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The Jim Acosta Show
Epstein Case Bombshell - Trump's Name in Epstein Files with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Don Lemon
00:50:22
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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
Welcome, everybody, to the Jim Acosta show. It is Wednesday. Joining me, as you can see, Don Lemon and Senator Elizabeth Warren joining me in just a few moments from now. But, Don, a huge bombshell in the Wall Street Journal. This is why Trump was wrong to sue the Wall Street Journal. Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel, as they say. This big bombshell just dropped a few moments ago, Don. The Wall Street Journal saying Justice Department officials reviewed what Pam Bondi called a truckload of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this year, they discovered that Donald Trump's multiple times, according to senior administration officials. In May, Bondi and her deputy informed the president at a meeting in the White House that his name was in the Epstein files. And I see your jaw dropping. My jaw is dropping, too.
- [00:48]
Don Lemon
You're breaking news to me because I just.
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Jim Acosta
Breaking news.
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Don Lemon
I just put Justice Department told Trump in May that his name is among many in the Epstein files.
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Jim Acosta
Many, Yep. And yeah, I, I, I, I'm just as astounded as you are. I mean, I guess we're not that astounded. I mean, I think we all knew that his name was in the Epstein files. I guess what's amazing to me is Pam Bondi and the DOJ told him that he's in the Epstein files. And this explains the entire freakout ever since.
- [01:21]
Don Lemon
It explains all of it. Now it all makes sense. Even though we had thought about it and people were, you know, people would say, well, we don't know, it's speculation, whatever. And I said, what else could it be? Right? Yeah, you know, he'. Something. Both things could be true. He could be hiding something. And it could not be as salacious or as big a big a bombshell as they had been promoting it. They had been touting for years and years saying, oh, it's the Democrats, much like Pizzagate. But now, now, now I understand why he is going to the extremes in the really dangerous extreme.
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Jim Acosta
Dangerous extreme.
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Don Lemon
Accusing a former president of treason and sedition.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, I agree with you 100%.
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Don Lemon
And it's all, now we see a distraction from the real story, as I've been saying, and I'm sure that you've been saying as well, I know you've been saying it. The real story is Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.
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Jim Acosta
It's now Epstein gate. I don't know how. It cannot be Epstein gate. Trump is in the Epstein files. If he's in the Epstein files. It raises a lot of questions, Don. One is, did Donald Trump tell Pam, Bonnie to put out that memo saying, oh, there's nothing to see here. We're going to sweep this under the rug now. Case closed. I mean, I kind of wonder if Trump was directing this cover up from the beginning. I mean, that's what's incredible to me. They told the President at the meeting that the files contained what officials felt was unverified hearsay about many people, including Trump. This is in the Wall Street Journal. Who had socialized with Epstein in the past, some of the officials said. One of the officials familiar with the documents said they contain hundreds of other names.
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Don Lemon
Other names.
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Jim Acosta
Oof.
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Don Lemon
Whoa. They also told Trump that senior Justice Department officials didn't plan to release any more documents related to the investigation of the convicted sex offender because the material contained child pornography and victims. Blah, blah, blah. Information. That's what Pam Bondi has been saying. Wow. So, you know, okay, so you remember, who was it? Is it Dick Durbin?
- [03:15]
Jim Acosta
Dick Durbin.
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Don Lemon
Dick Durbin said. He said this information. Right. That the FBI had been ordered to comb through the files to see. The meeting set the stage for a high profile review to come to an end. Bondi said in February that Epstein clients list was sitting on her desk and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So now we understand why they were. It was a 24 7.
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Jim Acosta
Yes.
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Don Lemon
Right. Investigation. All hands on debt to see. And then they informed him, yeah, buddy, you're in there a lot.
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Jim Acosta
That's it. And I mean, this explains why Trump has been spiraling for the last couple of weeks. Remember it was two weeks ago, around Tuesday, two weeks ago, when the reporter asked about the Epstein files at Pambani and then Trump flipped out and wanted to know why everybody wants to talk about the Epstein files. When he was, you know, ranting and raving and crying about the Epstein files and why people want to look at it. He knew damn well at that moment.
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Don Lemon
Yes.
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Jim Acosta
That Pam Bondi had told him, you are in the Epstein files. And so, you know, this has been a whole line of bullshit from him ever since.
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Don Lemon
You're not accusing this president of being a liar, are you?
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Jim Acosta
I mean, you know what's happened in the last two weeks? Done. He's thrown out Rosie o'. Donnell. He's thrown out the Washington commanders. He's thrown out Stephen Colbert. He's thrown out Barack Obama.
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Don Lemon
He's something. Cause Ellen left the country. Didn't he talk about Ellen?
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Jim Acosta
And I'm surprised he didn't go after you. I mean, yeah.
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Don Lemon
Don't remember. Oh, did you say the commanders and all that? You did say that, right?
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Jim Acosta
These were all the distractions. He's done over the last two weeks.
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Don Lemon
Oh, my.
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Jim Acosta
All of the distractions over the last two weeks. And it's all because he knows his goose is cooked. And now the question has to be asked. It's not what did the President know? When did he know it? It is, what did the President and when did he do it? We need to know the answers at this point, Don. How can they not release the Epstein files? How can House Speaker Mike Johnson tell Congress to go home? This is. It's a cover up.
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Don Lemon
Listen. Okay, so listen to your point. I'm glad I'm reading through this. This is all happening in real time.
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Jim Acosta
No, no, please read it. Feel free to read.
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Don Lemon
In a statement to the Journal on Friday. What's today? Wednesday.
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Jim Acosta
Wednesday.
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Don Lemon
Okay. In a statement to the Journal on Friday, Bondi and the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche said nothing in the files warranted investigation of prosecution. As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings. They said, why didn't we know? Why didn't they tell us of where the findings that Donald Trump was in? Why didn't they tell us that?
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Jim Acosta
Don? I think what they're saying is trust us, just trust us that Donald Trump hasn't done anything wrong. There's no reason to release the FC files. Yes, his name is in there, but we don't need to release. Just trust us. That's what they're saying right now. And apparently Steve Chung, the White House communications director, said this is another fake story, a fake news story, just like the previous a story by the Wall Street Journal. So, you know, they're circling the wagons. They're sending Todd Blanche down to. I mean, you know, they're so freaked out. They're sending his own former personal attorney, Todd Blanche down to Tallahassee to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell. This was the other thing I was going to bring up is that apparently, according to the Hill, Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney is friends with Todd Blanche. Like, they've known each other for quite some time. So of course Trump is going to set. Todd Blanche blanched out of Tallahassee to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell. I mean, this is. This thing just. It gets bigger and bigger every day.
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Don Lemon
You're reading my mind, Jim, so hold that thought. But my. Look, we've been doing this for a long time, and with this Epstein story, my spidey senses have been going off. People are like, oh, it's going to be. This is going to blow over. I'm like, I don't know I don't think it is. And I said, I don't know if this is a thing that's going to take him down, but it's definitely the thing that breaks the spell, right? That breaks the MAGA spell. And you can see it because there's infighting among the MAGA folks about what this actually is. And most of them, the loudest V, which is for Donald Trump, is really the most important thing. They're not with him, you know, the Owens of the world not with him. The. Even Charlie Kirk has said he did a 180, now he's done a 360, is back to the original criticizing him. Even Nick Fuentes is calling Donald Trump a liar and saying that he is a bullshit artist.
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Jim Acosta
But so, you know, he died. Even Stuart Rhodes, Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers, the Daily Beast apparently found some video of Stuart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers who was pardoned by Donald Trump, saying it's really disheartening to see President Trump just declare that to be a hoax. Remember Trump was calling this a hoax. Remember he was saying a couple of weeks ago on Truth Social, this is a hoax. His name is in the Epstein files. It can't be a hoax if your goddamn name is in the Epstein files.
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Don Lemon
Well, it can't be a hoax if someone went to prison and actually died or.
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Jim Acosta
Well, there's that too.
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Don Lemon
That someone who is sitting in prison now for a 20 year sentence and all of a sudden you want to speak to her cannot be a hoax. Which also raises my spidey senses. Mike Johnson sending the Congress home early so that they don't get a chance to even vote on, to subpoena or whatever it is Glenn Maxwell they voted on. And he goes shut it down. Okay, so here's what I think. I'm going to tell you what I think. I think before the lawmakers or the Congress got any precedent over what, what happens with Ghislaine Maxwell, they wanted to go speak with her to offer her a possibly, this is, you know, a deal. This is my, my opinion, my scenario to offer her a deal to be quiet or to see what she knows. And look, she is appealing her 20 year sentence. So maybe they'll say, look, you shut up, we'll let you out, boom, boom, boom. And I think that may be what's going on. They wanted to get to her before the Congress got to her or Senate or anybody else got to Ghislaine Maxwell. And they're doing it because they knew. They knew when they said they alerted him in March. Is It March or May.
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Jim Acosta
May, May.
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Don Lemon
I believe maybe when they alerted him in May, they knew.
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Jim Acosta
They knew, they knew.
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Don Lemon
And so he circled the wagons, went out to every bar and whatever and got any kind of muckraker that ever he could. Any and all of them. And that he could, you know, summon to come up with dirt on something to distract. And he said, tulsi, find me something on Barack Obama. Barack Hussein Obama.
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Jim Acosta
Yes. That's.
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Don Lemon
This is. It is a cover up.
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Jim Acosta
It's a total cover up. And you think it'll take him down. Here's the thing. I think I have banned the expression the walls are closing in, Don. Remember, during the first term, we would say the walls are closing in on Donald Trump and he's like Harry Houdini. He gets out of the straitjacket.
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Don Lemon
This one's different.
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Jim Acosta
And he escapes. My sense of it is right now is I have never seen Trump in a jam like this before. Yeah, this, this to me, the way he is freaking out, the way he's throwing everything at the wall, the way he threw Tulsi Gabbard out there to, you know, go after Obama. I mean, he's accusing Obama of treason and so on, which is just dangerous. It just all says to me he's as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof and that that roof is boiling hot right now and he's just dancing, his little paws are just dancing up and down on that hot tin roof. And I don't, I just don't know. I just don't think he knows how to extricate himself from this situation. And I think that's why he's freaking out and he's kind of going into self destruct mode. And I sort of wonder, you know, I think we're on the dark side of the moon, man. I don't know what happens next because what happens if Ghislaine, you know, says, I want a better deal than what you're giving me and they won't give her the deal? That. I mean, there's just so many different ways this can go. His name is in the Epstein files.
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Don Lemon
Yeah.
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Jim Acosta
Where are all the Republicans up on Capitol Hill, you know, freaked out over this. Is anybody going to say anything?
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Don Lemon
This is nothing, doesn't mean anything that his name is in there. A lot of people's names are in there. I'm sure there's some Democrats all in there. Here's the difference. If the Democrats names are in there, no matter who it is and they did something wrong, they should suffer the consequences. Just Like Donald Trump said should. That is a difference though between right thinking people. Not right, I don't mean like right thinking, you know, politically, but people who have a brain and who are fair minded people. And also Democrats, Democrats I believe overall will say, look, if Bill Clinton's name is in there, I'm just using Bill Clinton as an example because that's been put out there. And if he's in there and he did something wrong, then he should suffer the consequences, let the information out so that we have transparency about it. That's the difference between Democrats and Republicans. And I think the Republicans, they don't want it because Donald Trump is their Trojan horse. And also they don't know how the MAGA faithful are going to react. They're still concerned about Donald Trump having an undue, an over undo, however you want to qualify it, influence on his supporters in the electorate. And they're still nervous to this day still about what Donald Trump can do to their political future.
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Jim Acosta
No, it's true. And I think that's why when you saw in the beginning some of these MAGA influencers who were coming out of the woodwork and saying we want to see the Epstein files and all, they're starting to go after Trump. It took them about 24 to 48 hours to say, oh, we better not focus on Trump, we better focus on Pam Bondi. So they were calling on Pam Bonnie to be fired because she said back in, whatever, whatever it was February that the Epstein client list is on my desk. She's had to walk that back or she's tried to walk that back since. The problem for a lot of these MAGA influencers is that their clout, their livelihoods, the money that they make, it's.
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Don Lemon
All tied to Trump and they're. But no, hold on, hold on, hold on, I'll let you finish. It's tied to Trump, but it's also tied to this conspiracy theory that was.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, well that's true.
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Don Lemon
That they were grifting and making money off of it. Off of. And now Donald Trump has taken that away from them and they feel not only are they losing the revenue and the clicks and all of that, but they're also their reputations are on the line because now people are like, well, you have been exposed. Sorry to cut you off, but go on.
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Jim Acosta
No, no, no, I think that's absolutely right. And I think one of the reasons why they're not going after Trump as hard as they were is because of that. And when that Wall Street Journal came out about the crude Birthday card thing or whatever it was, it gave them an opportunity to go after the press. Well, the exact same publication that put out the story about the lewd drawing that Trump allegedly drew, that they all say is fake. Now, that same publication is now reporting its big exclusive that Donald Trump's name is in the Epstein files. And Trump was told this in May. He has known for what, almost two months now?
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Don Lemon
Almost two months. Let me just say this to you, Jim. We need to speak more often. You and I often text, but we don't do this enough because we have a very. Look, we were very similar, you know, and the way we dealt with this. Right.
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Jim Acosta
Oh, yeah.
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Don Lemon
And when we worked at cnn. But I do have to say that I said from the beginning, when I first read the, you know, the birthday card thing and the drawing, I was like, well, this is not quite the bombshell that I expected, you know. But then I said, you know what? It's the Wall Street Journal. And so they've got to have something else. And yes, because if you, if you'll notice, they said, told the Wall Street Journal on Friday. Right? So, Right. And so I said, the Wall Street Journal, there's got to be something else here. And it is a drip, drip, drip. And I told my subscribers, I said, trust me, this is just the beginning. This is not it.
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Jim Acosta
And it makes you wonder, Don, did he sue the Wall Street Journal? Did he blow up at the Wall Street Journal the way they did? Because the Journal was already starting to ask questions about the list and how Donald Trump's name appears in the list. I mean, I know this from my White House days. You talk to White House officials sometimes. You're talking to them for days about a story that you're working on, and they are trying like hell to not have that story come out or massage this or give you a quot can you. Can we do this or that? And it makes me wonder, you know, when was the Journal gonna spring this story? Was it today? Was it yesterday? I mean, how long has this, has this been in the works? And keep in mind, I mean, some of the bylines here, Josh Dawsey, his name is on the byline here.
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Don Lemon
Josh is no joke.
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Jim Acosta
Josh is no joke. Former Washington Post reporter, now the Wall Street Journal. Annie Linsky, another longtime reporter. So these are, these are, these are not, you know, greenhorn reporters who just fell off the turnip truck. These are folks who are very well sourced inside Trump World. So you have to think that, you know, they're quoting senior administration officials. The other question That I have, Don, at this point is, did the White House want this story to get out? Because they thought, well, maybe we just need to get ahead of this and just say, okay, he's in there, but it's not that serious. That's the only other thought that I have in the back of my head. I don't know. But something tells me that's probably not the case, that this is.
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Don Lemon
Yeah, I don't know. I think that Donald Trump tries to get ahead of stories by creating, by pushing a narrative. Right. That the narrative that he wants out there first, because he tries. He wants to shape his own reality. Right. And he wants to get the folks on his side so that he can say it's fake news, this isn't real. They're coming after me. Look what they tried to do with me in the election. Barack Hussein Obama. I'm just saying that because that's how he does it, is to blame. It's Joe Biden, it's John Brennan, it's Hillary Clinton. It's all of those things. He's going back to all the, you know, tried and true, and none of it is working. So I believe that he attacked the Wall Street Journal because that's what he's used to doing. And so he's just throwing stuff out there. This one will stick. This one will stick, and this one will stick. But here's the dangerous part. Some of it will stick. Much of it will stick with his base.
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Jim Acosta
Yes.
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Don Lemon
Because at this point, as you know, which is part of our frustration with telling the news and, you know, without fear or favor, is that we don't have a shared sense of facts and reality anymore.
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Jim Acosta
No, I know. That's so true.
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Don Lemon
And in the world, it's dangerous for our democracy.
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Jim Acosta
It is. And I think we just have to see how this thing plays out, because now we have confirmation. I do have to go to Senator Warren, but, Don, I think I'll be catching and I want to let you get to your show, but I think I'll be catching up with you at 5. If your team wants to send me how to get get linked up with you. We'll talk at five.
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Don Lemon
But we'll see you at five o'. Clock. Jim Acosta on the lemon lime at five on YouTube. We'll see you then. Okay. Thank you for breaking this news to me.
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Jim Acosta
Thank you. No, I'm glad. Thank you. All right, talk to you soon. Talk to you soon. All right, let me bring in Senator Warren and get her take on this, because this is a bombshell. That is unfolding as we speak. And, you know, Senator Warren and I were also going to speak about the Paramount situation and the Stephen Colbert situation. I definitely want to talk about that. We're going to get to that. Absolutely. There's no question about it. But there's also the matter of the breaking news here. And let's just say I'm sending the invite to now. Oh, and there she is. Okay. Hi, Senator Warren. How are you?
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Elizabeth Warren
I'm doing good. How are you doing, Jim?
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Jim Acosta
Well, you know, it's one of those breaking news days. My breaking news muscles are kicking in. I'm sorry. You know how it is. You know how it goes from your end of the perspective here as well. But, you know, I have to ask you here, this bombshell just came down from the Wall Street Journal, and perhaps you've seen it. You heard us talking about it with me and Don Lemon just a few moments ago. But the Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Donald Trump was told back in May that his name does appear in the Epstein files multiple times, according to senior administration officials. He was told this in May. He was told that there were other high profile figures that were named and so on. Being mentioned in the records isn't a sign of wrongdoing. I guess I should say that, too. That's in the Wall Street Journal story. But your response to this, I mean, I suspect that perhaps we all knew this was the case, but to have this confirmation is pretty stunning.
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Elizabeth Warren
Yeah. And to have the confirmation that Donald Trump has known it. Yes, because you got to assume he probably had it figured out a long time ago. There are too many photographs, too many meetings, too many times they refer to each other as great friends, and that his response is not to say to the American people, okay, so here's the deal. Everyone knows we were longtime friends, but here's how I explain that and make it all public. But to think that he could stonewall it and he could call his supporters who are asking for the release of that information, that he could not just call them losers, but former supporters. The only way you. Is to say, no, no, no. Everything you've been told all this time, is it true? It really does sound like someone who just thinks he can bend reality.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Elizabeth Warren
And it's not working. It is finally, at this moment, not working.
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Jim Acosta
Yeah, there's no question about that, Senator. And he also, to me, sounds like somebody who has something to hide, and we don't know what that is. I mean, I didn't really think of this as being a big deal. For him up until a couple of weeks ago when he freaked out at that reporter in the Cabinet meeting. And that was sort of like the light bulb went off in my head and I said, what is this all about?
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Elizabeth Warren
Right.
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Jim Acosta
And ever since, he's been freaking out.
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Elizabeth Warren
Well, and that really is the heart of it. And the only way you stop people from wondering is you really gotta do the open up and say, every book, every record, every document, every photograph, every single piece of paper, let people look at it. Because anything short of that continues. The. I don't know, what else do you think is in there? What's the part they hid? What's the part they didn't come forward with?
- [21:00]
Jim Acosta
And does it feel like a cover up to you? That. I mean, because one of the questions that I have is when they put that Justice Department memo out a couple of weeks ago, it said, oh, nothing to see here. Did that. Did somebody at the White House direct them to put that out? And if so, that ties it back to the White House. You know how these things work.
- [21:16]
Elizabeth Warren
Yeah, well, you know, the whole Pam Bondi question, I mean, part of what got to me about this is Pam Bondi says so definitively that the client list is on her desk. What she later says, okay, what I really meant were the files, those are not quite the same thing, but. All right, and then, even then to turn around, say, oh, nothing to see here. We're not putting anything, anything out. And. And then the next piece is finally under enormous pressure to say, we will do the thing that is the slowest, the hardest, the least likely to produce information. And that is we will walk very slowly over to the grand jury, to the judge, and very quietly ask the judge, will he release the data? And all of that, you know, it's like Crisis 101. Deny it, deflect, try to get people looking somewhere else and hope it will work. And maybe it's worked for Donald Trump for all of his life, but, boy, it doesn't seem to be working right now.
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Jim Acosta
Well, apparently the judge in the case has said, no, you cannot have this request for the release of the grand jury transcripts. And obviously that doesn't entail the whole thing. I mean, that doesn't give us everything that we want to see. The other issue in all of this is Trump sending his own former personal attorney, Todd Blanche, down to Tallahassee to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell. And apparently he's buddies with Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyer. What's going on there with that?
- [23:01]
Elizabeth Warren
Yeah, what's Going on there. Yeah. So they clearly have not moved into the. Just tell the truth, let everybody have all the documents. They have not moved into that mode. And until they do, hundreds of millions of people are going to keep asking the question, what's going on here?
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Jim Acosta
Yeah.
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Elizabeth Warren
What is Trump hiding? What is his administration hiding? They'll keep asking.
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Jim Acosta
They'll keep asking. And I suppose you'll keep asking. And that. That is what I think lawmakers on both sides are doing. I think both sides want to know. Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, sent the House home.
- [23:36]
Elizabeth Warren
Yeah. Well, to keep from knowing. Right, right.
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Jim Acosta
My goodness, it's just so obvious.
- [23:43]
Elizabeth Warren
Everybody go home. Everybody go home.
- [23:46]
Jim Acosta
Nothing to see here. Please disperse. Okay. Well, the reason why I wanted to have you on, and I'm so pleased that you wanted to talk about this, because it's an issue near and dear to my heart, is that what is going on over at Paramount, and in particular the firing of Stephen Colbert, the host of the Late show, which I just think is just an awful thing to take place, they claimed it wasn't content based. I don't think anybody really in America believes that. I don't know if they believe it. I think they just had to say it. But what have been your thoughts since this came down? Because it came on the heels of that awful settlement with Trump over 60 minutes, which should have never happened.
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Elizabeth Warren
Yeah. So I think these pieces actually all fit together, including the Epstein files. And here's what I see going on first over on these settlements. It's just plain old corruption. I mean, hello, capital C, corruption. It appears like a bribe right out in public. So, as you know, here's Paramount, and Paramount's saying, we really, really, really want to do this $8 billion deal. And that's basically up to Donald Trump, Trump administration. Right. He's like the emperor here. He puts the thumb up or he puts the thumb down. So they really, really want to do this business deal. And meanwhile, here is this pending bogus lawsuit. It is described as meritless by CBS itself. CBS owned by Paramount and. And by other legal scholars. And they say, how about if we settle it for $16 million and put the money into your future presidential library? Just slush fund. Right. Just put the money out there into your slush fund. And here's the thing, maybe they'll have.
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Jim Acosta
The Epstein files at the library. But anyway, I'm sorry.
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Elizabeth Warren
Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. So put it into your. Into your slush fund and where there'll be no accountability, how the money gets used, whether or not you use the money yourself. Whatever happens from that. And not only does that happen, it turns out that Skydance, right, which is the merging party with Paramount, Donald Trump announces that he's getting an extra $20 million in free advertising from Skydance. So Donald Trump is really touting this deal, that he's handing out a free. Like it's a personal favor, like he sold his own baseball trading card. No, I'm sorry, approval of a merger. This is what belongs to the United States, Right?
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Jim Acosta
That's right.
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Elizabeth Warren
He's touting it as if he has cut this fabulous deal. And then Stephen Colbert calls it a big fat bribe and boom, the hatchet comes down three days later. Now, I get it. There are those who say, no, no, it was all on financial reasons, but those circumstances smell pretty fishy. Plus, Donald Trump says himself, the day after Colbell gets fired, I hope I was the reason that he gets fired. Yeah, yeah. And he's hoping another late night house get fired. And so this, this intersects partly. It's the question about corruption, it's the question about using the presidential libraries as a way to just scoop up funds. And I've got a bill for that now. You know, I always have a plan on these to basically say sitting presidents can't take money for future libraries. They want to raise money for their library, they've got to wait until they no longer have favors to trade. But it's also about dominance over the press.
- [27:54]
Jim Acosta
Yes.
- [27:55]
Elizabeth Warren
So it's about, obviously it's about Paramount, it's about cbs, it's about ABC Stephanopoulos, it's about the Wall Street Journal publishing a story about the Epstein files that Trump didn't like. And so he initiates, in this case, these giant lawsuits as a way to dominate and bear down on anyone who criticizes him. And corruption is terrible, but trying to bear down on the media so that we don't have an independent media, that's the end of our democracy. That's what happens in authoritarian countries. That's what happens in communist China. But it's not what we put up with in the United States of America. And that's the problem we've got right now with what looks like this technical settlement. No, it's a lot bigger issues going on.
- [28:53]
Jim Acosta
Well, and, and you referenced this additional $20 million. I mean, you posted about this on Truth Social. We also anticipate receiving $20 million more from the new owners in advertising, PSAs or other similar programming. What is he, what does he mean by that? Does he mean like those, those really fascist looking DHS ads that I have no idea the secretary's been putting out over the years.
- [29:16]
Elizabeth Warren
Does he want them to run that horrible video where it looks like they're putting Barack Obama in jail ever is going to satisfy Donald Trump's ego? Because that's the point. It's a dominance play. It's a money play and a dominance play. And the dominance is the media. The dominance is the universities. The dominance is the law firms. Three groups that typically stand independently. And part of our democracy is any of them can criticize. You can go work at a law firm and you can bring a lawsuit against the most powerful person on earth and you are protected and independent. Right?
- [30:04]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [30:05]
Elizabeth Warren
You're in a university. You can have ideas that run counter to the mainstream, and you can get out there and at least try to promote your ideas and see if someone wants to take them. And you can be part of the media. You can do news coverage. George Stephanopoulos, you can tell jokes.
- [30:22]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [30:23]
Elizabeth Warren
Fence of any powerful person in this country. And what Donald Trump wants is to say, no, no criticizing the king. Everyone bends a knee to the king. That's what this is about. And that's why this settlement, this we are sorry to have annoyed in any way the great and powerful. That's why it's a problem. And the money part, the corruption part, that's why it's a problem. So both of these are weaving together.
- [31:01]
Jim Acosta
I know. I totally agree with you. And if anybody wants a glimpse as to what state media looks like, you can watch the current White House briefings where Caroline Levitt will just call on the sycophantic outlets for the most part. And the questions are just so ridiculous. And I tell people that, man, this is not really a joke. I mean, when I traveled with the President, I would go to some of these totalitarian countries, and when you would listen to those press conferences and countries, that's what they sound like. They sound ridiculous. Because usually they have to call on the state media person who is, you know, deathly afraid of being sent off to a gulag. So they have to ask the sycophantic, fawning questions of the dear Leader, my God, that's not the United States of America. We don't want a situation like that in this country. And firing Colbert, to me, it says he can't even deal with a joke. You know, he can't even take a joke. My goodness, how sensitive.
- [31:52]
Elizabeth Warren
That's the problem. I think Donald Trump can't take a joke. Right.
- [31:58]
Jim Acosta
Or a critical story. Yeah.
- [32:00]
Elizabeth Warren
And he plans both to make money off it and to force everyone to bend the knee to Donald Trump.
- [32:07]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, well, and the other thing, Senator, too. I mean, when Skydance and Paramount say, oh, content has nothing to do with it. Content has nothing to do with it. Mediaite has been reporting this, that Skydance has promised to end all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to get the Trump administration's approval on its merger with Paramount. That's according to an article in Mediaite today. And that says to me that they are making political concessions as part of getting this merger approved.
- [32:34]
Elizabeth Warren
They're walking on their knees. Come on. They're walking on their, you know, coming in. What's it going to take? What's it going to take? And look, I may not think the merger is a great idea no matter what, but it's a decision that should be made basically based on what would it mean for competition and for our economy. Those should be the criteria. It should have nothing to do with who has insulted Donald Trump or who is advancing the Trump agenda. And it's deeply worrisome that we've got a president who's willing to be quite open about weaponizing the parts of government that are supposed to be there to make our country stronger. And Donald Trump's view seems to be those parts of government are only there to make him stronger.
- [33:28]
Jim Acosta
And I have to ask you, on that note, I do want to ask you about Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, supposedly releasing new documents going after President, former President Barack Obama over the 2016 election. You know, I don't know why they're going. I mean, I do know why they're going over this ground again. They want to distract from the Epstein files. I mean, Obama's post presidential office did respond, and they don't do this often. You know, they, they write, these claims are outrageous enough to. To merit response. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous. In a weak attempt at distraction. Senator, the reason why I bring it up, it worries me because I've been on the receiving end of a lot of this stuff. It worries me that when they go after Barack Obama in this fashion, when Trump says he's guilty of treason and talks in this fashion, that it can be a dangerous game that they're playing.
- [34:19]
Elizabeth Warren
Yeah, no, I agree with you on this. And this is a good reason, in my view, that we just don't go down that rabbit hole. We don't lift it up. We don't magnify it. We just say it is genuinely ridiculous. The Obama, Obama folks have responded to it. There's the response. We're done and let's move on.
- [34:41]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. And I guess moving forward, when the Congress, I guess when I know the Senate may still be in session, the House, I guess, is adjourning for the summer recess, August recess and so on. When y' all come back in September, I suppose there are gonna be calls from the Democratic side of the aisle if the Epstein files have not been released. I mean, this is going to be something that consumes the Congress come this fall.
- [35:07]
Elizabeth Warren
Yeah. I have to say, the fact that the House is now on recess early so that the speaker of the House doesn't have to deal with a revolt, not just from Democrats, but from his own Republicans who want to force the release of those documents, that tells you how deeply suspicious tens of millions of Americans are. And it doesn't matter. We're not talking just Democrats or just independent. We're talking about people all across this country. And Donald Trump thinks he can bend reality. He can't. People want to see those documents and they're going to stay after it.
- [35:56]
Jim Acosta
Absolutely. All right. Well, Senator Warren, thank you very much for your time. I know you've got other things to attend to as a business center often does, but as always, thanks so much for coming on. Also, thank you for talking about this issue of free press. And free expression in this country is very vital to our democracy.
- [36:13]
Elizabeth Warren
Well, thank you for all you've done. I know you have been the target more than once. And thank you for fighting back and thank you for doing this. I'll make one little quick pitch and that is the kind of work you're doing and other folks who are doing these really interesting podcasts and other ways to reach people. It is the reminder it's hard to hold, hard to hold down people who are used to getting in, doing the investigation and telling the stories. And that's what we need in our democracy. So stay after it.
- [36:45]
Jim Acosta
Will do. Senator, thank you so much. You as well. Really appreciate your time.
- [36:48]
Elizabeth Warren
You bet.
- [36:48]
Jim Acosta
Thank you.
- [36:49]
Elizabeth Warren
Take care.
- [36:49]
Jim Acosta
All right, bye as well. Thanks, Senator. That was Senator Elizabeth Warren. Really appreciate her joining me on the program. And you know, obviously, if we did not have this bombshell from the Wall Street Journal, we would have spent a whole lot more time on this paramount issue because I think it's vitally important, and she's absolutely right. It is vitally important to our democracy that you have a free press, that you have a free, strong and independent press in this country. And that includes somebody who hosts a late night show because that falls under the category of freedom of speech. And if you're going to take that away, if you're going. And that's what Donald Trump has done. I've said this many times on the show. He has cracked the code as a way to try to grind the press under, grind these media companies under. And it's through these lawsuits, it's through these merger deals. We can tie up your merger deal, we can tie up your, you know, your acquisition of this media company over there or that media company under this rock or wherever. And these media executives have to stand up not just for themselves, not just for free speech, but for this country. And, you know, I was making this comment to Charlie Sykes earlier today. I was on with him earlier today. He'll be posting that podcast, I think, pretty soon here. But I said to Charlie Sykes, you know, some of these media executives who are bending the knee, as Senator Warren put it, some of these media executives need to spend some time looking at themselves in the mirror. They need to be thinking about what their legacy is going to be. And I think the Epstein files very much is a part of this. This Epstein Gate, whatever you want to call it, is a part of this. If this thing gets ugly and it gets ugly fast, some of these media companies, some of these institutions here in this country over the last six months, Donald Trump just hits six months in office. Some of these institutions, people leading these institutions that were bending the knee and saying, oh, yes, please, whatever you say, Donald Trump, we'll do whatever you want. What's your legacy? That's my message to you. What's your legacy going to be like? What are people going to say about you in 5, 10, 15 years from now? If you're the head of some media company and you bent the knee to Donald Trump and then it all came crashing down around him because of Epstein Gate, it's not going to look so good for these media companies. Not so not going to look so good for the executives at these media companies. Not not going to look so good for the leaders of these other institutions in this country who bent the knee. And so I hope that this Wall Street Journal bombshell that came out today is waking people up. It's waking people up not, not only in maga, but I have to think it's waking people up inside some of these key institutions that have been bending the knee to Donald Trump. This is who you're bending the knee to. This is if you have been bending the knee to Donald Trump. Let me repeat, this is who you've Been bending the knee to the Wall Street Journal reporting. When Justice Department officials reviewed what Attorney General Pam Bonney called a truckload of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein earlier this year, they discovered that Donald Trump's name appeared multiple times, according to senior administration officials. In May, Bondi and her deputy informed the president at a meeting in the White House that his name was in the Epstein files. The official said many other high profile figures were also named. Trump was told. That's interesting. I wonder if they told him who was also mentioned in the Epstein files. That's interesting. Being mentioned in the records is not a sign of wrongdoing. The Wall Street Journal notes. The official said it was a routine briefing that covered a number of topics and that Trump's appearance in the documents wasn't the focus. Okay, sure. They also told Trump that senior Justice Department officials didn't plan to release any more documents related to the investigation of the convicted sex offender because the material contained child pornography and victims personal information, the officials said. You know, listen, folks, as I was talking about with Don Lemon earlier on at the top of the program, we came on a little early because of this breaking news, but as Don and I were talking about all of this at the top of the program, Donald Trump knew about this in May. He knew about this. He was fully aware that his name appears in the Epstein files multiple times according to his own Justice Department. And what did he do? A couple of weeks ago, I pointed this out on my show. I highlighted it, I underlined it, I put it in bold. Trump was freaking out when he was asked the question in that cabinet meeting two weeks ago Tuesday, when a reporter asked about the Epstein file. And my spidey sense went off. Don, as he was saying, his spidey sense went off. All of our spidey sense went off because Trump freaked out. And when Trump freaks out in that fashion, something is going on. And his own base smelled something rotten when that Justice Department memo came out and said, oh, by the way, we're, we're gonna, you know, put this thing to bed. Which I, you know, let's also dissect that for a moment. Let's dissect that for a moment. Two weeks ago, two and a half weeks ago Sunday. Two and a half weeks ago Sunday night, Bombshell report says that the Justice Department is going to release a memoir saying that they have closed the case on Jeffrey Epstein. They think he was somebody who killed himself and that there really isn't anything, no big deal in the Epstein files. And we're going to put this Matter to rest. That's what the Justice Department tried to do with that memo. They did that with the full knowledge. Attorney General Pambani, you did that. FBI Director Kash Patel, you did that with the full knowledge that Pam Bondi had briefed Donald Trump that his name appears in the Epstein files multiple times. My friends, viewers of this program, listeners to this program, that is a cover up. That's a cover up. Donald Trump was told his name appears in the Epstein files. The Department of Justice put out a memoir saying, we're putting this matter to rest. And it didn't put it to rest because credit to some of the people in MAGA world, they revolted and they said, this is not good enough. Well, now you know why they did this. Please, my God. To the Charlie Kirks and the. I don't even want to mention their names because I don't want to even give them that pleasure. To the people, to these Major Laura. I will say Laura Loomer's name and Megyn Kelly, you've been carrying his water, Megyn Kelly, for how many months now? How many years now? For once, take a stand on principle. His name was in the Epstein files. Fox News. Look what your corporate siblings over at the Wall Street Journal did. They put out this bombshell report. Fox News, cover the Epstein files. Cut it out. Cut this shit out. Hannity, cut this shit out. Jesse Waters, cover the Epstein files. Donald Trump was told in May his name appears multiple times in the Epstein files. Then the Department of Justice puts out a memo saying, oh, never mind, we're going to put this thing to bed. Then Donald Trump freaks out and we go through this exercise for two weeks until we find out that in fact his name appears in the Epstein files multiple times. Wall Street Journal reporting this because obviously it's of major national importance. It's of major national importance, my friends, if the President of the United States is named in the investigative files related to a convicted pedophile, let that sink in. The name of the President of the United States appears multiple times in the Epstein files. I hope over at Fox, which has been trying mightily to avoid this story, I hope. Caroline Levitt, the White House press secretary, I, I would hope that the people inside the White House who have built this man up as their savior.
- [45:52]
Don Lemon
Will.
- [45:52]
Jim Acosta
Do some soul searching. Do some soul searching. Think about it. Think about who you are working to protect with lies on a daily basis. The lies they've been putting out ever since Donald Trump was notified that his name appears in the Epstein files. He probably already knew that his name appears in the Epstein files. But as it turns out, I mean, according to Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, FBI agents were combing through the Epstein files on the hunt for mentions of Donald Trump's name. And now we are finding out via the Wall Street Journal that his name, in fact does appear in the Epstein files over and over again. And, you know, I saw, you know, James Carville put out a piece in this, on some of this in the New York Times the other day. He was advising Democrats, you know, let the Republicans do themselves in on this. I think there's some truth to that. I definitely think the Democrats should stay on it. No question about it. I'm going to stay on it. No question about it. But the question has to be asked of the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. You just sent the House of Representatives home early for the rest of the summer because you don't want the Epstein files to be released. You don't want the Epstein files to be revealed. You are the speaker of the House for the United States of America. You now have the information that the President's name, the President of the United States name is in the Epstein files. And I do think the question has to be asked. I think the question has to be asked, what if Barack Obama's name was in there or Joe Biden's name was in there? You guys and MAGA think that Bill Clinton's name is in there. You guys in MAGA wanted these files released because you wanted to publicly embarrass major Democratic figures. That is why you wanted these Epstein files released. You wanted these Epstein files released so you could see the names of major Democratic figures. And as it turns out, the King of Maga, the King of Maga, his name is in the Epstein files. Folks, I really appreciate you tuning in today. I'm, I'm seeing some, some repeated comments here that perhaps were having some technical problems. Not sure why that is. It says substack may be freezing up. If that is the case, I'm going to go ahead and sign off for now. My thanks to Don Lemon for joining me. My thanks to Senator Elizabeth Warren for joining me. This recording will play later and it should be in good shape. If you missed any of this, the final comments that I made here at the end of this show. But I think the question has to be asked, as I said earlier on this show, what did the President do and when did he do it? What did. What did the President do and when did he do it? There's a cover up going on in this country, my friends, there's a cover up going on in this country. The American people deserve to know the truth. Donald Trump, release the files. Stop hiding. Give the public what it needs to know. And with that, thanks, everybody, for joining me today. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. Have a good evening.
- [50:02]
Don Lemon
It.