Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
Epstein Chronicles. One of the biggest problems with the Epstein
investigation is that the federal government has decided not to
do its job. And that's why I've called for states
to get more active if they have information about Jeffrey
Epstein and potential crimes that were committed by Jeffrey Epstein
at the state level, because that's really the only way
to go around the DOJ. Right, if you bring a
case at the state level, the DOJ doesn't have the
jurisdiction to come in and kill it. So I think
that to get around the DOJ that obviously doesn't care,
that obviously isn't going to do anything to rectify this issue,
then we have to get creative, right, and that's what
they're doing in New Mexico. And now we're hearing that
Illinois are pushing for an Epstein probe with real teeth
in their state as well, And I say, good, Remember,
we have no idea just how many victims there really is.
So I think that having a commission here to try
and work their way through what could have happened, what
might have happened, is a great idea because if we're
waiting for the DOJ to help us out, if we're
waiting for the DOJ to slap bracelets on people, we're
going to be waiting a very, very long time. So
today we have an article from the State Journal Register
and the headline Illinois lawmakers push for Epstein probe with
real teeth. The author of this article is Maggie Doherty.
Illinois lawmakers are calling for an independent commission to investigate
Illinois link crimes connected to international sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Democratic lawmakers Monday joined advocates for women and survivors of
sexual abuse to introduce House Bill fifty seven to twenty three,
called the Illinois Epstein Files and Investigation Act. The bill,
if passed, would create a commission to investigate Illinois based
crimes connected to Epstein's network. Those would focus primarily on
the stories of victims in Illinois and crimes that may
have occurred in Illinois. I'm sure mister Pritzker loves hearing
this news, considering that he was credibly accused of taking
part in the abuse. Survivors connected to Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking
network have been telling us the same thing. That the
abuse didn't happen in a vacuum, said bill sponsor Representative
abdol Nazar Rashid, Democrat from Bridgeview. There were systems behind it,
there was power behind it, and into many cases, there
were institutions that look the other way, Institutions that were
supposed to protect these young girls but didn't. Not wrong
about any of that. Let's do a fact check real quick.
Oh yep, factual. All these institutions look the other way.
Epstein could have been stopped all the way back in
ninety six. They chose not to, and now they should
have to answer for that. The measure has a long
way to go to become a law. Rashid was listed
as the bill's loan sponsor as of Monday afternoon, the
day it was filed, though he was accompanied by two
other supportive Democrat legislators. Now, look, I have no idea
about the local politics in Illinois or Chicago, but I'm
guessing it's volatile, and I'm guessing a lot of special
interests have their fingers in the pie. So are the
special interest in Illinois going to allow this to occur?
Some kind of truth commission? I don't know. We'll have
to see and if it does occur and it's created,
is it going to have teeth? And that's still a
question I have about what's going on over in New
Mexico as well. Certainly supportive of the idea and I
think it's a great step in the right direction, but
is it going to have teeth? Is it going to
produce resis? And is it going to be as fearless
as it needs to be? Those are the questions I have.
The ten member commission would be appointed by the governor
and approved by the state Senate. At least three of
those members must be from a different party than the governor.
Members of the commission would be unpaid, but could submit
for reimbursement of expenses should the General Assembly decide to
provide funding. While Rashid said he would welcome bipartisan support,
the board's makeup and the governor's power over it may
make Republican votes difficult to find. Wow, I just don't understand, honestly,
Like all I've heard for the last ten to fifteen
years from MAGA is protect the children. What about the kids?
Don't you care about the kids? Well, here's your chance
to care about the kids. And unfortunately, a lot of
people have come up short. Bill advocates say the commission
is needed to fill a gap left with the federal level,
as the US Department of Justice faces criticism for withholding
records from the Epstein files, particularly pertaining to President Donald Trump,
despite a law that Trump signed mandating their release. Trump's
mentioned more than thirty eight thousand times in the documents
that have been released so far. Nothing to see here.
Come on, stop asking questions, how dare you? What do
you have Trump derangement syndrome? God forbid you ask questions
about somebody who's been named thirty eight thousand times in
the Jeffrey Epstein files. God forbid? I mean, have you
checked the dow. It's absolutely stomach churning and awful to
see what these survivors have been through, and to let
the wheels of justice fall off at the federal level
is an abomination, said Representative and Stava Democrat from Naperville.
It's often said the will of justice turned slowly in
this case. We need to speed that up. Well, that
would be nice, but I just don't think there's going
to be the will there there should be, And I
don't know how anyone could stand against a commission that's
looking for the truth. Now, of course I'm not naive
a lot of politics come into play, but that's why
the Republican should be involved. If you want to make
sure the ground is of equal footing, well, you don't
ignore what's going on. You get involved, You work on it,
You reach across the aisle and say, hey, look, this
is what I want to do. This is my idea.
Let's protect the people in our state. But we all
know that won't happen. It'll turn into some kind of
mudslinging contest to see who cares about who the most. Meanwhile,
once again, it's the survivors that are forgotten about. Tony McCombe,
the Republican minority leader in the House, called Epstein's crimes horrific,
but added creating a commission here may generate headlines, but
it does not deliver justice to victims. Well, how do
you know? Did you investigate anything? Or did James Comer
tell you that you know, there's nothing left to see
here and we're gonna move on. I mean, what is
wrong with people? Do they really think they understand what's
going on with this story? Like I have bad news
the vast majority of people have a very surface level
understanding of what happened here and just how widespread it was.
But they talk real confidently, don't They like they have
all the answers and know exactly what went down and
when breaking news. They don't know their ass from their elbow.
But let's also be honest. Illinois legislators cannot subpoena federal investigators,
prosecute international trafficking rings, or conduct a parallel federal criminal
investigation from Springfield, said macombe, who represents the eighty ninth
district in northwest Illinois. Well, yeah, you can have a
commission that does he inventstigation, and then you can refer
the people that are investigated if crimes were committed to
local law enforcement. I know, shocking how that works, right,
mister McCombie. He thinks you're stupid, just like the rest
of them. The bill would give the commission investigatory authority
to request records from state and local agencies, issue subpoenas
for documents and testimony, and provide confidentiality protection to victims
and other whistleblowers. Victims would not be compelled to testify
against their wishes. According to Rashid. Like the Illinois Accountability Commission,
which is investigating potential abuses by federal immigration agents operating
in Illinois, the Epstein Commission would hold public meetings and
issue public reports redacted as needed for privacy. YO, whatever
people want to do in their own state, I don't
have any problem with it. If the lawmakers want to
put together a commission and look into the way law
enforcements behaving good, they should. And if you're in law enforcement,
you shouldn't be worried. Right, If you're doing everything the
right way and you have nothing to hide, shouldn't be
a problem. It would be required to submit an initial
report within its first year of operation, and another before
it ceases operation after five years. Any investigative files open
out the time the Commission closes its doors would be
transferred to the Attorney General's office. This commission will have
real teeth, subpoena power, the ability to refer criminal evidence
to the Attorney General, and the independence to follow the
facts wherever they lead. Senator Graciela Gusmann of Chicago said
the bill also strengthens the Attorney General's hand by allowing
a state wide grand jury when local prosecutors can't or
won't act. Look, I think it's a good idea. Obviously,
you have to have evidence, right, and the way to
do that is to have an investigation. And as you
all know that that has not happened. So if the
states want to kick off investigations, I think that's a
good idea because the federal government refuses to do it.
So if the state wants to use something like dual sovereignty,
I'm all for it. The bill will allow the attorney
General to call the state wide grand jury to investigate
and prosecute crimes related to Ebstein, including sexual exploitation of children,
child pornography, human trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, and perjury. Well
they hit all the bases, huh, all the greatest hits
because Epstein was involved in all of that. It would
not replace prosecutor, as Rashid said, but give the state
the tools it needs to fully investigate where Illinois law
was broken. If Illinois law was broken, people who broke
it should be held responsible. Right. Is that some kind
of crazy, rebellious idea. I think it's the very bottom
level of what we should expect. The governor's cousin Thomas
Pritzker recently resigned from his role as the executive chairman
of Hyatt Hotels after his association with Epstein and accomplice
Glenne Maxwell came into clear review through emails released in
the Epstein files. Tranch Oh, that's not all that's been
said about him. Virginia credibly accused Thomas Pritzker of abusing her.
Why doesn't anyone ever talk about that? When asked about
his cousin's connection to Epstein in recent interviews, the government
said that anyone who has done something wrong should be
held accountable. I'm not close to my cousin, but I
can tell you that it's very important that people be
held to pay the price for whatever it is they
may have done. Pritzker said. If the bill becomes law,
Illinois lawmakers would join New Mexico in creating state level
bodies to investigate Epstein's criminal sex trafficking network. And it
shouldn't be that way. The federal government should have done
their job, but no, now we have to go back
have state investigations when evidence has already walked. People have died,
people have passed away, people have forgotten things, people have
been paid off, probably, but sure, let's go back and
retroactively take a look because the federal government was too
busy shitting on the rest of us to protect Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein's Zoro ranch in New Mexico has faced scrutiny as
a hub other sex trafficking crimes. New Mexico lawmakers pass
the bill unanimously in February. Supporters of the Illinois bill
said that they hope that other states would join the
fight in lieu of accountability at the national level. For years,
the country has been told to wait, wait for Washington,
wait for the next document drop, wait for the next excuse,
wait while survivors carry the weight. Jane Ruby, president of
the League of Women Voters of Chicago Total reporters, if
justice remains a locked door in Washington, then let our
state be the battering ram, she added, Let Illinois lead
the way. Hey, good for you guys. If you can
get it through, that's gonna be awesome. Is it going
to find anything? Who knows, But we don't know until
we have an investigation, right, So I'm completely on board,
and this is something I've been talking about for years.
So it's nice to see Illinois getting on board with
this nice to see New Mexico kicking something into gear.
So now New York you're on the clock. And for
all the big talk that comes out of New York
from all the politicians, you'd think they'd be on board
with this. So let's see what happens. But I think
having New Mexico and Illinois do this is certainly a
step in the right direction, and I hope that Florida
and New York both follow suit. But like usual, we'll
keep an eye on things and we'll see where it
all goes. All the information that goes with this episode
can be found in the description box.