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Floor Speech

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. President, I am introducing this resolution to require the Department of Justice to release its files related to Jeffery Epstein.

For years, Donald Trump and the MAGA movement have railed on about the Epstein files. They have told the American people they are going to release the files and expose the elites. Pam Bondi has said she has the files on her desk, and they are ready to go public.

The names of these shady elites who have abused children were just sitting there, and she was ready for it to be released.

But now a complete reversal.

Trump is straight up gaslighting the American public. Does he think the American people are that dumb? Did he really think the American people would not forget what he had said for years on the campaign trail?

Just yesterday, we learned that the Trump administration abruptly fired one of the lead prosecutors in the Epstein case--no explanation. No warning. Just gone.

So what happened? It is really easy to run a campaign and rile up people, but when it is Trump's turn to actually expose the elites, Trump has chickened out. And it is because he is one of those elites, and he is taking care of his own.

It is all connected. Just look at his legislative agenda: tax breaks for his rich buddies; subsidizing private jet purchases. Again and again, he rigs the system against everyday Americans. And that is what this resolution is about, to show the American people they deserve the truth.

No more shady coverups. If there is any evidence of a coverup in the Epstein case, the public has a right to know. If there is a list, the public deserves to see it. Americans deserve to see the truth, even if it is not what Donald Trump and his elite friends want.

If the Department of Justice has these files and there is nothing to hide, then release them and prove it. Trump's own people have told us a million times that they have it and that they promised to make it public. So bring it out. It doesn't matter who is implicated in that.

The American people are done with these games, these lies, and the two systems of justice: one for the elites and one for everyone else.

Enough with the secrets. The American people deserve the truth. So I am calling on my fellow Senators to join me in demanding the Department of Justice release the Epstein files to restore public trust, affirm institutional accountability, and to prevent the politicization of justice.

Res. 325, submitted earlier today; further, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

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Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. President, the Senate just had the chance to demand transparency and stand up for the truth. Instead, my colleagues chose to protect the powerful and perpetuate years of misinformation.

Transparency is the foundation of accountability. When people are told again and again that the evidence exists, and then, suddenly, they're told it doesn't, that undermines the faith in our entire system, and it's an insult to the intelligence of every single American paying attention.

You don't rebuild public trust by hiding the truth Mr. President; you do it by proving you have nothing to hide. So I'll ask again, if there's nothing to hide in the Epstein case, then what are you so afraid of? What are they hiding? Why did the Trump administration abruptly fire the prosecutor leading the case? Why the silence? Why the backpedaling? Why the objection?

The Department of Justice should work for the people, not the powerful elites.

Today's resolution should have made that clear.

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