WASHINGTON, D.C. – This morning, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) joined CNN’s John Berman to discuss the Republican majority shutting down the House of Representatives to avoid a vote to release the Epstein files. He noted the parallel of how the Big Ugly Law protects elites, similar to House Republicans’ decision not to make the Epstein files public.
Click here to watch the full interview, and findexcerpts of Rep. Pocan’s remarks below.
Rep. Pocan on Republicans’ decision to shut down Congress to avoid voting on the Epstein Files
I assumed this was a QAnon conspiracy, but I don’t think that anymore. When the President, daily, has to deny involvement, when we have to shut down Congress for the summer so that we don’t take a vote to release the Epstein files, this has moved up beyond conspiracy. We need to get this information. The fact that we’re no longer going to function here in Congress tells me volumes about what may be going on.
In the past, it was kind of relegated to “Pizza-gate” and other things that were out there. Again, I paid very little attention to it. But what I do pay attention to is the smell test. If the President, who said he wants to release these files, is coming up with a daily excuse why not to, if Congress is shutting down, suddenly it doesn’t pass the smell test. There’s something going on and for that reason alone, we have to make sure these files are released. The Attorney General even said it, and now suddenly she is trying to backpedal. There’s just too much smoke that we’ve got to find out what’s happening.
Rep. Pocan on the Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Photos
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, right? The fact that there are so many pictures of these two together, for all of the rhetoric from the President about releasing these files, and now suddenly it comes to a complete stop. Something doesn’t connect on that. So all the more reason that we need to, for the American people, get the files released. If they’re not going to do it, we have to keep that pressure up. That’s what Democrats have been doing. And just by doing the lightest pressure, [Republicans] shut down Congress for the summer. Even Republican members who are asking [for the files] are being shut down by leadership. None of this is passing the smell test.
Rep. Pocan on his decision to focus on the Big, Ugly Law
I am focused on that big, ugly law – the fact that 17 million people are going to lose health care, millions of people will lose food access, and people are going to have their education funding cut. Go down the list. People on the Affordable Care Act are going to have their premiums soar, and many people will lose access to healthcare. Plus, the fact that the bottom 30% of people are going to pay for a tax bill for Elon Musk and Donald Trump. That’s what I want to talk about, because again, the Republicans have been unwilling to even do town halls since the beginning of the year because of how bad this bill is. That’s what, at the end of the day, people are going to be thinking about the most – how much Congress has not had their interest as a priority. Instead, it’s been the elites. And now here we are back to Jeffrey Epstein about protecting elites; it does have a weird parallel.
