GOP Gets Immediately Ripped to Shreds in Hearings Upon Return

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3:33Ben Meiselas:Republicans were ripped to shreds at the House of Representatives and in the Senate yesterday. It was a bloodbath. Republican witnesses ripped to shreds. Republican leaders like Mike Johnson and James Comer obliterated. Let me show you what went down. So the Republicans in the House of Representatives brought on far-right extremists from the United Kingdom, Nigel Farage, who leads the Reform Party, the so-called Reform Party, a far-right party that attacks Europe, responsible for Brexit. I could go on. And he shows up to try to lecture America about free speech when the type of speech he spews is hate speech, anti-American speech, anti-liberal democracy speech.

4:27Ben Meiselas:So Democratic Congress member Jared Moskowitz puts him in his place, corners him in a brutal cross-examination. And Nigel Farage was like, I have no opinion about the Epstein file release. And then Moskowitz is like, really? Because you called for it to be released. So are you against yourself or do you agree with yourself, idiot? Here, play this clip. You think the list should come out? You think we should know the people who dealt with Mr. Epstein, Mr. Fresh? I thought I was coming to a hearing on free speech, not process. Oh, but listen, but here's the good thing. And that sounds like you're discussing process.

5:02No, no. Do you think the list should come out? I have no opinion on it. I don't know at all. So we have victims that were sexually abused by potentially people in power, and we don't know who's on the list. I'm very happy to discuss that with you. Hold on, Mr. Fresh, we don't know who's on the list. We don't know who's on the list. We don't know if the president is or is not. I'm not going to say he is or isn't. I'm just going to say these are weird behaviors. We don't know that there aren't other people in Congress that are on the list, right? We have no idea. Do you think the list should come out?

5:28You think people in power should be held to account for these victims who have been sexually abused and assaulted? You think the list should come out? I think that I'm very happy to come to a different hearing where you talk about legal process. Will the gentleman yield for a quick question? Were you aware that he has already called for the Epstein file to be released? It has been reported that he has called for it to be released. Oh, yeah, right here, just to refresh your memory. I happen to have this, but that's not random. But that is not. Look, you could ask me if you like about about social security policy.

5:57Do you agree with yourself? We are here to discuss free speech. Hold on. It's awkward for your lunch after this. Do you agree with yourself? No, it isn't at all. OK.

6:05Ben Meiselas:Next up, Congress member Moskowitz brutally exposes Nigel Farage's intentions for the day, which was to go and meet surreptitiously with Donald Trump to plot about whatever the hell they want to do to attack liberal democracies. And Moskowitz is like, oh, got it. So just admit you're going to see Donald Trump like we all know. and watch as Nigel Farage, like the pathetic little weakling that he is, tries to go, oh, I think it would be wholly inappropriate for me to tell you what my lunch plans are. Here, play this clip. Mr. Farage, thanks for being here, coming across the pond. I'm sorry to hear you're leaving the hearing early.

6:46Well, it's not a question of leaving the hearing early, but I do have other things to do. Oh, where are you going? I'm so sorry about that. That's okay. Where are you going? It's not lunch, I promise you. It's not lunch. You're not going to have lunch. I don't think so, no. No lunch. Sad as no. You're meeting with the president? I can't remember what the show, Jill, is. It's possible. You can't remember if you're meeting with the president. I'm being very polite, and I'm not going to tell you what I'm doing this afternoon, but I can assure you that... But there's the free speech hearing. You're not going to tell me what you're doing this afternoon?

7:13Oh, free speech is one thing. Discretion is quite another, too. Okay. All right, so you're leaving to have lunch with the president. So...

7:22Ben Meiselas:And then Nigel Farage quite literally flees the hearing right ahead of Democratic Congress member Dan Goldman's questioning because he was afraid. Play this clip. Well, I remember the Russia hoax very, very well. We had shades of it earlier on this morning, but not much more than that, I'm pleased to say. Well, thank you. And Mr. Chairman, with that, I'll yield back. Thank you. And we're going to have to go, Mr. Chairman. But thank you very much. Mr. Farage, you can blame it on me. One more. Oh, you're avoiding me. Mr. Farage, thank you. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from New York, Mr.

7:54Goldman. I'm sorry to see you leave, Mr. Farage. I actually had much that we agree upon and was looking forward to your testimony because it is it's very nice and refreshing to hear from my GOP colleagues that they are worried about authoritarianism.

8:11Ben Meiselas:But he was ripped to shreds, Nigel Farage, that is, by Democratic Congress member Jamie Raskin, who tore him to pieces. Here play this clip on free speech in Hong Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang, or the persecution trial of Jimmy Lai, or maybe a journalist about the Saudi crown prince's assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post writer who demanded freedom from religious persecution and oppression in Saudi Arabia. But no, the dictators of the world have got nothing to fear from this hearing. The Republicans called it to attack our democratic allies in Europe. The star witness is not a human rights leader like Navalny, but a far right pro Putin politician who leads the UK Reform Party, a party that is four members out of 650 members in the parliament.

9:04he calls England an authoritarian regime while saying that Vladimir Putin is the world leader he admires the most well this hearing mimics vice president J.D. Vance who went to the Munich security conference in February in the first two minutes of his speech whitewashed the world's leading autocratic regimes proclaiming that the threat that worries him is not Russia it's not Republicans are promoting far right parties in Europe, like Alternative for Deutschland, Reform UK and Rassemblement National Français, and ignoring massive repression in Russia, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and among all the autocrats of the world.

9:51Republicans are vilifying European liberal democracies simply for engaging in the kind of line drawing exercises that we Americans engage in under our First Amendment with respect to the epidemic of child pornography, protecting children from other harmful content, defamatory speech, online scams and false advertising and speech inciting riots and imminent lawless action. All forms of speech that the First Amendment does not protect and whose tricky contours must still be drawn by law. We could have a meaningful hearing on this complicated subject, but this hearing is just a drive by hit against a strong Democratic ally to benefit a Donald Trump sycophant and wannabe.

10:36but it's even worse than this. Not only are colleagues ignoring intensifying repression in the world's dictatorships, they're also trying to distract the world from the attack on freedom taking place right here in America every single day.

10:52Ben Meiselas:And take a look at just how uncomfortable Farage looks as Congress member Jamie Raskin uses his opening statement to just absolutely demolish him. Watch what goes down here playing this clip. Protectors of free speech, but they only want to protect speech they agree with. In the UK, Mr. Farage is openly promoting the abolition of the Human Rights Act of 1998 to be replaced with a British Bill of Rights that limits the right of free speech to British citizens and legally sanctioned residents. He complains that racist threats against immigrants are not protected free speech while he proposes to strip migrants, tourists and perhaps even visiting American congresspeople of any free speech rights at all.

11:37I had my own close encounter with that when Mr. Farage and his team presented for more than an hour in a conversation we had about free speech. And after three minutes of talking, he cut me off and terminated the meeting because he didn't like what I was saying. That's the kind of free speech he's committed to. There is a free speech crisis in America today, but there's no free speech crisis in Britain. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not shut down GB News, where Mr. Farage has his own show, just because Mr. Farage has used his airtime to call for banning peaceful protests that he disagrees with.

12:11No one has stopped him from going on Russian TV 17 times and saying also and repeating that the one world political leader he most admired was Vladimir Putin, even though Vladimir Putin is a war criminal and a dictator who has regularly interfered in other countries' democratic elections. No one has stopped Mr. Farage from parroting Putin's absurd talking points, like when Farage claimed that NATO, the U.S. and Britain provoked this war in Ukraine. For a man who fashions himself as some kind of a free speech martyr, Mr. Farage seems most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world who are crushing freedom on earth.

12:52Mr. Farage wants to get rid of the Online Safety Act in his country, a law shepherded by the Conservative Party and implemented by the Labour Party, which bans child pornography online, protects children from harmful content, forbids non-consensual pornography and other unlawful content. He should go and advance the positions he's taking here in Congress today, in Parliament, which is meeting today, if he's serious about it. To the people of UK who think this Putin-loving free speech imposter and Trump sycophant will protect freedom in your country, come on over to America and see what Trump and MAGA are doing to destroy our freedom.

13:31Kidnap college students off the street. Ban books from our libraries. Militarize our police and unleash them against our communities. take over our universities, wreck our professional civil service, and turn the government into a money-making machine for Trump and his family. You might think twice before you let Mr. Farage make Britain great again. I yield back.

13:57Ben Meiselas:Then you had Congress Member Raskin also talk about how when private comments made by federal employees are scrutinized for anti-Trump bias, we're now in the territory of Putin, Stalin, Kim Jong Un world. That's what Trump and Nigel Farage is of the world and all this right wing blabber has turned the United States into. Here play this clip. Or because they honestly gave honest economic information and labor statistics to the public. These honorable civil servants are being fired because they won't be the political act Trump demands that they be. When private comments made by federal employees are scrutinized for anti-Trump bias and they can lose their jobs because of it, then we've entered the realm not just of Vladimir Putin, but of Joseph Stalin.

14:47Now, Mr. Trump and Mr. Farage both claim they're protectors of free speech, but they only want to protect speech they agree with. In the UK, Mr. Farage is openly promoting the abolition of the Human Rights Act of 1998 to be replaced with a British Bill of Rights that limits the right of free speech to British citizens and legally sanctioned residents. He complains that racist threats against immigrants are not protected free speech while he proposes to strip migrants, tourists, and perhaps even visiting American congresspeople of any free speech rights at all. I had my own close encounter with that when Mr.

15:23Farage and his team presented for more than an hour in a conversation we had about free speech. And after three minutes of talking, he cut me off and terminated the meeting because he didn't like what I was saying. That's the kind of free speech he's committed to. There is a free speech crisis in America today, but there's no free speech crisis in Britain. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not shut down GB News, where Mr. Farage has his own show, just because Mr. Farage has used his airtime to call for banning peaceful protests that he disagrees with. No one has stopped him from going on Russian TV 17 times and saying also and repeating that the one world political leader he most admired was Vladimir Putin, even though Vladimir Putin is a war criminal and a dictator who has regularly interfered in other countries' democratic elections.

16:15No one has stopped Mr. Farage from parroting Putin's absurd talking points, like when Farage claimed that NATO, the U.S. and Britain provoked this war in Ukraine. For a man who fashions himself as some kind of a free speech martyr, Mr. Farage seems most at home with the autocrats and dictators of the world who are crushing freedom on earth.

16:36Ben Meiselas:Now, bringing you to the House floor, Democratic Congress member Jim McGovern pulls out his phone and shows, do you realize that as the victims, or I should say survivors of Epstein and Ghislaine are courageously coming forward and they're demanding the release of the Epstein and Ghislaine, and I should call them Trump files as well. Donald Trump is in the Oval Office saying that what's going on is a hoax. Look at the video right here. Trump's calling it a hoax. The Epstein victims or survivors want the Massey-Kanabill passed and Trump's attacking them? Here, play this clip. It is shameful. And it's speaking about the Epstein files.

17:22Again, I'm looking at the video of a few minutes ago. Donald Trump speaking to reporters calling all this a hoax, all this, the Epstein files a hoax. He's not talking about what we're doing here. And by the way, let me just say to the gentleman and anybody else who wants to know, listen to what the victims were asking for outside this Capitol just a few minutes ago, the survivors, the survivors of Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. Listen to what the survivors have been saying. They want the Massey-Connor bill passed. They want something with teeth in it that will force this administration to comply because they don't trust that they will.

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19:27Ben Meiselas:More from Democratic Congress member McGovern on the House floor. And he goes, you MAGA Republicans, you are so pathetic. You're just pathetic people. You guys think you work for Trump? Every single Republican in the rules committee, all of you pathetic losers, voted against releasing the Epstein files. Oh, you've all said we want full transparency, but that's not true. You then vote against the Epstein files. You try to block the resolution, the discharge petition to release the files. You are all pathetic. Play this clip. This is all about the ego of the man who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

20:10You guys think you work for Trump. You're obsessed with him. It's pathetic. Republicans are ruining this institution, Mr. Speaker, destroying this institution. Again, let me repeat, every single Republican on the Rules Committee voted against releasing the Epstein files. Every single one. I mean, we heard last night that all Republicans want full transparency. But that's just not true. Let me read you a quote from the top Republican in this country, President Donald J. Trump. This is what he says about the Epstein files. And I quote, it's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans.

20:55End quote. And at a press availability just minutes ago, the president again said that this is all a hoax. Now, what do Republicans think of that? Donald Trump says this is all a hoax, and if you want to release the files, you're stupid. Now, I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised that the guy who once called Epstein a, quote, terrific guy, and who Epstein considered his, quote, closest friend, is not actually interested in getting to the truth. But you know when this clicked in for me, Mr. Speaker, and for a lot of people? It clicked after Trump won, and then the backtracking began. It clicked again yesterday.

21:40You know, it clicked after Republicans, it clicked after the same Republican leaders who invited influence to the White House and then passed out binders about the soon-to-be-released client list suddenly changed their tune. And it clicked again yesterday when phase two of the binders came out. More information released that's already been released. 97 % of it has already been released. It clicked when the same MAGA politicians who once pledged to release everything suddenly came up with more excuses, more delays, and more stalling tactics. And what is obvious to everyone is that someone is hiding something.

22:19And while all this stalling goes on, what happens? Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's partner in crime, winds up in a cushy country club prison courtesy of Trump's political appointees. Not a word, not a word of outrage from this Republican majority. Not a whisper of accountability. Just silence. Now let's not pretend that this is complicated. It's pretty obvious what's going on. The Trump administration has the power to release the Epstein files today. They could redact names to protect victims and survivors and deliver the truth. But they refuse.

23:02Ben Meiselas:Even Republican Congress member Thomas Massey is calling out his own party and calling out Donald Trump. And Republican Congress member Massey, who, by the way, has been a strong champion for the Epstein survivors and for the release here. I got to give Massey credit for that. And he's been working on a bipartisan basis with Democratic Congress member Ro Khanna. And here Massey says, I don't think that there's a precedent in this country where the president of the United States calls legislatures to say you're engaging in a hostile act against me, against the presidency, if you support releasing files that expose a pedo sex trafficking ring.