Rep. Ro Khanna Reacts To ‘Bombshell’ Epstein News: ‘This May Be The Cleanest Way Forward’
By Marco Margaritoff
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) reacted to the “bombshell” news Wednesday that Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday book from 2003, which allegedly contains a bizarre entry from President Donald Trump, is in the hands of Epstein’s estate, which would reportedly willingly turn it over.
Khanna joined MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” after Bradley Edwards, an attorney who has represented over 200 Epstein victims, said it’s an “absolute fact” that the book exists and that he knows the late sex offender’s estate executors personally.
“First of all, that was a bombshell revelation by Bradley Edwards,” Khanna told O’Donnell.
Khanna attempted to force a House vote Tuesday to release any remaining case files on Epstein, whose death and ties to prominent figures fueled theories of a “client list,” but was thwarted when Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) shut down the lower chamber.
Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) reportedly introduced a motion Wednesday to subpoena the Justice Department and successfully forced Republicans to go on record about whether to release the Epstein files. Khanna noted as much on air while processing the news.
“Second, it is a revelation to me that he said that that birthday book is with private lawyers in the Epstein estate,” he said about Edwards, adding: “Summer Lee showed courageous leadership today on the oversight committee. We subpoenaed the Epstein files.”
Khanna continued, “But that’s a hard thing to do, to get the Department of Justice to cooperate in releasing those files. What’s not hard to do is to subpoena private attorneys in a private estate and to get compliance.”
Trump alleged that he never wrote the “FAKE” message and is currently suing the Wall Street Journal over its article on it. O’Donnell said Wednesday that retrieving the so-called birthday book could “give us the answer,” while Khanna went a step further.
“We also will know whether hundreds of other people who have been implicated in sex trafficking are in the book,” he explained about Epstein’s rumored roster of co-conspirators. “And, of course, we would take absolute care to make sure the victims are protected.”
Khanna went on to state that Epstein’s victims “want” transparency on the case, despite prior suggestions from the Trump administration. He said this matter of justice “should not be a political issue” but that “we can’t trust the Trump Justice Department.”
The California Democrat said that these proceedings would be “slowed” and “bogged down” by the current DOJ, which can “defy the subpoena” introduced on Wednesday to shield Trump from potentially incriminating information being released.
“I don’t trust the DOJ to prosecute themselves for contempt of Congress,” said Khanna. “But what we can do through Congress is go after the Jeffrey Epstein estate. And we’ve seen even Republicans are willing to vote with us on that. This may be the cleanest way forward.”