← The Rubin Report
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- [00:01]
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- [01:05]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Remember, these sanctuary state, sanctuary city policies are done on purpose. And what they do is instead of having local law enforcement be liaisons to these other officers to kind of help de escalate some of these situations where you might have protest protesters attacking officers like we've seen in these last two incidences, they're intentionally telling these officers to stand down. There's no liaison. And when you pull that back, you're basically creating a recipe for disaster. And that's not how any elected official, whether you're Democrat or Republican, should be supporting that type of policy. And so I think that this is an important thing to remember. At the end of the day, we're all Americans, but bad policies have impacts on the country and we want to ensure that our law enforcement are safe. And we also want to ensure that we're not putting anyone's lives in danger.
- [01:55]
Interviewer
All right, Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, I think you are sweating. You literally ran here. I saw you fly into the seat, throw something in your ear. You're going somewhere, you're coming from somewhere. What's happening over there in D.C. i.
- [02:08]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Actually just got to from Foreign Affairs. I had a committee on mass migration in Europe.
- [02:13]
Interviewer
All right, well, what's the deal with, with mass migration in Europe? So not worried about our mass migration, at least for this one hearing. This was what are we going to do to help the Europeans? I assume they can't seem to help themselves.
- [02:25]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, I think it's learning from their mistakes. Right. We know that Unvetted, unchecked, unchecked mass migration is hurting people. There's a lot of stats to back it. And then you're seeing, and they tried this here with people that, you know, were saying that they wanted border security and stricter laws on immigration, that you're xenophobic and racist. Same sentiment in Europe, except we're seeing with some of the results and crime statistics that a lot of the people that are coming into some of these European countries now, there's increases specifically targeting women on rape and violent crimes. And we saw actually, and I think that this kind of correlates to what President Trump has been doing. But with deportation efforts, they've actually seen a drop in violent crime here in the States. And so I always say that you can learn from other people's mistakes. In this instance, it would be the European Union and their unvetted, unchecked mass migration. And we don't want that here.
- [03:10]
Interviewer
So since most people watching this probably agree with that and we show the videos all the time and, you know, you can see these European countries, particularly Western Europe, going completely the wrong direction. I mean, do you, from what you're hearing, do your European counterparts, do they believe they can save their countries, particularly Western Europe? I know Central and Eastern Europe, it's a little bit better.
- [03:31]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah. I think that there's a great sentiment from some of the more conservative leaning members of the European Union in some of these states. But I also understand and, you know, I sit on the House Democracy Partnership Institute. And so I've traveled to Brussels, I've met with many of these, these partner European nations. And the problem is, is that if they do come out in favor of very similar platforms to the Trump administration or to Republicans here in the United States, they literally are demonized. They're called racists, they're called Nazis, et cetera. And so actually, as a result of that, and wanting to at least further the connections and also build alliances with some of those more conservative thought leaders in Europe that, you know, might end up being presidents one day, et cetera. I'm actually going to be chairing the alliance of Sovereign nations here in Washington, D.C. in March of this upcoming month. And it's going to be the first ever summit that's really going to be focusing on issues of re immigration, national sovereignty, freedom of speech and border security, as well as energy independence. And so we'll be discussing all of those things. It's going to be the first ever event.
- [04:31]
Interviewer
All right, so let's, let's take it fully to our Shores, then obviously the big thing in the last month has been the deportation issue. And what's going on with ice, mostly in Minnesota, although it is happening in other states. But Minnesota, sort of ground zero for all of this. Are you pleased with what the administration has done? Is there a way to negotiate with the Democrats or is it just they just simply are not going to stop and Trump has to do what he's going to do?
- [05:00]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
I think that Trump's going to have to continue doing what he's doing. But look, anytime that you're in an instance where, you know, you have Americans getting hurt, obviously that's not good for law enforcement. That's not good for the American people. And ultimately, I think Christino made the correct decision in saying, hey, look, we're going to continue backing our law enforcement, but there are certain implementation and policies taking place. Because in states like Minnesota specifically, you know, remember, these sanctuary state, sanctuary city policies are done on purpose. And what they do is instead of having local law enforcement be liaisons to these other officers to kind of help de escalate some of these situations where you might have protesters attacking officers like we've seen in these last two incidences, they're intentionally telling these officers to stand down. There's no liaison. And when you pull that back, you're basically creating a recipe for disaster. And that's not how any elected official, whether you're Democrat or Republican, should be supporting that type of policy. And so I think that this is an important thing to remember. At the end of the day, we're all Americans, but bad policies have, you know, impacts on the country. And we want to ensure that our law enforcement are safe. And we also want to ensure that we're not putting anyone's lives in danger. And so I think the way that they're handling this, you see, you know, Holman's actually saying that there's going to be some changes taking place here pretty soon. So I'm looking forward to seeing what those are. However, you know, Chuck Schumer wants, literally, he said it himself the other day, and I think that that's because I was talking about the SAVE act and wanting to get that on the last DHS funding bill. Yeah, but he wants mass immigration, he wants mass amnesty, and, you know, we're not going to do that. He doesn't want voter ID for American citizens for polling locations, but wants voter ID for law enforcement. That is ice.
- [06:34]
Interviewer
When you point out the hypocrisy with these people, do you ever do it to their face behind closed doors. And they're like, yeah, it's kind of true. Like, I just don't understand at this point. They are so exposed every which way. Schumer saying the complete reverse of what he said 20 years ago. Hillary and Bill Clinton sound more moderate, make Trump sound moderate now relative to what they were saying 20 years ago. On immigration, I mean, did they ever admit it, ever?
- [07:01]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
They're only looking at polling, and they're looking at what they can do to lie to their voters to get them through the election cycle. But what they're having a hard time with is explaining to their own base why they don't want voter security and voter ID. Right. We know that over 70% of Democrats want that. And this is like a wildly popular issue similar to banning insider trading, but specifically on immigration, they're doing the same thing that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden did, you know, running on this open border platform. Notice how they're not showing you pictures of military age males from Africa or the Middle east or China that are coming here legally. They're trying to say it's just, you know, women and children. And they did the same thing with President Trump's administration 1.0. And so I'm half Hispanic, but I'm not buying into the propaganda, and not a lot of us are. And so ultimately, moving forward, again, we want to keep the home front safe. We want to keep all Americans safe, regardless of your, you know, socioeconomic status or demographic. But ultimately, that means enforcing border securities and laws. And I think that there will be some changes coming down, but I don't think that the administration should negotiate with Schumer because Schumer is being a hypocrite. We would like nothing more than for the government to shut down, and they want to play this in the midterm so that they can impeach Trump all over again. And we're not. We're not gonna let that happen.
- [08:07]
Interviewer
So. So let me ask you about a little bit of the screwiness within the Republican Party, too, because you mentioned the spending bill and you tried to. You personally tried to attach the SAVE act to it so that it would allow for identification in federal elections. Like, this is pretty low bar stuff. Not every Republican voted for it because they didn't want to increase spending. So how do you. How do you deal with that?
- [08:33]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Well, look, I voted for the rule, which is a parliamentary procedure, to allow the legislation to come to floor, but I did not vote for the spending bill because I personally, my voters specifically did not want transgender surgeries. And when you're giving all this money to refugees, specifically when you're giving money to hospitals that are performing those surgeries after you're now having, you know, boards of physicians coming out saying, hey, this could really hurt children. I don't think that that's a useful way to spend our money. But ultimately the Senate negotiated that amongst themselves as a way to have Democrats in the Senate and some of the moderate Republicans support this spending bill. And so I understand that, you know, they have slim majorities there and we also have a slim majority in the House. However, voter ID is non negotiable and I think that the Senate's in a pressure cooker right now. You're welcome. And ultimately, I think what's going to happen is if they don't pass the Save America act, that's going to pass out of the House tomorrow. We're gonna stick it on fisa and that will be the vehicle in which it passes and is signed into law by President Trump.
- [09:33]
Interviewer
Okay, so just to be clear, we are actually holding this interview for a day or two. So you are, you are a little bit in the past as you do this now, but we'll see, we'll see if you're right. But. Okay, so. All right, so if it gets to the Senate, then your, your hope obviously is that the Senate passes it. But you, you'd be for the Senate doing it by simple majority, obviously, right?
- [09:51]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Yes, 100%. But I, you know, I don't wanna hold my breath. Cause I'd probably pass out if I waited for the Senate to actually do that.
- [09:59]
Interviewer
Okay, so border deportations. You're also obviously deeply involved in, in uncovering a lot of this Epstein mess. I don't, I don't even know where to begin with this. I know you just saw some files, just as I saw this on Twitter a few moments ago, that you saw some of the unredacted stuff and that it's got names listed finally and everything. Like, where are we with that, with all of this?
- [10:22]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Look, I think the DOJ should appoint a special task force. And I have also found out that some of these crimes cannot be prosecute because they are outside of the statute of limitation. So ultimately, as you know, they were handed, I think many, many administrations faults for not doing and properly bringing justice on behalf of these victims. And really the hurt people involved in this, ultimately they can use a civil rights statute, I think, to reopen some of these cases. And I think one of the most disturbing things I found out is that a lot of these egregious emails referencing age 10, age 11, mockery of a little girl praying. Basically, you know, you can see the dialogue and exchange with Jeffrey Epstein, as well as a number of other things. Permission to kill. Those are kind of keywords in some of these emails actually came from women. And the reason why their names are redacted is because these women said that they were victims. But what's really disturbing about this, and I understand that, you know, each is a case by case basis and not all the victims engaged in some of what we are seeing in these files. But I do think that it is really not good that the only person sitting in jail right now is Ghislaine Maxwell. And I don't think that she deserves clemency. I read personally, as did other members of Congress, that she engaged in rape of these, of these younger girls and ultimately was facilitating the whole thing. So, yes, she is a monster. The President has called her such in the files, as you saw. He was actually the one that called in one of the tips, I guess, to the FBI. You can see that in some of these files. But ultimately I do think that the DOJ needs to reopen up some of these investments investigations I will be recommending as such. But it's pretty egregious and honestly it's really hard to read because I am a mom and you just, you don't want to think that, that that's happening. But, but it is.
- [12:10]
Interviewer
So. So in the things that you're seeing, do you view it as flat out evidence that these things have happened? Because a lot of it, as you sort of alluded to it, it seems like it's coded language or could be like slightly unclear what they were doing. But you, you feel that the emails provide enough direct evidence, I guess with the corroboration from the women who would have to get out of some of their legal stuff to speak up, I suppose, yeah.
- [12:34]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
So I definitely think that there's enough to open up an investigation. And unfortunately today I went back in and I looked at some of the videos of which were still redacted, but from what I could tell on some of the redaction, I think that it was because there was either pornographic or CCM related materials of which I don't want to see, but it should be labeled so that members can understand what's happening in those videos. But I mean, based on what I've read with the testimony and then also to. This is also based on unredacted files from the FBI during the initial investigations in New York, where it's talking about some of the now alleged victims being co conspirators. And I don't know what plea deals they got if they agreed to testify against Jeffrey Epstein for not maybe being punished for trafficking kids. But it's there in emails. And so I definitely think that it's a lot, you know, you leave and it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or Republican. Everyone's pretty shocked. And everyone has left and said the same thing that I've said and that some of the most egregious emails, again, were women. But again, this is, you know, Congress only has a certain authority and then it goes to the Department of Justice. You know, we do have limited investigative abilities, but we can't try cases, we can't bring criminal prosecution. And so that would be my advice. But it is pretty heavy going through the files. Files. And I believe in God. And if you don't believe in God after you read those files, you probably will because the stuff that they're doing is, is pretty evil.
- [14:00]
Interviewer
Yeah, I heard you call it demonic this morning. I mean, it's, it's off. Is it, is it strange for you personally to go from Florida where you're the local representative, where things basically work? We've got some screwy stuff here in our legislature. Could probably be a little bit better, as we discussed last time I saw you in D.C. but things work here. And then you go to D.C. and it's kind of like nothing works and you have to bounce between these two places constantly.
- [14:27]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Yes. And it's also too, though, a very real perspective in that if you're too caught up in the D.C. bubble, that you lose sight of what real people are facing. And that's why it's not good to spend too much time here. I go home as much as I can, and I think part of the reason why the system is so broken is because, you know, initially the founding father said, you know, you come up and then you go back to your farms and you work. Now it's a professional job for most people, and some people do live up here full time, but that creates this bubble and you're somewhat desensitized to everything happening. You know, like, I go back home and I'm stopped on the airplane, I'm stopped in the airport. I'm soft when I'm waiting at my terminal and people are like, thank you so much for doing what you're doing. And we understand that you're kind of like a smaller minority up there, but we just want to let you know that we appreciate you fighting and I appreciate that. But I also understand that I, I think for my own just like emotional well being can't do this forever because it's just not good to be in a situation where it's constantly negative. So I'm going to help other younger people get elected because I want to eventually be a mom and focus on my family and really focus on things that are such limited in time as your children grow. But I also want to make sure that I'm executing my authorities and my responsibilities as a representative. And I think that that's going to help get younger people as well as more people like minded elected to office.
- [15:44]
Interviewer
Well, I think it's pretty obvious you'll be warmly welcomed when you're officially in Florida 365 days a year. Let me ask you something about the Democrats, though, because it seems to me Trump has this is becoming an increasingly limited window to get a lot of stuff done because conventional wisdom obviously is that the midterms are not gonna go that well for the Republicans, in which case he then probably gets impeached. They try to pack the courts. Once they're in power, D.C. becomes a state. Like there's just like a laundry list of things that I see no reason they would not do. Is that alarmist? Do you think that's alarmist? Am I blackpilling when I'm saying that?
- [16:17]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
No, it's true. No, no, no. That's an accurate read and assessment. You've heard it directly that they fully intend to and anticipate on a obstructing. If they were to shut down the government, they would absolutely do it. Nothing would get done because they understand that it would basically cripple the policies from the administration. But then there's the aspect of some people are literally going to do. Even though they know that they're lying, even though they see the truth, they will stop at nothing to really smear the administration, specifically the president. It's personal for them. And I think that that's the part of politics that's the nastiest because, you know, like, I understand people need to get reelected, but there's also a certain amount of damage that's done. Like, think about how many probably family members don't talk to each other over politics. But then you see really how it works when the cameras are off and the facts and you just realize that some people are totally cool with lying and so they will do what they need to do because to them this is the, the means to an end and they're Never going to leave here and they don't care.
- [17:12]
Interviewer
You know, it's so interesting just on my show this morning, I don't know if you saw this clip, but Jasmine Crockett was on a podcast and they asked her if she regrets saying that who was with the Epstein files, that Lee Zeldin talked to Jeffrey Epstein and took money from Jeffrey Epstein. And then it turned out that it was a different Jeffrey Epstein. It had nothing to do with Epstein. And the interviewer asked her if she regretted it and she said no because she's like, well, we're in a crazy time. And I. You got to do what you got to do. And, and that perfectly illustrates what you just laid out there.
- [17:42]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Yeah, I think, you know, it takes a lot for people to admit when they're wrong. I can and I'm, and I'm, I've been forced to sometimes have to admit, you know, either I over speculated or, you know, but a lot of people can't do that. And so it's unfortunate because people will get smeared the process. But that's like part of the reason why normal people don't want to run for office. A lot of good people that could run for office don't want to subject their families to it. They don't want to go through it. And I've been able to see it, right, because I think I naively came in as an activist and you know, I was like, you know, people wouldn't just lie about you or plant stories, but then you can see. And now that I am in office, I can see when a story has been planted. I know how it operates up here. And so all I can say is, you know, don't go full black pill. Right. It only turns out that way if you choose to do nothing. But it's definitely something that we have to take into consideration. And so you have to show up in the midterms and you have to do what you can do to hold people accountable. Independent journalism is so important because of this reason. And I just hope people continue to stay in the fight.
- [18:37]
Interviewer
Yeah. And I, by the way, I'm not a black pillar. I just think if, if this doesn't happen, like I'm, I'm mostly a white pillar. I'm kind of a world weary white pillar. But if the Republicans lose, so, so lay out in the, in the remaining. We just have a couple minutes. Can you lay out a couple things that you think the Republicans really have to do from now till November to make sure that the Democrats don't take.
- [18:59]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Over Power one, number one thing, voter id. The Senate needs to act and pass it into law. That will invigorate the base. And it's such a massively bipartisan popular issue, even among Democrats.
- [19:10]
Interviewer
So can you wait, can you just explain the thought process then if you're thune or whoever, whichever of these guys are now still in the Senate on the fence, what could possibly be going on in their mind on this?
- [19:20]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
This, again, I think it's people, they don't want to appear that they're being bullied by the House, but it's not about that. This is an issue that many people, the American people are widely speaking to. So much so that even I think Schumer is backtracking a little bit because now Democrats are being confronted on the fact that their own base, I think cnn, did the poll, want voter id. Like this is a low hanging fruit option here, right? Like a mass. I think it's like an 8020 issue. So I don't think that there is an out, but I do think that they will be forced to act, especially because President Trump, as you know, is like the 800 pound gorilla in the White House. And he is backing us fully on these efforts. And so I met with him and he's fully behind it. And now leadership in the House is fully behind it. So this is a great team here. Like, here's a play. Run the play. So I'd have to say, number one thing, voter id. Number two is banning insider trading. And again, one of those wildly popular issues that I championed, we actually have the piece of legislation ready to go and it will be voted on shortly after the State of the Union. So I'm sure you'll want to tune in to the State of the Union to hear what President Trump has to say about that. And then I would have to say is the third thing, I would suggest that the DoJ form a task force to specifically look into some of these Epstein things. Because again, I think that this is an issue that is not going to go away. But I also think that there needs to be justice served. And I do think that the civil rights statute can be looked at. But again, I'm not at the doj, but I do know that they're taking this very seriously and I look forward to kind of seeing what develops from that. And then I would have to say that if you are a representative, listen to what your constituents want. Okay? So like, the one thing that my constituents have been really big on is prescription pill pricing, capping. And then also I'm going to be doing something to cap student loan interest at 2%. I don't have student loans, but I think that that's a very common sense piece of legislation, especially because Congress does effectively control some of these, these loan programs. And ultimately, if you really want a better society, you want people to be able to go to college, they might not be able to afford it, but you also don't want to send them to, you know, a life of indentured servitude and paying back some of this debt. And so I think that part of the United States, what's great about it is we very successful, wealthy country, but as long as people are paying back their debt, there's no reason to, you know, have them pay it off for 30, 40 years.
- [21:30]
Interviewer
So I can get on all five of those. But just give me broadly, what do you think has to happen on the economy? Actually, when I saw you in December, it was right when the big, beautiful bill was being passed, and everybody, you and several other Republicans said the same thing, which is, wait till 26 when it's passed, and we see the economy open up a little bit. So what does that actually look like in the last minute or so?
- [21:49]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Well, I think you're already kind of seeing that. You know, you're seeing gas prices go down, you're seeing groceries go down. Obviously, we're seeing some of the housing prices now starting to cool off. And I think, you know, when people go to the polling locations, they think about how they're being personally impacted by policy. And so I think that if we can collectively do something like codify prescription pricing, unfortunately, so many people, because there is, and this is probably a separate topic on, you know, how sick our country is, as in, like, physically because of processed foods, additives, etc. But a lot of people are on prescription pricing that they're then having to pay. And so I think that we need to do something to codify President Trump's executive order, but then also to one of the pieces of legislation that I have have that is bipartisan, that capping student loan prices at 2%, that impacts many people in this country. So many people are impacted by that. And I think that if you do those and you prove, you know, there's a lot of noise, but don't, don't listen to some of the racket and the propaganda coming out of the mainstream media, but how do these policies affect our pocketbooks? And I think that we win by a large margin, but we have to remind voters of that. And then obviously, I always say this, but don't give, you know, don't get into the fray. Don't, don't do unnecessary mudslinging because it's not necessary. And if you really kind of walk above all that, you can still get your message across without engaging in the tit for tat online.
- [23:06]
Interviewer
Congresswoman, they haven't broke you yet. However, when you do get out, you come back to Florida. I am all for building a wall and we'll keep this place safe and everything will be fine. I thank you for your time. And now you can. You were sweating. How cold? What's the weather like over there? You're sweating and it was like 20 degrees.
- [23:21]
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
It, it's, it's about 40. Yeah, like 40 degrees outside. But I literally ran. I was like, I can't miss that segment. So I ran up like two flights of stairs. It, it pays. Taking. Getting your steps. So happy.
- [23:31]
Interviewer
All right, thanks, Congresswoman.