00:00and our Epstein investigation continues. I know a lot of you have been
00:03asking what is going on with the investigation. Part of the problem is
00:08that our colleagues across the aisle who hold all the gavels, including the
00:13speakership and the committee chairmanship have been slow rolling
00:18this investigation. We still have yet to have Todd Blanche in front of the
00:23committee. And frankly, the committee has not been having real hearings over
00:27the last several months. And I think that it is clear that there is an attempt to
00:33make it exceedingly difficult to try to do this investigation while we know that
00:38Donald Trump is actively trying to cover up this. Alright, well that is a wrap on
00:43another quick and chaotic week here in Washington DC. I am already here at the
00:49airport on my way back home. It was, as per usual, a wild ride in Congress this week.
00:56We want to give you a recap on all the things that went down. Today in
00:59particular was a notable day because we had issued a subpoena for a deposition
01:06for a key figure in the Epstein investigation who not only was a no-show
01:11in the committee today, Mr. Leon Black actually filed a counter lawsuit
01:16against the committee itself to avoid having to come in for questioning and to
01:21produce non-disclosure agreements. So obviously we are going to proceed with trying to hold
01:27him in contempt and our Epstein investigation continues. I know a lot of you have been
01:32asking what is going on with the investigation. Part of the problem is that our colleagues
01:38across the aisle who hold all the gavels, including the speakership and the committee
01:44chairmanship have been slow rolling this investigation. We still have yet to have
01:50Todd Blanche in front of the committee and frankly, the committee has not been having
01:54real hearings over the last several months and I think that it is clear that there is an attempt to
02:02make it exceedingly difficult to try to do this investigation while we know that Donald Trump is
02:08actively trying to cover up this case. Meanwhile, we have another Epstein bill on the floor with a
02:14discharge petition as the Epstein Files Transparency Act 2.0. It would expand the authorities and close
02:20potential loopholes that the administration is exploiting in this case and also give standing to
02:29states and other entities to basically sue the federal government in this case. So we are continuing to
02:36move ahead ahead with that. It's being carried on a bipartisan basis, led by Ro Khanna and Thomas Massey
02:42once again and we're going to try to get that across the finish line. But in the meantime, this
02:49administration is continuing to obstruct this case. So we're doing what we can and fighting on all
02:58fronts and beginning to plan for what happens next year when hopefully we hold the gavels and we can
03:04stand up in earnest investigation into this case and actually see some real accountability in this case.
03:13Now, there is a lot going on in Congress right now. This week, the most notable thing that happened
03:18in Congress is we passed a continuing resolution to keep the government open or basically to avoid a
03:24shutdown. That continuing resolution gets us to November 11th. So that's the week after the election.
03:31This is essentially kicking the can down the road. That CR is important to stop a shutdown. And we did
03:38get
03:38an important win with language in the CR that came over from the Senate, basically stopping the OMB from
03:46putting through a rule that would cut funding to grant programs across the country, which many of you have
03:52expressed concern about. Of course, we're going to continue to fight that and believe that ultimately it's illegal because
03:58they don't have the constitutional authority to override the will of Congress. But that was an
04:03important win in our CR fight this week. In addition to that, as you know, Congress had a whole slew
04:12of
04:12messaging bills and culture war bills on the House floor this week, but we are continuing to fight the good
04:20fight.
04:21The war is continuing in the Middle East. I think the most notable news this week is that in addition
04:28to
04:28the escalation of the war by the administration, which is trying to claim it's not a war once again,
04:32we had the resignation of one of our top army officials who basically just resigned. And I think it's
04:44becoming increasingly clear that not only is Pete Hexeth incompetent, he is endangering our military,
04:53he's endangering our national security, and is creating a toxic environment at the Pentagon and within the
05:00ranks of the ranks of our military that are causing the most important military leadership to leave because of the
05:10witch hunts, the failures to promote and the culture that he has created inside the Pentagon. And so we're
05:20continuing to call for his impeachment and removal. And we will continue to fight to bring some accountability
05:28there. Now, in addition to that, another big news story this week is about the Venezuelan oil deal that
05:38the president has supposedly brokered, basically taking control of a third of Venezuela's reserves, which
05:48is highly questionable. It involves basically working with the regime he claimed he was going in to take
05:56out and calls into question the sovereignty and self-determination of the Venezuelan people
06:03and whether ultimately there will be an election after the U.S. took out their leadership.
06:10It is obviously an abuse of power. It's clearly not only a power grab, but a money grab. It's very
06:17clear that
06:18this is not going to lower gas prices as the president is claiming. And there are serious questions and
06:24Congress is conducting an inquiry to find out where is the money going? How did this come to be? Who
06:31is it
06:32benefiting? So lots happening on the oversight front there. There's also a number of important
06:38court decisions this week. As you probably heard, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 split decision basically
06:45ruled that the president could continue with his construction of the illegal ballroom. They did not weigh in
06:53on the actual legality of the ballroom itself, but whether or not the plaintiffs in this suit
06:59had standing and John Roberts, the chief justice, actually joined the dissent, led the dissent because
07:07it's clear they don't have the authority to do this without action by Congress. But once again, we've seen the
07:14Supreme Court side with the president and I think it makes it all the more fishy, shall we say, that
07:23this week
07:24our colleagues across the aisle tried to put a resolution on the floor to lock in the existing
07:31nine justices of the Supreme Court and take away Congress's own power to reform the court, which is
07:38like on its face just qualitatively bizarre. But clearly they are planning to try to make this an
07:46issue in the election. I think that was obvious by the arguments we heard on the floor. And so we'll
07:52see what comes next. We also had a ruling and brief birthright citizenship in the courts and the courts
07:59stood with the Constitution. And I know a lot of people out there are deeply concerned about what is
08:06happening with this mail in ballot situation and the election. It's very clear this president knows
08:13that he can't win the midterm elections on the merits of his policies because he's already losing.
08:21We know that from the polling. And so he is continuing to try to make access to the ballot box
08:27more
08:27difficult. We know that he's got some shady scheme involving the US Postal Service because we had a
08:34whistleblower come forward this week exposing the scheme. And what we want you to know is that the
08:40present time, if you are a mail-in voter, nothing has changed at the present time. But we know they
08:49are going to try to intimidate people into not voting. They're going to make it confusing because they
08:54know every single voter they can peel off is basically a voter that's not going to vote for them. So
09:02we need all of
09:03you to show up to speak out and to continue to use your voices and do your thing because you
09:09know what
09:09needs to happen this November. Finally, I just want to give you guys an update for any of you back
09:16home
09:16who have been tracking what's going on with this giant data center in southern New Mexico Project
09:21Jupiter. We sent a letter a week and a half ago to the state agencies that regulate water to
09:28basically understand what has been proposed for water use by this project. And we learned that
09:38basically they're operating under an existing water right using a well that was authorized by an emergency
09:45permit that the state Supreme Court has put a hold on. And now the project is appealing it and trying
09:53to
09:54move the project forward while we still do not have clear answers about their water use and what the
10:00long-term plan is. So we're going to continue to push. We're going to continue to fight for New
10:05Mexicans to fight for our land and waters and for our communities. And I just want you all to know
10:11that we're here in the fight. But I also got to get on a plane. So I will see you
10:16guys all back home
10:17this weekend. I am sending you so much love and I will see you guys in New Mexico.
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