Bondi In Hiding As She No-Shows Epstein Hearings and Dems Fight Back

0:04All right, joining us today on IHIP News is Congresswoman Summer Lee. She is a dedicated legislator, attorney, and organizer who has proudly represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district since 2022 and is the first black woman ever elected to Congress from Pennsylvania. Congresswoman, welcome. them. Hey, good morning or good afternoon, whatever time we do these things. Yes, exactly. I want to just dive right into it. 80 % of the Democratic base has a negative view of Israel's military campaign. And the party still doesn't seem to have a cohesive, unified message against this. It seems like party leadership is completely out of step with the base.

0:52How do you think this plays out? I think that it gets more difficult before it gets better. You know, I think that we're in an era right now where voters are really demanding something that I think is a bit unusual, right? And that is that the Democratic Party, our elected officials choose them, right? There is more active participation. And sometimes I think the Democrats to mistake lack of voting or that type of, you know, electoral engagement for engagement or for apathy, but people aren't apathetic. People are incredibly tuned into this. And when they see our elected officials taking just remarkable amounts of dollars from, for instance, APAC or other super PACs, it's discouraging to them.

1:36It's disenfranchised. It's disappointing. And right now Americans are saying, we don't want forever worse. We don't want our tax dollars to go to continuing genocides or expanding them. And they're very, very clear about that. So I think that the Democratic Party is going to have to get, they're going to have to wake up to this one. And I think that it's not going to go away. And I think that perhaps they're hoping that it just does. So you mentioned AIPAC and four days ago, they posted this video on their YouTube channel. And I want to play it for you. Play the clip.

2:10Summer Lee:well i appreciate the relationship that i've had with apac from the very beginning of my congressional journey that the pro-israel community fully embraced me

2:26all right so it goes on and on here and shows a bunch of your colleagues And in the show notes, they put the following. AIPAC is proud to help elect pro-Israel Democrats. AIPAC is the top fundraiser for Democrats and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus, Progressive Caucus, and Equality Caucus. Being pro-Israel is good policy and good politics. You know, it's propaganda, right? At the end of the day, the thing that we are going to have a true reflective democracy, and I say this often, black communities, poor communities, working class communities, they deserve the ability to pick their elected officials without the outsized influence of millions and millions and millions and millions of dollars coming down in what is just, quite frankly, objectively deceitful ads.

3:21right? That doesn't help the black community build up its own bench. It doesn't help us to advance issues that are important to us from everything from criminal legal reform, absolutely, to economic justice and environmental justice. What it does is it keeps the focus on this one issue that is not top one or top 10 issue in some of these communities that they're going into. So I think it's incredibly disingenuous, but I also recognize that the reason why they're able, and it's not just them, right? AI PAC or crypto PAC or any of these other ones. The reason they're able to do this is because precisely because these are communities that don't have that type of money to compete in our electoral system.

4:02And we're just talking about U.S. House races. How could we ever get a progressive, you know, black or brown or indigenous senator, right? It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to run Senate races right now. So the reality is, is that anybody who cares about democracy, who cares about environmental justice, who cares about stopping mass shootings in our schools, who cares about any of the things that Democrats care about, Medicare for all, then we all have to be very clear and very dedicated to saying that we need all of this big money out of politics. And we can't make exceptions for the ones that come and help us or the ones that take out the people who make us uncomfortable.

4:41So where I kind of am really turned off by this outside influence is after Trump won his second term, I'm like, OK, I'm ready for resistance 2.0. I'm ready. I'm like, you know, we're going to do the Women's March. We're going to wear pink hats. It's going to be even more fierce this time around because he won by like 100 ,000 votes. This was, you know, marginal, marginal victory. And it never came. And so then you start looking at these donors, APAC, Palantir, and others. And then you find out Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer take money from the same people that spent just as much money as Elon Musk did to get Donald Trump elected.

5:25And then I'm like, oh, that's why we don't have an opposition. Oh, no, but you have to go a little bit deeper than that, right? Because the opposition was never and could never have just been elected Democrats, right? True opposition comes from the grassroots. And when you look at the ways in which our grassroots politics has been infiltrated by these outside sources also, then you start to see a much fuller picture. Right. Even when you look and I say we have this tension here at my own in my own district. Right. When we come together, when we finally do, whether it's a no kings march or or whatever women's march, there is always that tension between.

6:00Well, can you mention genocide or can you mention, you know, immigration and ice disappearing people? What are we comfortable with? And I think that because the Democratic Party is not having real. real intentional conversation, a conversation that makes us uncomfortable, conversation that scares us a little bit. Because we're not having that conversation, attention that could help us grow, we're running from it. And what's happening is that these are all now natural fissures that Republicans, that MAGA, that outside influences can now exploit. And if we don't combat it head on, if we don't have these real times, we aren't going to agree on everything.

6:40But the fact that this money is able to come in and really influence whether or not this activist group moves, whether your politician moves, can indicate whether or not if you think we're in these poverty conditions, there are so many things that are at play that are keeping us from being able to build a true opposition in the United States. But there are also those same things are also being worked on. And I don't want and I'm actually not discouraged because there are people, there are movements, our labor movement has been working from unprecedented attacks. And yet they are still finding ways of showing up.

7:10So it is happening. It's happening. But like this, as we call out the true problems, it gives us the tools to start to chip away at it. Yeah, I think your statement there where you speak about how when you go to protest, can we mention genocide? Can we mention certain things? That's the disconnect right there with elected Democratic leadership and the base. I feel like the leadership is still operating like early 2000s style politics. Everybody's off the corporate tit, whether it's the news that they're watching. There is this fiercely independent movement in the Democratic Party. And I'm very worried that the corporate Democrats and never Trumpers want to take over our party and make it like a MAGA light party when we really need to drive it the way that Zoran and others yourself are driving it to where this is an FDR style party for generations of the people, by the people, for the people.

8:16And so as you head in, let's say that we have free and fair elections. And I don't think it's hyperbolic to say, you know, we're terrified of what Trump and all of the idiots surrounding him haven't planned for the midterms. And we, you're going to have, when you go back to Congress, you're going to have some corporate Dems and you're going to have progressive Dems. And what does that work environment look like, Congresswoman? The Progressive Caucus, I've had a lot of you all on love, like love the Progressive Caucus. You guys are fighters for the people. What does that look like after midterms going back in and concessions and compromise?

8:55because all of those things are a part of defeating fascism as well. We have to be realistic as well. Yeah. And to be quite clear, two points of clarity. I just want to say, yes, you absolutely can say genocide at a protest because it's our obligation. Two, when we think about just where they're trying to take our party to, it is an outdated politics. It's such a nostalgic politics that we're dealing with right now. And that's going to lead me to the point. It is a nostalgic politics. There are people who have been there who are yearning for a time that made them feel more comfortable, right? Where things were far more predictable, even if they were predictable in a way that didn't benefit the mass majority of people, the many over the money.

9:39Right. And I think that that's what our tension is right now. There are people outside who are tired of that paradigm. They're saying that we no longer, whether we are in fascism, we have approached fascism because we have ignored the opportunities to build a more people centered politics. And we have every turn and we prioritize incumbency, we prioritize corporation and corporate pacts and money. And right now, when we go, if we are able to earn a majority, if we are able to re-fortify our democracy and grab it out of the jaws of authoritarianism, it's going to rely on this, our party, getting more responsive and finding itself closer to where the people are.

10:23And I think that the people are going to drive that. So what I think about when we go back for the, you know, the next Congress, if, you know, we all get the chance to go back, you know, I think it's going to be tension. But I also think that we have numbers and we have people behind the policies that we care about. That the era of, you know, there will always be concessions. Yeah. There will always be compromise because that's just the world. But we have to fight on our side strategically. We have to fight as if we recognize that we have a stake in this and that we deserve to be at the helm of building what comes next.

10:53I actually take that very seriously. So I'm willing to go up against whether it be corporate thems or macro Republicans. We have to show up one way or another. So we can't take our ball and go home. We can't assume that just because Democrats get in power, that it's a lost cause or that it's a slam dunk. We have to create the conditions. And our politicians, my colleagues, are growing more responsive to people as people grow more responsive to this moment. And I do believe that. But we have to force those changes and we have to force those conversations. So it's up to us, really. I don't think that is written in stone what's going to come.

11:27Right. We have to decide what we are willing to fight for, what we are willing to take and what we are willing to create in this moment. But if we leave corporate Dems to their own devices, we know what we'll get. How malleable do you think the your co-workers and Congress, more of the corporate establishment style Democrats. Let's say hypothetically, hopefully, optimistically that a bunch of progressives win. How malleable are those corporate Dems to listening to people and bending the knee to the people versus bending the knee to corporations? I think that we have to take away the incentive to bend the knees to corporations.

12:09That's just that. Right. The reason why my abolished super PACs bill is the most important bill to me is because it is the gateway to getting all of the other things that we need in our society. Right. I think that there are more Dems than not, not just even elected Dems. I mean, more people who are democratically aligned in this country who believes that you should not die because you have diabetes. You should not, uh, you should not be an house or homeless because corporate, you know, wall street is gobbling up our housing stock. Right. I don't think that there are Dems that believe that any kid in this country should not get a quality education, right?

12:48Because of whatever interest, which means that there is a disconnect and that disconnect is that money in politics. It is the fact that those lobbyists, those, uh, corporate entities are sitting on your politician's lap or whether your politician might be sitting on their lap, right? They're that intertwined. So no matter how much a politician comes in, like really wanting to say that I want to serve the people. These are the things that I want. And they get in there and they find it suffocating. It is a suffocating place, no matter what your intention is. So we have to make sure that we're taking away that particular weapon that corporations have to dictate our national politics.

13:29So that's my first thing. So I don't believe that, you know, everybody's just going to have a good change of heart. I believe that we have to change those conditions. So that's why ending Citizens United, abolishing super PACs, I believe that that has to be the Democratic Party's first priority, first priority before we do anything else. And then the rest of it will be a far more fair fight here. I like it. Okay. You are a member of the House Oversight Committee and Pam Bondi was subpoenaed to testify for her role in stonewalling the release of the Epstein files. Why isn't she there? And what can Democrats continue to do to make sure that she faces accountability?

14:12There's also Wall Street Journal reporting that Trump has said anybody who's within 200 feet of the oval is going to get a pardon. And if the Democrats win, I just feel like there's going to be a real appetite towards accountability for these people that have protected pedophiles, that have stolen taxpayer money for themselves and their families. The criming that we see in the corruption has just become normal. It's just like this normal day in America now. And I'm very worried about that. So speak to the Pam Bondi situation because that bitch. And then also, and then also this just, this corruption is unbelievable.

15:02And Republicans that they seem to be fine with it, that your colleagues across the aisle seem to be a-okay with corruption. Our colleagues across the aisle are a-okay with corruption because their base is still okay with corruption. So when we think about how do we get our country to the next point safely with our democracy, with equity and justice intact, we have a cultural issue that we have to address before we address the political issue. One led to the other. What came first, the chicken or the eggs? The culture preceded the politics, but they shape each other. And that's why Republicans feel that this is okay to move this way.

15:42It's why they feel that they are able to be blatantly just anti-democratic, anti-constitutional, anti-black, anti-white, anti-woman, anti-queer, anti-democrat. They're such babies. God. And we have to fortify our, you know, just like cultural systems to make sure that people are not slipping into those gaps anymore. Bondi. Bondi isn't coming today because James Comer is a coward. Because James Comer has not decided whether he is the chairman of this committee or Donald Trump is the chairman of this committee. And until he finds his courage, he's going to continue to let Donald Trump run over him.

16:24They're all doing this. They have all ceded their ground as a co-equal branch of government. But let me tell you something. As gleefully as they went into the contempt hearings or the filing the contempt for Bill and Hillary Clinton we shall be as you know not gleeful because we don't take joy in accountability though we do believe it's our responsibility we will take up the responsibility of holding these people accountable that they were not willing to we have indicated that we are willing to hold accountable whoever is a part of this just heinous the most prolific sex trafficking ring in our nation's history outside of chattel enslavement.

17:07We have decided oversight Dems will talk to anybody. We will hold anybody accountable. And that accountability does not have a statute of limitations. So if Comer is willing to cower and wait, then we will be there to do what's right for the survivors. Not just the survivors of Epstein, but the survivors of sexual abuse, sexual trafficking, of political corruption, because these folks are survivors of each of those things, we'll still be there ready to do this. And that's why it's so important that we protect the subpoena power of the oversight committee. So whether it's Pam Bondi or Donald Trump or anybody in between, accountability will come.

17:45We will be there to hold them. We will be there to make sure that there is responsibility here, that there's some justice here. And that's not going to be easy. And that's why this Epstein case has been unique. It has been important because it has shown the point where all Americans have reached, you know, their line and say, all Americans, Democrats, Republicans, independents, all of them have said, this is a, this is too much. We will not let go of this thing. Donald Trump expected them to let go. Pam Bondi expected them to let go, but we are not going to let go. We're not taking our foot off, you know, gas, the gas or next right now, because it's that important that Americans realize that we are willing to fight to build a system that does not privilege and prioritize the already wealthy and well-connected and well-protected.

18:32So, you know, the way that we do this is we continue to pressure. We already got a bipartisan subpoena for Pam Bonney. So she's not responding to a subpoena that Democrats forced alone. We needed Republicans to bring her in. And it will be with that bipartisan support that she gets drug in here or she gets held in contempt. We will need the outside pressure to make sure that we're still bringing in the right people to talk to. And we have more folks in line that we have subpoenaed that are coming into our committee, that there'll be more pressure to make sure that the DOJ, whoever, whether it is, you know, who is it, Lee Zeldin or whoever unqualified person Trump brings in to run this, that they still recognize that the subpoena and the Epstein Files Transparency Act are both still in full effect.

19:16They are legally, legal and binding, and they owe us three more million documents. So more to come. And don't you know, those that they are hanging on to have got to be some of the most disturbing shit we have ever seen in our lives, because the stuff that's come out, I'm pretty shockproof, has been so shocking from, you know, like the first law firm that bent the knee to Trump. Well, well, well, who's in the Epstein files? And you start to see all of the perimeter of the people around this fascist regime. Everybody's in freaking Epstein files. And so not only I feel like, you know, you're working on things that you can do as a progressive in Congress and with your constituents, we here working on, we've got to have a better electorate, too.

20:05We have to have an electorate that demands justice and transparency and the truth about powerful men raping little girls, whether they're a Democrat, Republican, a billionaire or dead ass broke. We have to demand that stuff and we have to demand that our electorate put pressure on these corporate Dems. So I want to have you on. And that's how we build discipline and resiliency in our movements. When you think about everything that this nation has accomplished, it did not start with your elected officials, though it should, right? It absolutely should. And it is not to say that there were not elected officials in those spaces ready to push, ready to kick, ready to scream, but real true progress has come from the grassroots every single time.

20:51So right now it is our responsibilities, our responsibility as Americans, as progressives, as revolutionaries, whatever it may be, to be disciplined, to be strategic, to be relentless, to be relentless right now. And that's where our organized labor, our organized money, our organized electorate will be the most powerful force that we have. And that is what a true democracy is. So right now we've gotten this far in the Epstein files because of that discipline, that resilience, that just the, the, the resiliency of the survivors and the solidarity of the American population to support them has lifted this here.

21:33And I think that that is going to carry us forward because they're, you know, their spirit of seeking justice is still there, Right. They're still waiting for what they deserve with dignity. They're still demanding and they're still pushing for it. And they're not backing off. Congresswoman Summer Lee, thank you so much for everything that you're doing, for helping build a better electorate that demands more of our politicians, because that is a key component to taking us out of fascism is having a well-educated electorate that understands what we're up against. So thank you for everything that you do for all of the people with whom you campaign.

22:13We see you. And I think it's amazing. And we have to march into the midterms hand in hand to try to puncture this fascist takeover. Thank you so much for all the work you do. And keep your foot on that gas pedal. Go after that bitch Bondi. Yes. Thank you so much. Bye.

22:38you