Chairman Aguilar on Bloomberg: Now, if the President was serious about this, he could release these files tomorrow, he could release them all.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar appeared on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power with hosts Joe Mathieu and Laura Davison to discuss the House-passed legislation to release the Epstein files. You can watch the full interview here and read a partial transcript of the Chairman’s interview below.
JOE MATHIEU: With a round of applause, this is Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio, along with Laura Davison, I'm Joe Mathieu in Washington. Sound there of the Epstein files discharge petition being passed by the House of Representatives today. Mike Flood presiding. After months of disagreement between lawmakers, many thought this day would never come, and the shift to voting for the bill coming only after President Trump urged lawmakers to vote in favor, while still just earlier today calling the release of the files a, quote, “Democratic hoax”.
Joining us now with his reaction live from Capitol Hill, Democratic Congressman Pete Aguilar of California, who is Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. Mr. Chairman, welcome back to Bloomberg TV and Radio. I'm not even sure what to ask you, other than what was the conversation, the vibe in the well of the House, in that chamber this afternoon, when this passed with all but one member?
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: I think it's a credit to the sponsors of this measure too. I mean, Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna did an amazing job continuing to see this through and for us, what this means is, you know, this is an opportunity for justice to be served. Now, if the President was serious about this, he could release these files tomorrow, he could release them all. He could direct his Department of Justice to respond to the lawful subpoena that was also sent their way by Democrats and Republicans, to submit the material to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. So, the President, if he wanted to make this happen, if he truly wanted these documents public and justice done so these survivors, some of which were in the Capitol today, if he really wanted justice for the survivors, he could release these documents on his own.
LAURA DAVISON: Republicans really had a very quick change in messaging, just unfolded over the past 48 hours or so. Were you surprised to see essentially all of your colleagues on the Republican side join you? Only one Republican voted no on this bill.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: I wish they would have had that same feeling a couple weeks ago. We wouldn't have had to wait this long for justice to be done if a couple more Republicans would have signed the discharge petition. But I think this shows that Donald Trump allowed them. He said he was in a losing position. He knew he was in a losing position. He knew this was going to happen. And so he basically directed all of them—all of our colleagues on the Republican side—to vote for this measure. And so that's the power of Donald Trump as well. He has said himself he's the President and the Speaker. He proved it today with that vote.
JOE MATHIEU: Wow, boy, it's really something then, with the exception of Clay Higgins, the Republican from Louisiana who voted no today, the former Cajun John Wayne as they called him when he was a sheriff. I'm assuming that was a loyalty play to Donald Trump. Maybe you're hearing otherwise, Congressman, to have one lawmaker in the entire House stand alone is pretty fascinating, but I'm just curious. Tom Massie, caucusing with Democrats now. Is Marjorie Taylor Greene going to cross the aisle and join you here at some point?
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: I don't think so. But look, if our colleagues want to work in a bipartisan way, whether it's to fund government or to fund health care, we're willing to have conversations with them. And that's always been the case. Last time I was here, we said during the government shutdown, Democrats will go anywhere to have conversations with the President about how we get out of this situation. And so that continues to be the case. We'll have discussions and debate and at any point on any topic, if it delivers hope for the American people, and if it's specifically tied to health care and the affordability crisis that we're in, Democrats are more than willing to have conversations with Thomas Massie or Marjorie Taylor Greene. …
JOE MATHIEU: Congressman, we've got breaking news. This red headline just crossed the Bloomberg terminal while you were speaking. To pull you back into the Epstein situation, the Senate has just reached a deal to clear the House-passed bill. This is apparently on the fast track now, and that bill is going to be delivered next door. So let's get real in our remaining 90 seconds. We know that President Trump has said he's going to sign that bill. We also know he's assigned his Department of Justice to investigate Democrats, including Bill Clinton. Once Congress has finished with this and the President signs it, will we be told that the Department of Justice cannot release the files because it's an ongoing investigation?
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Joe, that's a great question, and that is absolutely the question we should be asking Donald Trump. I don't think it's a coincidence that he directed his Attorney General to open up these investigations, knowing that there is that clause in the bill that says if it's an active investigation, it could prevent the administration from releasing these records. We should demand that these records be released. And we all know that it isn't just about some Democrats who are listed in here. We know that the President's name himself, in the email trove that was just released, is mentioned 1500 times. The name Donald Trump. So this should be about disclosing to the American people what's there, not protecting anybody, whether they're Democrat or Republican or the President of the United States.
JOE MATHIEU: Joining us at a remarkable moment in American politics, Democratic Congressman Pete Aguilar of California. He's Chair of the House Democratic Caucus. We thank you sir for the insights this evening.
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