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- [00:01]
George Stephanopoulos
911. Where is the emergency?
- [00:03]
Narrator/Reporter
It's the middle of the night in a small town on the Jersey Shore. Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19 year old Sarah Stern.
- [00:15]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Is it a missing person?
- [00:16]
Narrator/Reporter
Is it a suicide?
- [00:18]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
At this point, nobody knows.
- [00:20]
Narrator/Reporter
Old friendships, buried cash. And a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm juju Chang from 2020 ABC Audio. Listen to Bridge of Lies coming March 10th. Wherever you listen to podcasts,
- [00:42]
George Stephanopoulos
this Week
- [00:43]
Chris Christie
with George Stephanopoulos starts right now.
- [00:47]
George Stephanopoulos
Epstein file avalanche.
- [00:49]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people.
- [00:58]
George Stephanopoulos
The documents contain new details on Epstein's relationship with high profile figures including President Trump. Epstein's accusers criticized the delayed and incomplete process. Survivors just want a transparent release and immigration retreat. We're going to de escalate a little bit. The Senate passes a bipartisan bill to fund most of the government with two more weeks to negotiate limits on ICE operations.
- [01:22]
Hakeem Jeffries
The bottom line is very simple. The American people are crying out for change.
- [01:28]
George Stephanopoulos
We cannot live in a country this way where you get to pick and choose the laws you don't like. As the Justice Department launches a civil rights probe into the shooting of Alex
- [01:37]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Preddy, we're looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day.
- [01:43]
George Stephanopoulos
And journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort charged in connection with an anti ICE protest in a Minnesota church. This morning. All the fallout with our headliners, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, plus political analysis from our powerhouse Roundtable from ABC News, It's THIS Week.
- [02:05]
Pierre Thomas
Hear now.
- [02:06]
George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos, Good morning and welcome to this week. The Jeffrey Epstein case has bedeviled President Trump's second term leading to a rare break with Republican members of Congress and demand for full disclosure of the Epstein files. The Department of Justice took its biggest step yet toward complying with those demands on Friday, releasing 3 million pages of material. But Epstein's victims and key members of Congress say the government has not gone far enough. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will address that and more after this report from Chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas.
- [02:39]
Pierre Thomas
The millions of pages of documents being released from the so called Epstein files revealing that the system failed the victims and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein at every turn during his reign of terror.
- [02:51]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
It is just this incredible deep visceral level of frustration and disappointment and sad and grief.
- [03:00]
Pierre Thomas
One new document seen for the first time is the original memo from a DOJ lawyer in the US Attorney's office in Miami in 2007, making the case that Jeffrey Epstein should be charged with at least 60 counts of felonies tied to the molestation and trafficking of underage girls and young women. It's clear from the memo that federal authorities were aware of the scale and the depravity involved, according to the prosecution memo. And Epstein arranged for massage appointments for girls and women ranging in age from 14 to 23, with victims receiving a finder's fee of $200 if they recruited other girls. The memo states that Epstein represented, quote, a continued danger to the community based on his continued enticement of underage girls. But at that time, Epstein was not federally indicted. Instead, he was granted what critics call a sweetheart deal in exchange for pleading guilty to two state charges. He served only 13 months of 18 month sentence in a county jail in Palm beach. Allowed to leave daily to go to his office. Epstein's partner in crime, associate and sometimes lover, Ghislaine Maxwell, was a key accomplice in many of his sordid acts against women and girls, sometimes participating, prosecutors say. In 2021, she was convicted of child sex trafficking and other crimes. The newly released files include deposition video of Maxwell denying knowledge of Epstein's solicitation of minors.
- [04:28]
Narrator/Reporter
How many teenagers did he have that were professional masseuses that in his home?
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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Check the form and foundation.
- [04:36]
Hakeem Jeffries
Herman. First of all, I'm not aware of
- [04:39]
George Stephanopoulos
teenagers who worked in.
- [04:40]
Pierre Thomas
After he was released from prison in 2009, Epstein was back to his jet setting lifestyle and made it a point to cozy up to some of the richest and most powerful people on the planet, like former Prince Andrew, Woody Allen, Bill Gates. All the men have denied any wrongdoing and and any knowledge of Epstein's molestation and illegal activities. But with the release of the documents on Friday, a number of prominent men find themselves having to explain the exact nature of their relationship with Epstein. One of the newly released files described Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick allegedly trying to arrange a meal with Epstein and his private island in 2012. Writing does Sunday evening sound good? A few days later, Epstein's assistant sent Lutnick this message. Jeffrey wished me to pass along the below to you. Nice seeing you. But Lutnick told the New York Times on Friday, I spent zero time with him. Late last year, Lutnick said in an interview he had cut off his relationship with Epstein. In 2005, my wife and I decided
- [05:42]
George Stephanopoulos
that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again.
- [05:48]
Pierre Thomas
The list of Prominent men who spent time with Epstein and who are caught up in his sordid life story is is long. The newly released documents include an FBI slideshow compiled sometime after July 25, 2025 that lists allegations against other wealthy and powerful men tied to Epstein beyond Donald Trump, including convicted sex offender and film producer Harvey Weinstein, billionaire Leon Black, and bank executive Jess Staley. DOJ officials have said that many of the allegations against prominent figures did not come from credible sources, were not corroborated, and none of those men have been charged with crimes connected to Epstein. Black's attorney telling ABC News there's absolutely no truth to any of the allegations. ABC News has not heard back from an attorney who is represented. Staley. But therein lies the conundrum. The victims and many in public don't trust the Justice Department and don't believe everyone has been held accountable.
- [06:43]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I have absolutely no faith in this justice system.
- [06:45]
Pierre Thomas
And some members of Congress remain skeptical that everything has been uncovered.
- [06:50]
George Stephanopoulos
I can't say whether they're acting in
- [06:52]
Pierre Thomas
good faith until I see the documents for this week. Pierre Thomas, ABC News, Washington.
- [06:59]
George Stephanopoulos
Thanks, Pierre Thomas for that. We're joined now by the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche. Mr. Blanche, thank you for joining us this morning. As you know, your release on Friday has already received a response from the victims, from Jeffrey Epstein's victims. I want to show the statement right now. It says survivors are having their names and identifying information exposed while the men who abuse us remain hidden and protected. This is outrageous. The Justice Department cannot claim it is finishing releasing files until every legally required document is released and every abuser and enabler is fully exposed. Will there be more releases?
- [07:35]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I mean, look, first of all, we took great pains, as I explained on Friday, to make sure that we protected victims. This was a. We are talking about a review of 3.5 million pieces of paper that were released on Friday. Every time we hear from a victim or their lawyer that they believe that their name was not properly redacted, we immediately rectify that. And the numbers we're talking about, just so the American people understand, we're talking about.001% of all the materials. And so, and we knew this, I said this on Friday, that, that of course, the nature of this type of review was the volume of materials that were reviewed, that there would be times when this happened. And so we're. We're working hard to make sure that we fix that. And I expect that that will continue.
- [08:22]
George Stephanopoulos
Will more documents be released?
- [08:27]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
We have released. There are a small number of documents as I said on Friday that we're waiting for a judge to, to say we can, we're allowed to release because of a protective order, but this review is over. I mean, we reviewed over 6 million pieces of paper, thousands of videos, thousands, tens of thousands of images, which is what the statute required us to do. You know, it's interesting. Leadership on the Hill, Congressman Massie, Senator Schumer are quick to complain. There is no way they have spent any time looking at the materials we produce. Because I know the materials we produce, we produce them on Friday, but by Saturday they're already complaining about what we did. And by the way, apparently Massie and others wrote a letter to come and review unredacted materials. I didn't get that letter yet. They leaked it to the press before they actually sent it to me. But yeah, that's absolutely, totally fine. We have nothing to hide. We have nothing to hide. We never did. And our doors are open if they want to come and review any of the materials that we produced.
- [09:30]
George Stephanopoulos
That was going to be my next question. So thank you for answering it. I do want to move on right now. We have some video right now showing Leon Ramos, that five year old boy who was detained by ICE in Minnesota, being released today. He's on his way back home to Minnesota after a judge ordered him released. And it was a pretty blistering order from the judge, Fred Byery, down in the U.S. district judge, district court judge down in Texas. He showed a photo of Liam, included some biblical passages saying Jesus wept, and then went on to say civics lesson to the government. Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch to itself do not pass probable cause muster. This is called the fox guarding the hen house. The Constitution requires an independent judicial officer. What's your response?
- [10:17]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Well, look, that's an act of litigation, so I'm limited. But I will say this. The immigration law, the body of immigration law, is much different than our typical criminal process because of the administrative nature of what we do every day. And so to the extent that we need to appeal that judge's decision, I promise we will. But you see thousands and thousands of administrative actions happening every single day in this country. And you just highlighted a single one and not the thousands and thousands of others that happened. And so this is what we're doing is tough. What we're doing is difficult. I mean, we're talking about a situation where millions and millions and millions of undocumented illegal aliens have flooded our country. And we are trying to find them basically one by one. And so, you know, I Don't have a comment specifically on what that judge said yesterday. But generally speaking, we are complying with the law every single day.
- [11:11]
George Stephanopoulos
They are being released across the country as well by judges. And the president said he was going to prioritize those who had criminal records. But about 70%, at least, of those who have been detained don't have criminal records.
- [11:25]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Well, just hang on. The fact that they're here illegally is a crime. And so when you say they don't have criminal records, they are, by their presence, being here without status, having come into this country illegally or overstayed illegally, that is a crime. And so we have to be careful. And you're right, there is a schism in the law right now about whether an illegal alien can be held pending their proceeding or whether they need to be released on bail. We very strongly believe that they should be held. And there's a bunch of appellate cases. So that's another example of something where a number of district court judges have reached a conclusion that we very much believe is contrary to law. And there will be an appellate court and ultimately probably the Supreme Court, that will be asked to interpret that. So we should be. We should wait before we withhold judgment until the appellate courts have had their opportunity to weigh in.
- [12:14]
George Stephanopoulos
I should say, to clarify, the lawyer from the. For Liam Ramos and his father say they were following the legal process for asylum.
- [12:21]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I mean, I don't know what that means. They were following legal process, so they applied for asylum. And, yes, the judge disagreed with us. Excuse me.
- [12:28]
George Stephanopoulos
They applied for asylum, and they were going through the legal process.
- [12:33]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Well, there's. So that's not true. That is not true. There's a very meaningful dispute about whether they had properly applied for asylum. And again, I don't. I cannot get into the specifics. The specifics of this litigation, but you can read the same briefs I can, and what you just said is not true.
- [12:48]
George Stephanopoulos
Okay. That's what his lawyer says. So they. I'm sure they'll have a response to that as well. I also want to ask you about the situation in Minnesota. Just this week, Don Lemon was arrested. The journalist Don Lemon was arrested along with another independent journalist, and he was. This was despite the fact that a magistrate judge in an appeals court refused to appeal, approved the request, and the chief Federal District judge, Patrick Schiltz, wrote that there was no event, no evidence that Mr. Lemon engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so. So when do you believe that Mr. Lemon crossed the line from reporting on what was going on to Criminal activity.
- [13:26]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Conveniently missing from what you just showed, George, is the appellate court and a judge on the appellate court who said just a few days later, there was clearly probable cause and it wasn't even a clue. Close question. So. And by the way, a grand jury, which is what our system has set up to determine whether probable cause exists, concluded that there was probable cause. That indictment is now public. Everybody in this country can pull it up and read for themselves and see what the grand jury found that Mr. Lemon did. I am not going to comment on the charges specifically because it's not appropriate, but it's interesting that, that we talk about the First Amendment right. You have a right of freedom of religion, which is just as important as any other right that we have. And, George, I don't know if you've watched the videos or read the indictment about what it's alleged that Mr. Lemon did, but if anybody in this country thinks that that is, quote, independent journalism, I would like to have a conversation with you now. He obviously has a very good lawyer. He can raise defenses in court to the extent he wants to. But nobody in this country should feel comfortable storming into a church while it's ongoing and disrupting that church service and thinking that we're just going to stand by and let that happen, because there is a statute that does not allow that to happen. It doesn't matter if you happen to be a former CNN journalist. It doesn't matter if you're a rioter. It doesn't matter if you think you're peacefully protesting. You are not allowed to do that.
- [14:48]
George Stephanopoulos
So you're confident he's going to be convicted and the case won't be dismissed?
- [14:52]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I am not going to speak to conviction. That would be completely inappropriate. He was indicted by a grand jury in Minneapolis, and he'll have his day in court like everybody else.
- [15:03]
George Stephanopoulos
During your confirmation hearings, you made a strong statement against partisan political investigations and prosecutions. I want to show it for our audience.
- [15:11]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Partisan lawfare in our justice system wastes taxpayer money, makes communities less safe and ruins lives. This should never happen in America.
- [15:21]
George Stephanopoulos
I've got your commitment. There will not even be a whiff of an investigation that appears to have a political motivation to it.
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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I commit to that.
- [15:30]
George Stephanopoulos
Since then, as you know, a number of targets of President Trump who've been publicly targeted by President Trump have been prosecuted or investigated. I want to show that right now. It includes the former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Senators Adam Schiff, Mark Kelly, and Alyssa Slotkin, Governor Tim Walsh, and Mayor Jacob Fry. So how do we respond to those who say you've broken your commitment?
- [15:58]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
You just showed a handful of investigations or grand jury indictments that have been brought. We are investigating tens of thousands of individuals and cases every single day. They are not political and based. The fact that you cherry picked a handful of that, some people in the media have said, oh, those must be political is absurd and not fair. I mean, don't forget, George, when I walk into the Oval Office right now, I look around and oftentimes every single person in that room was heavily attacked and gone after by the last Biden administration. And so when I said to Congress and when I say to you right now that there's not a whiff of political partisanship in what we're doing, I mean that the mere fact that some Democrats or some individuals who have spoken out against President Trump are being investigated is because that's what the Department of Justice does. It doesn't make it political because we're investigating. And that's something important we're doing. We have brought down crime. We're making America safe again. We're working hard every day. And those handful of investigations or cases you just show don't change that.
- [17:02]
George Stephanopoulos
Those indictments of James Comey and Letitia James came after the president explicitly said they're guilty as hell, injustice must be served. Right now. They came after career attorneys refused to bring the indictments, and both cases have been dismissed.
- [17:19]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I mean, when you, I don't know what it means to come after people. I mean, listen, if you're a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, you are expected to effectuate this administration's priorities. Like every single prosecutor, prosecutor in every administration, there are some, some prosecutors within the department who have chosen to leave. They don't want to do that. That is their right. That is fine. But if you're going to work in this department, you are going to execute on the president's priorities. And that's what we do. And yes, there are cases that have been dismissed by judges. They're under appeal. That's, that's what happens in our system. And that doesn't make the cases wrong or right. It just means that they've been dismissed and they're under appeal.
- [17:53]
George Stephanopoulos
Well, you just, you just actually made my point right, right there. You said it's the President's priorities. The president calls for them publicly to be prosecuted, says they're guilty as hell, and then they're prosecuted.
- [18:04]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
No, that's not the President's priorities. That's a truth that he sent out. The president's priorities are executing on making America safe again. And that's what we're doing. And so when we go to prosecutors and we say, you are going to do violent crime, you are going to do fraud cases out of Minnesota, because that's a horrible thing that's happening there. If, if individual prosecutors say, no, I don't want to do that, they need to leave, and they do leave. And that's what I meant when I said that. I'm not saying that. Weunder no circumstances do we turn to a prosecutor and say, you need to go after somebody because they are politically, one way or another. We have never done that, and we won't do that.
- [18:37]
George Stephanopoulos
But the president said it. The president is the one who said they're guilty as hell and justice must be served.
- [18:43]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
You're reading a small part of a truth. The truth said a lot of other things, too, and many other truths have said. The thing, what the president has said publicly and what he says to me and what he says to the attorney general and what he says to the American people is he expects investigations to be fair. He expects investigations to be done right. But he also doesn't expect that we investigate. He expects that we do the right thing and that we root out the corruption. I mean, we had an incredibly corrupt Department of Justice when we came into power, power last year. There can be no dispute about that. There can be no dispute that the Garland Department of Justice did not do the right thing in many cases. And so to now be judged a year later because of a truth the president said is not appropriate. We can look at our body of work and the work that we're doing as a department every day. And I know that we're making this country safer again. We are bringing integrity back to the department, notwithstanding what those in the media say differently. And we're going to continue, continue to do that.
- [19:38]
George Stephanopoulos
I want to ask you about a report breaking in the Wall Street Journal overnight. I want to show the headline right now. It's the headline saying, the spy Sheikh bought secret stake in Trump company. $500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before UAE won access to tightly guarded American AI chips. It's referring to the National Security Advisor to the uae, Sheikh Tanoon. And he made this investment just before President Trump was inaugurated. The article goes on to say the deal marks something unprecedented in American politics. A foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president's company. This is the company of President Trump's family. Eric Trump is the, is the president of the company. President Trump is listed as the founder emeritus, though he's not running it directly right now. How do you respond to those who say this is a serious conflict of interest?
- [20:30]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I love it when, when these papers talk about something being unprecedented or never happening before, as if the Biden family and the Biden administration didn't do exactly the same thing and they were just in office. So I, look, I saw that article. I don't have a comment on it beyond President Trump has been completely transparent. When his family travels for business reasons, they don't do so in secret. We don't learn about it when we find a laptop a few years later. Later, we learn about it when it's happening. And so there's nothing unprecedented about the Trump Organization going out and trying to make investments that basically all will come back to the American people and jobs in this country. And so this idea that there's something untoward or unprecedented is just a repeated story that isn't true. And that's, and I think that the American people know that and the fact that we talk about unprecedented and this is something that doesn't happen is just not true. And it shouldn't be said by these so called newspapers that are saying it.
- [21:29]
George Stephanopoulos
Well, the president doesn't run the company, but he does profit from it. His financial disclosures show he's received funds from that. And law professor Kathleen Clark is quoted in the article saying, this sure looks like a violation of the foreign emoluments clause. Ty Cobb, who served as President Trump's lawyer during the first administration, said, quote, quote, my advice as an ethics lawyer would have been you don't do business deals with the families of the leaders of foreign countries. It taints American foreign policy. How do you respond to Mr. Cobb?
- [21:58]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I don't have a response to that guy. I mean, that guy hasn't said a nonpartisan thing in the past four years. I mean, I could have predicted what you just said he would say. That's what he says every time anything comes out about the president. I don't have a. The president is ethical. He, he talks more to the press. He says what's happening more than any president in history. You have a question about it, you can ask him. He gaggled on the plane last night at midnight for like 20 minutes. OK, so like the fact that Ty Cobb claims that he would have counseled something different to the president. Ok, I mean, that guy, I mean, I don't have a response to that
- [22:30]
George Stephanopoulos
one of the questions the president also took last night when he was on Air Force One was questions about his suing the Treasury Department, the IRS, for $10 billion for leaking his tax returns. And he suggested that there could be some questions about the conflict. He says it's an interesting question. How do you respond to those who say that's a conflict of interest for the president to be seeking funds from those who he's administering?
- [22:53]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Look, we're looking at how to handle that. I mean, he's not wrong, and I don't think even you think he's wrong, that what happened there is horrible. The fact that his tax returns were leaked, no American should have that. And you do have Americans, whether you're the president or just anybody in this country has a right when something like that happens. And so I very much sympathize with what the president talked about. And we're looking into, as a department, how to address and make sure that type of thing never happens again to anybody, much less a former president or a current president. And we'll go from there.
- [23:29]
George Stephanopoulos
It is wrong for president to have his tax returns leaks, for anyone to have their tax returns leaked. I agree with that. The president is also seeking $230 million from the Justice Department, saying his rights were violated during the 2016 campaign. And I just wonder how you think you're going to handle that. Both you, as the Deputy Attorney general and the Attorney General Pam Bondi, have served as President Trump's personal lawyers in the past. Doesn't that pose the, at least the appearance of a conflict? And should you be involved in dealing with that in any way?
- [23:56]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
I mean, I haven't talked about whether I'm involved with that at all anyway. I mean, it's. That's a, That's a fair question, George. And we all, we obviously talk about conflicts and what I'm allowed to do, what the attorney General is allowed to do because of what we've done in our past. But there are limits to those, to those conflicts. And I do have a job to the American people and President Trump as the deputy Attorney general. And so, you know, we will navigate that appropriately and consistently with the ethical rules and get to a just result.
- [24:24]
George Stephanopoulos
Mr. Blanche, thanks for your time this morning.
- [24:28]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Thank you, George.
- [24:29]
George Stephanopoulos
We'll get a reaction from the top Democrat in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, when we come back.
- [24:38]
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- [25:48]
Narrator/Reporter
Did you say someone got shot? Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami,
- [25:53]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
gunned down the key to this case. It's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth?
- [26:04]
George Stephanopoulos
They just want a conviction. Being placed under arrest.
- [26:06]
Pierre Thomas
We had a killer amongst us.
- [26:08]
Xtandi Advertiser
Murder at the U Listen now.
- [26:12]
Hakeem Jeffries
I want my colleagues to listen closely. I want my Republican colleagues to listen closely. Senate Democrats will not support a DHS bill unless it rains in ice and ends the violence. We have only a few days to deliver real progress for the American people. The eyes of the nation are watching.
- [26:34]
George Stephanopoulos
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday after the Senate voted to keep the government open, at least for the next couple of weeks. We're joined now by the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries. Congressman Jeffries, thank you for joining us. Right now. So this passed the House. They passed the bill to keep the government open for another couple of weeks as you try to negotiate reforms on homeland security funding. Will the House follow the Senate's lead and vote to keep the government open?
- [26:55]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, it was a meaningful step in the right direction. Certainly the separation of the five bipartisan bills, which in our view promote the health, the safety and the economic well being of the American people, need to move forward and we'll meet later on this afternoon as a caucus to discuss what we believe is the best path. What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be dramatically reformed. We share that view, as does Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats in a variety of different ways. Body cameras should be mandatory. Masks should come off. Judicial warrants should absolutely be required, consistent with the Constitution. In our view, before DHS agents or ICE agents are breaking into the homes of the American people or ripping people out of their cars, we need to make sure that there are complete and independent investigations so that when ICE or DHS agents break the law, they are held accountable not by the Department of Justice, which has no interest in actually conducting a fair investigation, in our view, but by state and local authorities. And we need to reiterate that the detention and deportation of American citizens off the table and using taxpayer dollars to brutalize everyday Americans or violently target law abiding immigrant families needs to be off the table.
- [28:13]
George Stephanopoulos
That's a list of serious reforms. Will you vote to keep funding Department of Homeland Security for the next two weeks as you negotiate those reforms?
- [28:20]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, we're going to have that conversation later on today and as we return to Washington. But the one thing that we've said publicly is that we need a robust path toward dramatic reform. The administration can't just talk the talk. They need to walk the walk. That should begin today, not in two weeks, today.
- [28:39]
George Stephanopoulos
But can you get these reforms that you're calling for, no masks, body cameras. You just heard Deputy Attorney General Blanche say that he's very much in support of these administrative warrants, not judicial warrants. Can you get them? How can they be enforced?
- [28:54]
Hakeem Jeffries
The administrative warrants, in our view, aren't worth the paper they are written on. This is an extreme administration unleashing brutality on the American people, using taxpayer dollars. So we absolutely, as a condition of moving forward, in my view, I think this is a broadly held perspective shared by Democrats in the House and the Senate, need judicial warrants. More importantly, George, it's a perspective held by the American people and we're standing on their side.
- [29:19]
George Stephanopoulos
Even if you get the agreement, even if you get the agreement with Republicans in the Congress, can you trust the administration to actually enforce the changes?
- [29:26]
Hakeem Jeffries
This is one of the. Well, you're absolutely correct that this is an untrustworthy administration. They've been lawless from the very beginning. It's one of the reasons why we need to actually build these strict requirements in terms of behavior into the law so that the courts can hold them accountable and the American people, through their representatives at the state and local level, can hold these individuals accountable. But, you know, from the very beginning of this effort with respect to the Department of Homeland Security, our premise has been simple, that ICE agents should conduct themselves like every other law enforcement agency in the country, as opposed to running around mass thugs, in many instances unleashing brutality on law abiding American citizens and violently targeting immigrant families and communities. Or even holding in detention a five year old boy with a superhero backpack. That's not the type of violent felon that the administration promised they were going to target. And the American people are rejecting it. And we're going to stand on their side.
- [30:35]
George Stephanopoulos
Let me turn to the Epstein files. You heard Deputy Attorney General Blanche say this is over. They've released everything, just about everything they're going to release. They're going to allow members of Congress to look at these unredacted files. So is it over?
- [30:46]
Hakeem Jeffries
It's not over. And it will not be over until there is full and complete transparency as demanded by the survivors so that there can be full and complete accountability. This is a basic premise here in the country. And there are more than 3 million documents that are being withheld by the Department of Injustice. And so the question that has to be asked that the American people are asking is what are they hiding from the American people and who are they protecting? This was a law that was passed by bipartisan majorities in the House and in the Senate, reluctantly on the Republican side. But we brought them over into a more enlightened position and it was even signed by Donald Trump as president. And so the demand is simple. Comply with the law so that we can achieve the type of full transparency and visibility for the American people about all the wrongdoing that occurred and ensure that there can be accountability so that something like this, this reign of terror never happens again.
- [31:49]
George Stephanopoulos
On the Epstein issue, as you know, the House Oversight Committee voted to hold President Clinton and Secretary of State Clinton in contempt. Nine Democrats voted for that resolution as well. It's probably going to come to the House floor this week. You've said you're against this contempt vote. Why are you against it? How are you going to, how are you going to advise other Democrats to vote?
- [32:08]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, we'll have a conversation about that when we return. I think our view is that, my view at least is that the Clintons have engaged in good faith negotiations to try to arrive at an accommodation so that their testimony is offered with the Oversight Committee. And James Comer, the so called chair of the Oversight Committee, he just needs to take yes for an answer because it's clear that the Clintons are prepared to appear and to have recorded testimony so that there's a track record that everyone can subsequently evaluate the notion that they're going to go after Secretary Clinton and Bill Clinton with criminal Contempt. In other words, this is sort of a lock her up approach. Seems completely inconsistent with the law. If the goal is to actually try to get the information as opposed to create a political spectacle, do you think
- [33:04]
George Stephanopoulos
it's possible that they can reach an agreement before the House votes on contempt?
- [33:07]
Hakeem Jeffries
Yes, and I'm very hopeful that an agreement will be reached so that the testimony can be adduced and the chips will fall where they may. The Clintons are ready to testify. That's been made clear that the Republicans need to take yes for an answer.
- [33:22]
George Stephanopoulos
As you saw, I had several questions for Deputy Attorney General Blanch about conflicts of interest, including about this new report in the Wall Street Journal showing that the national security adviser to the UAE made an investment in the Trump family company just before the inauguration. As you know, there's been several actions taken with the UAE since then. He says there's no conflict. How do you respond?
- [33:42]
Hakeem Jeffries
Of course there's a conflict. We have three issues of priority as House Democrats that we want to work on on behalf of the the American people. One, we have to drive down the high cost of living, of course, because America is too expensive. Donald Trump promised to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down. They've gone up. Housing costs, out of control. Grocery costs, out of control. Utility bills, electricity bills, totally out of control. Health care costs, of course, child care costs, all of it out of control. We need to deal with that. We need to fix our broken health care system, particularly in the midst of the assault that Republicans have launched and their one big ugly bill. They enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping health care away from millions of people. And in that same bill, gave the Department of Homeland Security $191 billion, including 75 billion that went to ICE so that taxpayer dollars could be used to brutalize the American people. We also need to clean up corruption wherever it's found in the Congress, at the Supreme Court, and certainly with the administration, I think the most corrupt administration in American history. Why is Donald Trump focused on enriching himself, his family and his friends as opposed to focused on driving down the high cost of living? Why is he focused on destroying half the White House trying to extort $230 billion from the Department of Justice or promoting his wife's documentary as opposed to fixing our broken health care system? Why is he focused on brutalizing everyday Americans by unleashing these masked agents in American communities as opposed to doing his job like the American people? George, have had enough. The question is, when will Republicans have enough with this failed presidency.
- [35:29]
George Stephanopoulos
Mr. Cherries, thanks for your time this morning.
- [35:31]
Hakeem Jeffries
Thank you.
- [35:31]
George Stephanopoulos
Roundtable's up next. We're back in a moment.
- [35:36]
Chris Christie
An all new season of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is coming to
- [35:39]
George Stephanopoulos
Hulu and Hulu on Disney on March 12th.
- [35:41]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
The Mom Talk has just been blowing up.
- [35:43]
Narrator/Reporter
Whitney and Jen are on Dancing with the Stars.
- [35:45]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Taylor is a bachelorette. Saying that out loud is crazy. Like that is huge. But all the cool opportunities could pull us apart. It's causing issues in everyone's marriage. My whole world is falling apart right now.
- [35:57]
Narrator/Reporter
It's chaos.
- [35:58]
Chris Christie
Watch the Hulu original series the series Secret Lives of Mormon wives March 12th coming to Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers, terms apply.
- [36:06]
George Stephanopoulos
I'm RJ Decker, the private investigator uncovering
- [36:09]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
the Sunshine State's darkest secrets.
- [36:12]
Chris Christie
Tuesdays, it's the premiere of ABC's hottest
- [36:15]
Hakeem Jeffries
new crime show, RJ freaking Decker.
- [36:18]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
As I live and breathe, he's a private eye. It's not a standard murder. Something bigger and a public mass trying
- [36:24]
George Stephanopoulos
to get some back to prison. Today. You go to prison one time and
- [36:28]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
suddenly it's all the jokes.
- [36:30]
Chris Christie
RJ Decker, series premiere Tuesdays on ABC and stream on Hulu.
- [36:39]
George Stephanopoulos
Based on the discussions I've had with the governor and the ag, we can start drawing down those resources as far as those looking for public safety threats being released and do it in jail with much less people. So the drawdown is going to happen. Will you be pulling back immigration enforcement agents out of Minnesota to keep our country safe? We'll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.
- [37:03]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
So not pulling back?
- [37:05]
George Stephanopoulos
No, no, not at all. Nick Sagnos from the administration this week on Minnesota. Let's talk about it on a roundtable. We're joined by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former DNC chair Donna Brazile, the former communications director of the rnc, Doug High, and New York Times opinion political correspondent Michelle Cottle. And Chris, let me begin with you. It looked like at the beginning of this week, given what had been happening in Minnesota after the killing of Alex Brady, the administration was going to pull back out of Minnesota. Every day that goes by, it appears that's not the case.
- [37:31]
Chris Christie
No. Look, I think what they're trying to do, which is kind of typical, is they are trying to manage the PR problem, not the actual problem. What really concerns the president here is, in my view, not what happened on the ground in Minnesota, but how it's being viewed by the rest of the country and how that's affecting the approval ratings of his administration. And so never in my life did I think Tom Holman would be seen as a calming influence. But that's who he sends out there to be the calming influence in Minnesota, which tells you two things. One, how out of control Bovino and that group had gotten, that Homan could actually be perceived that way. And secondly, that there's going to be really no change in policy here because Tom Homan is the architect of this policy.
- [38:16]
George Stephanopoulos
Well, you say no change in policy, but we just heard Donna Brazil, we just heard Hakeem Jeffries laying out the demands that Democrats have for the kind of changes they expect to see. It's really hard for me to see how they're going to come to an agreement on that in the next two weeks.
- [38:27]
Doug High
The only way they can come to an agreement, if they can once again get back at the table and the Democrats agree to help the Republicans out. Look, I think the common sense demands that the Democrats are asking for, demands that the American people want. They want to make sure that their cities are safe, their country is safe. But they don't want ICE officials, many, many of whom are not vetted properly, without adequate training. If they're not working with local and state law enforcement, they cannot achieve the mission that the Trump administration is trying to have.
- [38:55]
George Stephanopoulos
This has broken through with the American people. Immigration had been the president's best issue. Now he's underwater.
- [39:01]
Narrator/Reporter
People were not expecting this kind of response. I mean, this is a fight that's the Democrats want to have in terms of getting some guardrails on ice. It's one thing to talk about dealing with chaos. The American people don't like chaos. What they saw at the border during the Biden administration struck them as something that needed to be addressed. But what you're seeing in Minnesota now is mass chaos, and it has the potential to spread. I mean, the one thing that seems to have come out of this so far is that the Trump administration has dialed back their plans for an operation in Maine. So it's not like this is just isolated. People understand that this chaos can spread, and they do not like that.
- [39:39]
George Stephanopoulos
Susan Collins took credit for that. The Republican senator for Maine took credit for that. Poll out. How much pressure is the president under from Republicans in Congress right now? It's actually kind of hard to read a great deal.
- [39:50]
Michelle Cottle
Republicans are spooked. I got an email from a very senior, a committee chair, Republican member of Congress on Monday who's very pro Trump, who said, I don't know how to talk about this. What should I do? They don't know how to talk about this, and it's not what they want to talk about. And so when you deal with a president who is a chaos agent, Donald Trump's communications is blunt force trauma. He does not do subtlety. This has not been subtle. They're struggling with how do I talk about this issue. That's not what I want to talk about. They know that they need to get back to the economy and how they're trying to lower prices and they're not allowed to do it. Trump had a very successful event this week talking about the Trump accounts for children, but we haven't talked about it. We sort of forgotten about it because everything is this issue. And now, Epstein.
- [40:32]
George Stephanopoulos
So how do you read Republicans on Capitol Hill dealing with the demands of Democrats to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded?
- [40:37]
Michelle Cottle
Look, the biggest problem is how do we keep the government open and clearly moving forward? Two weeks from now, we're going to come to a place where we don't have specific, we don't have answers, and we're still trying to figure out what the right questions are. And that's where Republicans are struggling.
- [40:50]
George Stephanopoulos
One of the other things you're seeing here, Chris, and I talked about it a bit in my interview with Deputy Attorney General Blanche, is that on this issue, the administration is getting rebuked again and again and again from judges, even Republican judges.
- [41:02]
Chris Christie
Yeah. Look, when you look at the conduct on the ground, that's offensive to not only the American people, but to people's sense of rule of law and what rule of law is supposed to look like. As Michelle said, look, the border situation that the Biden administration allowed to happen is a large part of the reason I think Donald Trump was reelected in 2024. And people are all for the fact that he has secured the border. But law enforcement, I think, in many ways is uncomfortable with this at the state level. I see it in my own state as well. And now what you're seeing are judges are saying, no, this is not the way you conduct law enforcement activities. Not that the actions are not legitimate in terms of wanting to remove certain people from the country, but the way they're doing it is something that is repulsive to the American people. And Trump knows, you know, one thing he can read is how people are reacting. And I think that's why you're seeing.
- [41:59]
Doug High
But, George, the number of the number of American citizens who are being abducted, the number of American households that are being broken into by ICE officials, the number of Americans who are being stopped. Look, when I See a cop behind me. I've always had jitter and I come from a family with law enforcement. But now when you see cops, you don't know what the hell's going to happen. You don't know what paper you need. You don't know if you can reach down, reach up. You don't know how to protect yourself. And I think many Americans are fearful of what is happening in this country right now. That's why you're seeing people take to the streets. They're taken to the streets, not because they're being paid. I don't know anybody paying anybody to go out in the cold. I mean, God knows you have to pay me a hell of a lot. And George, I did come to see you in the cold. But the point is, is that people are upset by the way which the administration is trying to achieve their goals.
- [42:49]
George Stephanopoulos
Do the Democrats though, have a danger, Michelle Cottle, that they overplay their hand? You're seeing this debate now not just about reforming ice, but abolishing ice. And immigration did work against the Democrats in the last election.
- [42:59]
Narrator/Reporter
I hate this mantra. You have a mantra that has been proven to be politically toxic. Just tweak the mantra. Even if you want massive overhaul of the ICE agency, which Americans do, this has not been a kind of great campaign to showcase your ICE agents. You don't need to go back to a well that has already kind of sent a signal that you're soft on crime. Let's lets the administration paint you as soft on crime and that sort of thing. Just move on from that. So, yes, be careful.
- [43:32]
George Stephanopoulos
Is the government going to stay open?
- [43:34]
Michelle Cottle
Oh, I have no idea. And I don't think leadership has any idea at this point.
- [43:37]
Doug High
That's right.
- [43:37]
Michelle Cottle
You know, where we were a week ago is not where we are today two weeks from now. As we know, Donald Trump can change the story and what we talk about 10 times between now and then.
- [43:47]
George Stephanopoulos
No question about that. Got to take a quick break. We'll be back with all of you in just a minute.
- [43:53]
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- [44:54]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
abc Wednesdays, the Emmy winning comedy Scrubs is all new. This is a whole new chapter for me. No more sad sack. That's what I'm talking about. I want both of our sacks to be fun.
- [45:04]
George Stephanopoulos
You two idiots are perfect for each other.
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- [45:08]
George Stephanopoulos
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- [45:10]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
Now get those nachos out of the preemie warmer.
- [45:13]
George Stephanopoulos
Nachos. Feels like there's more applause for the
- [45:16]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
nachos than my speech. The new season of Scrubs Wednesdays, 8,
- [45:20]
George Stephanopoulos
7 Central on ABC and stream on Hulu. Roundtable is back. Let's talk about the Epstein files. Chris, you just heard Blanche says it's over. Hakeem, Jeffrey says it's not over. The victims say it's not over. Is it over?
- [45:35]
Chris Christie
It's never over, George. This thing will never end. And it all goes back to, you know, I was interested to see in the release the original prosecution memo to Alex Acosta, who was the U.S. attorney in Florida when this started in 07. I was in office at that time. And I remember when the Epstein case got resolved, so many of his fellow U.S. attorneys were like, what, even then? Yes, because when you saw the nature of the allegations, but then also we didn't even know the depth of it. But then when you saw the way he got sent to state court and then the sentence in county jail where he was allowed to leave during the day and just sleep there at night, like we all thought, what the hell is this? And so going all the way back now, nearly 20 years, this has been something that as law enforcement we thought was completely absurd and something was going on. We didn't know what at the time. Now we understand it much, much more. And I don't think it's going to end anytime soon because remember he said there's six million documents, they've released three and a half million pages of the six million pages. So what's the deal with the other two and a half million pages, why aren't they being released? And so that argument is going to continue. They should have, George, in my view, six months ago, released all 6 million pages at one time. Get it out, get it done and get it over with. Instead, we are going to continue to have this drip, drip, drip. And there are wealthy men all over this country who are holding their breaths.
- [47:05]
George Stephanopoulos
You see the first reports that we're getting this, this net that Jeffrey Epstein cast is very, very wide.
- [47:12]
Narrator/Reporter
It is. And I think everyone caught in it deserves to have their records out there. I think the Trump administration has handled this so incredibly badly. They look so sus on this. Whether they want it to be over or not. Let's remember, it's in the MAGA corners. They are very upset about this. They think that he has been betraying his pledge to not protect the establishment and the elite. So even among certain corners, you know, we had Marjorie Taylor Greene leave Congress essentially over this fight. So I think, I think that it is going to continue dripping, dripping, dripping. And all those men out there, I hope they are sweating on the sweat.
- [47:53]
George Stephanopoulos
This really was the first issue Republicans in Congress broke from the President without question.
- [47:57]
Michelle Cottle
And here are the MAGA corners. This summer, I was in the town of Lake Ozark, at Lake of the Ozarks, and there's a little store called Teresa's Trump Shop. And I walked in, they have all your garden variety Trump paraphernalia. And I asked the lady, full disclosure, I don't know if it was actually Theresa, I said, do you have any Release the Epstein T shirts or bumper stickers? And she laughed and said no and said, what's the holdup? And if your business is invested, your daily life is invested in Donald Trump and you're asking that question, you have a real problem with the MAGA base, the MAGA corners.
- [48:26]
George Stephanopoulos
I couldn't quite tell from listening to Hakeem Jeffries where he thinks most of the Democrats are going to vote on whether or not to hold the Clintons in contempt. What's your read of it? Do you think there can actually be a deal before the vote?
- [48:36]
Doug High
Well, I hope so, because look, the Clintons are willing to testify, they're willing to talk. And somehow or another, Mr. Coleman, the chamber, the chairman of the committee, would like to extract something from the Clintons that he's not asking everyone else. He's dismissed the other subpoenas. George. I think the victims and survivors deserve to have their stories told. And the Justice Department with this drip, drip, strategy is only delaying the fact that we're going to see all of these men and women exposed. I'm just horrified by the whole thing. I can't even read this. And I like to read salacious gossip redacted or unredacted. But this is filth. This is dirty. And after the man was convicted, Mr. Epstein, people still came to him wanting to go to his island, making phone calls, trying to take the edge off by let's let. This is Mr. Musk. I want to let loose. I'm like, what kind of people are we dealing with? No, the victims deserve to be respected. And I hope that when this conversation happens next week, we can get another round of information out there.
- [49:44]
George Stephanopoulos
Chris, you saw me ask Attorney General about all these different conflict of interest questions facing the administration right now, including that new report in the Wall Street Journal about a $500 billion investment from the UAE. He dismisses it, says it's nothing, that everybody does it.
- [49:58]
Doug High
Corruption.
- [49:59]
George Stephanopoulos
They seem to believe they're going to be able to ride this out. Will they?
- [50:01]
Chris Christie
Well, they're going to try to because that's their overall strategy. Look, as you and I were talking about before, Todd Blanche is a guy who came into this job with a good reputation inside the Justice Department, going back to when he served as a private U.S. attorney and as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York. But you could even see he was uncomfortable with some of the things he had to say. Look, here's their theory. If we commit blatantly unethical and perhaps even illegal acts, but we do it completely in the open and let everybody see that we're doing it, there's nothing wrong with it. That's absurd. It's absolutely absurd. And the reason they can do it, George, is because Todd Blanche is at the Justice Department because his personal attorneys, Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche are there. So you can do this out in the open. You have to worry about any ramifications from the Justice Department because it's how
- [50:49]
George Stephanopoulos
are they going to be able to roll on this, this money the president is seeking from the taxpayers, both from the IRS and the Justice Department.
- [50:55]
Chris Christie
They can't. And no one in the, in the Justice Department is independent any longer. This is going to be like when you have the Saturday Night Massacre under Nixon. You know, out goes Richardson, out goes Ruckelshaus, and there's Robert Bork there as the Solicitor General. But in this administration, even the Solicitor General has had personal ties to Trump. And so that's the problem, is that you don't have an independent Justice Department, George.
- [51:17]
George Stephanopoulos
That's all we have time for today. Thank you all. That is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out World News Tonight and I'll see you tomorrow on gma.
- [51:31]
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
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Michelle Cottle
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