Rep. Krishnamoorthi Responds to Trump’s Botched Cover Up

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: Rep. Krishnamoorthi Responds to Trump’s Botched Cover Up

Date: February 18, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett & Jordy Meiselas
Guest: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the explosive revelations concerning the Jeffrey Epstein files, focusing on the extent of Donald Trump’s involvement and the media’s role—specifically “State Regime Media,” as the hosts refer to Fox News. The primary guest, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, provides firsthand insight into the ongoing congressional investigation, the problems with redacted documents, government censorship in media, and the current state of dysfunction in Congress, all while addressing what’s really at stake for American democracy.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media Spin and the Epstein Files

• [02:34–06:52]
• Ben highlights how Fox News (referred to as “State Regime Media”) is underplaying the scope of the Epstein scandal, focusing instead on trivial and manufactured culture war stories.
  • Mark Levin, Jesse Watters, and Greg Gutfeld are cited for “downplaying” child sex trafficking and attempting to exonerate Trump on-air.
• Memorable Moment:
  • Clip played of Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld making light of Epstein’s crimes:
    “He’s a sex rabbi. He should perform at the halftime show.” (05:16, attributed to Gutfeld)
  • Ben follows:
    “The fact that that’s how they’re referring to child sex trafficking… That’s what’s going on on state regime media.” (05:25)

2. Congressional Insights: Rep. Krishnamoorthi’s Access to Files

• [06:52–08:49]
• Rep. Krishnamoorthi explains that:
  • Over 1,000 victims, now adults, have seen little justice as most files remain either missing or heavily redacted.
  • He has begun reviewing the unredacted files, which still contain unexplained blacked-out sections and reveal “lots of names” who should be investigated further.
  • He expresses frustration over the “bizarre email chains” and the inconsistent, unexplained redactions that make investigation difficult.
  • Troublingly, some victim names are unredacted, possibly as intimidation.
• Notable Quote:
  • “There are just all kinds of bizarre email chains. I think one challenge here is I don’t understand the rhyme or reason behind the redactions…I also saw, which was really bizarre, is that there were certain pages in the quote unquote unredacted form which were redacted as well.” (08:49)

3. Trump’s Legal Ties & Questionable DOJ Privilege Claims

• [08:09–08:49]
• Ben references private knowledge from other Congress members about emails between Trump and Epstein’s lawyers, raising questions about DOJ claims of privilege.
  • Krishnamoorthi says the pattern of redactions makes little sense and is “a mess,” casting doubt on the DOJ’s claims of privilege.

4. Media Censorship and the “Streisand Effect”

• [10:02–12:03]
• Ben and Krishnamoorthi discuss the Trump administration’s attempts to suppress media figures (e.g., Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel) and content, such as the removal of certain interviews from broadcast.
  • Suppression typically backfires, generating more attention.
  • Citing Kimmel’s example:
    “He basically got the FCC to come down hard on Jimmy Kimmel or his employer…There’s a huge groundswell of support for him, including even from certain Republicans and conservative circles.” (11:06)
  • Krishnamoorthi:
    “They don’t want their government telling them what they can watch, what they can’t watch. In terms of this type of content, especially if it feels very political.” (11:06)

5. Congressional Gridlock & Border Security Debate

• [12:03–14:45]
• Ben raises the frequency of government shutdowns, blaming “MAGA Mike” and hardline Republicans.
  • Notes the extreme, non-negotiable demands of Republicans for ICE/Border Patrol, including refusing to remove masks or require judicial warrants.
  • Ben:
    “Republicans are like, no way. How do you even talk to these people if they’re like, no way to those things?” (13:35)
• Krishnamoorthi clarifies Democratic negotiating demands:
  • Calls for ICE and CBP to match basic police standards: no masks, body cameras, no warrantless arrests, independent oversight.
  • Warns about CBP and ICE as a “paramilitary” force designed to intimidate voters during the 2026 elections.
• Notable Quote:
  • “In terms of, at the bargaining table, Democrats are saying, look, ICE and CBP at least need to abide by the same standards, rules and regulations that local law enforcement do. That means no masks, ID on, body cameras on, no warrantless arrests.” (13:35)

6. Krishnamoorthi’s Senate Campaign

• [14:45–15:06]
• Ben plugs Krishnamoorthi’s Senate run in Illinois.
  • Krishnamoorthi:
    “It’s R A J A F O r I l raja4il.com Check it out.” (14:53)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben on Fox’s coverage:
  “The fact that that’s how they’re referring to child sex trafficking, that they’re joking about it, they’re laughing, they call him a sex, they call Epstein a sex rabbi and a fixer. That’s what’s going on on state regime media.” (05:25)
• Krishnamoorthi on investigation hurdles:
  “There are just all kinds of bizarre email chains. I think one challenge here is I don’t understand the rhyme or reason behind the redactions…There’s just no explanation. So it’s just a mess.” (08:49)
• Krishnamoorthi on government censorship:
  “They don’t want their government telling them what they can watch… especially if it feels very political.” (11:06)
• Krishnamoorthi on ICE/CBP standards:
  “That means no masks, ID on, body cameras on, no warrantless arrests. There have to be third party investigations of the use of force… And they can’t be at polling places.” (13:35)

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Key Segment Timestamps

• Media’s Spin on Epstein Files: 02:34–06:52
• Krishnamoorthi on Victims & File Redactions: 06:52–08:49
• DOJ Privilege on Trump/Epstein Emails: 08:09–08:49
• Censorship & Streisand Effect: 10:02–12:03
• Congressional Gridlock & Border Security: 12:03–14:45
• Krishnamoorthi’s Senate Campaign Plug: 14:45–15:06

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Takeaways

• The Epstein files contain far more information and high-profile names than the public has seen, and the process for redaction and information release is non-transparent.
• Media allies of Trump are actively downplaying or distracting from the gravity of new revelations.
• Attempts at media and information suppression are backfiring and generating greater public scrutiny.
• Congressional gridlock persists, with extreme right demands preventing even modest accountability measures for law enforcement agencies.
• Rep. Krishnamoorthi positions himself as an advocate for accountability, government transparency, and maintaining democratic norms as he pivots to a Senate run.

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For more information on Rep. Krishnamoorthi's campaign, visit raja4il.com (14:53).

Transcript

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[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

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Learn [e-mail] Mochi members have access to licensed physicians and nutrition. Results may vary. State Regime Media, which calls itself Fox, is absolutely losing it as more information from the Epstein files are released. With over 38,000 references to Donald Trump in the redacted files, potentially a million references in the unredacted files that we know about, and now we've learned that there are potentially 50 terabytes of information that remains missing. 50 terabytes of files. In other words, the million or 3 million records that were produced in unlawfully redacted form may only constitute 2% of the files. So what is State Regime Media, which calls itself Fox, doing? Well, hosts like Mark Levin, who host the Mark Levin show, who's just a full propagandist for Donald Trump. Here's what he posts now. Finally, stop the bullshit trying to link POTUS to Epstein. The woke Reich grifters, congressional Democrat hacks and media thugs continue to libel POTUS from Russia to Epstein. We've a country to save from these repro brates and others. That's what Mark Levin says. And he cites a former police chief who investigated Epstein in the mid-2000s, told the FBI that he received a call from Trump at the time to say, thank goodness you're stopping him. Everyone has known he's been doing this. That's not exculpatory, you idiot. Donald Trump previously claimed he did not know what Epstein was doing. And the fact that after Epstein was arrested, Donald Trump said everybody knew what he was doing. Donald Trump was like best friends with the guy, says he's a great guy who liked women on the younger side. And of course, we saw the other allegations and references to Donald Trump in the files. So that's what Mark Levin is saying, like implicating Donald Trump, apparently. And then you have Jesse Waters, along with Greg Gutfeld, say some of the most disgusting things to try to downplay the sex trafficking ring run by Jeffrey Epstein, which the Trump regime officials are in these files over and over again. Whether it's felon, the Navy, Secretary, Lutnick, Trump, you name it, Bannon, they're all there. Here's what Jesse Waters and Greg Gutfeld said about Epstein. Let's play it. It looks like he's mostly just a fixer, a guy who advises, he helps people with their problems. Sometimes those problems are, you need a girl and.

[Narrator/Host]

Or some penicillin or some.

[Ben]

If you need it, he's got it. He's a sex rabbi. He should perform at the halftime show. Yes. The fact that that's how they're referring to child sex trafficking, that they're joking about it, they're laughing, they call him a sex, they call Epstein a sex rabbi and a fixer. That's what's going on on state regime media. So clearly they needed to change topics right away. Right. So they bring on somebody named Katie Zakaria who they say is a political legal strategist. Like all right, what are we talking about? What are we talking about? Talking about? Okay, Katie, talk about your hat. You wear a MAGA hat, you're at a gym and people were mean to you. And let's make that with everything that's going on in the country right now, with everything that Americans are going through, we're going to focus on the following story. Here, play this clip, Pat. Here we go. Put the screen up on the thing. New York Post, why my gym cave to anti maga bullies and how I fought back Trump forced Captain Katie Zachariah. They said at the gym you can't wear it. And you said what? I said I can't wear this. I earned this in Michigan. Dearborn, Michigan. We flipped Michigan for President Trump. Happy to be part of that. And he said, you can't come to my gym and wear this hat. And I have all these liberal women. The hell are they talking about? Let's bring in Democratic Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy. You know, with all of these very serious issues going on as we learn more about the COVID up of the Epstein files, I mean that's literally one of the top stories that they're talking about on fox. I mean, it's ridiculous.

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

Congressmember, your viewers already know this, but you know, there were a thousand plus then girls now middle aged women who were victims of this child sex trafficking ring that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell perpetrated and conspired on for years. These middle aged women have not had a single measure of justice in 20 years. And now we're finally, we're finally after having met them, after having heard their stories, you know, seeing some files being produced. But we learned that there's millions and millions pages of pages, more files that have not been produced. And the files that have been produced are so heavily redacted that it's very hard to tell what's in them.

[Ben]

Now.

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

I had a chance to actually review these unredacted files last week and so I started that process. I'll be going back next week. I'm sure. And I gotta tell you, like there's a lot of names in there of people who should come before our committee, who should be part of the investigation, who should be cooperating because they could be co conspirators and we should, the whole public should be able to see who they are.

[Ben]

Actually I heard from Congressman Walkinshaw, from Congressmember Goldman and Congressmember Raskin that there are emails that are sent from Trump's lawyers to Epstein lawyers that are in the unredacted files that are not public, that actually referenced that Donald Trump was allowing Epstein to remain in the club and that Epstein was never actually even a member to begin with, but that he was a guest. And then Epstein forwarded that email to Ghislaine and now the DOJ is claiming that there is a, a privilege, that this is somehow privileged and can't be produced. Did you see records like that or document? What did you see like, like that?

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

Well, I saw stuff that was. Sometimes you couldn't tell if it was an attorney that was part of the exchange. But one of the things that I had a hard time figuring out was why things were even redacted. But what I also saw, which was really bizarre, is that there were certain pages in the quote unquote unredacted form which were redacted as well. And I'm still trying to figure out why that is. In addition, there are just all kinds of bizarre email chains. I think one challenge here is I don't understand the rhyme or reason behind the redactions because I can't figure out why certain emails would be privileged or have anything in them that would merit being redacted. There's just no explanation. So it's just a mess. But I also think that part of it is what I'm really worried about is they also unredacted victims names, maybe as a brush back pitch to kind of get them to see, well look, you're asking for transparency. This is what happens when you get transparency.

[Ben]

Then it's not just how FOX is covering the Epstein files that we showed you, it's also what the Trump regime is doing in hoisting Fox up as their preferred state regime media, also hoisting up CBS as their backup state regime media. You know, and even what CBS just did to James Talarico and Stephen Colbert and basically said, you can't do this interview with James Talarico and the lawyers threatened Colbert and so Colbert had to play the interview on YouTube, which probably got more attention frankly than it would have anyway. If it aired on cbs. But I mean, that level of FCC intervention over, you can't have James Talarico, who's running for the United States Senate in Texas, as, you know, as a guest. But, but then when Trump does these things, he like, you know, it's, it's the Streisand effect or like he brings more attention to it. Everybody wants to watch the Talarico interview. Interview.

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

Exactly, exactly.

[Ben]

People hate this stuff.

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

They hate this. I think, by the way, this is one of those things that I personally think strikes a chord with many Americans. They don't want their government telling them what they can watch, what they can't watch. In terms of this type of content, especially if it feels very political. Remember what happened with Jimmy Kimmel, as you recall, when Trump didn't like what he said, he basically got the FCC to come down hard on Jimmy Kimmel or his employer, I should say. And then Jimmy Kimmel went off the air. But then lo and behold, there's a huge groundswell of support for him, including even from certain Republicans and conservative circles. And that public pressure got the administration to relent. He was back on the air. So I think that these types of things really backfire in the end. But we have to shine a light on them.

[Ben]

You know, Congress is shut down right now or maga. Mike sent everybody home. Until I guess the State of the Union, at least Department of Homeland Security is a partial government shutdown. I feel like when you and I do these interviews, it's like deja vu. It's like, wait a minute, were we just talking about a government shutdown like a few months ago and then a few months before that? And you know, now you have MAGA Republicans saying that it's non starters for them to ever even consider a negotiation where ICE agents would have to remove their terrorist masks. The masks must stay on. That's a non negotiable, they say. And also Republicans say it's a non negotiable. That you would require ICE and Border Patrol Gestapo to get judicial warrants. The administrative warrants that they basically fill out for themselves is enough. How dare you ask about judicial warrants? That's not feasible, like literally in our Constitution. But what do you say to this moment that we're in before we go, Congressman, that that's where they're taking the stand? Gotta, they gotta have their masks. I mean, to me, my own view, I don't think the Democrats are going far enough on the Democratic negotiables. I want to see ICE and Border Patrol abolished. And everybody prosecuted. But you know, the Democrats are like, okay, judicial warrants, body cams, take off the masks and don't go around polling stations. Republicans are like, no way. How do you even talk to these people if they're like, no way to those things?

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

I think you hit on a great point. Those are very reasonable. Look, one way of summarizing what I think the Democrats, at least at the bargaining table are saying is, look, ICE and CBP at least, at the least need to abide by the same standards, rules and regulations that local law enforcement do. And that means no masks, ID on body cameras on no warrantless arrests. There have to be third party investigations of the use of force. And there can't be roving gangs of ICE and CBP agents who are basically stirring up trouble throughout the country. That's just basic stuff to me. And I also included in my list of demands and I think that the current list of negotiating demands reflects this. You know, you can't have ICE and CBP agents at polling places because my, my fear is that they're going to use ICE and CBP as paramilitary almost to discourage voting, to intimidate voters and, and basically to, you know, monkey around with the 2026 elections.

[Ben]

I want to remind people you are running for the United States Senate seat there in Illinois. Where can people learn more about the campaign before we go?

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

It's R A J A F O r I l raja4il.com Check it out.

[Ben]

Thanks as always, Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy. We appreciate you.

[Congressmember Raja Krishnamoorthy]

Thank you, Ben.

[Ben]

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