mentioned, so much going on in Washington and so much going on with with you. I appreciate it very much. I'll see you next Wednesday and have a seat with another engaging conversation. Monday is when predators I've caught drops. And every Thursday, a new episode of Takedown Our Predator Investigations on my streaming network, True Blue. Until then, I'll be watching and listening.
- [46:36]
Podcast Guest/Host
Ouch. This knee is killing me.
- [46:38]
Anna Paulina Luna
But I can't stop training.
- [46:40]
Podcast Guest/Host
The marathon is in two weeks. I let's get on ZocDoc and find a doctor to take a look at that for you. Okay, Here's a review. Dr. Craddock really takes his time. No, I don't have time. What about Dr. Charles? His patients say he can help find a quick fix, and he's in network. Great. Now we're talking.
- [46:57]
Anna Paulina Luna
Ah, book it.
- [46:58]
Podcast Guest/Host
Booked. One mile down, 19 to go.
- [47:00]
Anna Paulina Luna
Bring it on.
- [47:02]
Chris Hansen
You've got Options.
- [47:03]
Priceline Negotiator
Download the ZocDoc app today. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back, so I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out. That's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com switch upfront payment
- [47:27]
Anna Paulina Luna
of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent to taxes and fees. Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy.
- [47:35]
Podcast Guest/Host
See terms.