Donald Chump and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein became friends decades ago. And for the last two decades, there have been efforts to rewrite history. With that in mind, Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) reports:
After spending hours at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) has revealed the contents of a heavily redacted email from the agency’s Jeffrey Epstein-related files, and claimed it exposes clear "lies" by President Donald Trump.
The email in question was sent in October 2009 by Epstein to “Gmax,” a name associated with Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. The subject line of the email reads: “Trump,” and the majority of the email’s text is hidden behind a large black box.
However, the Justice Department (DOJ) has allowed
lawmakers to view unredacted files at the DOJ headquarters, and Dean,
pen and paper in hand, took the agency up on the offer in an effort to
view what was within the Trump-related email.
Dean shared what she had learned with journalist Tara Palmeri, telling her that the email “reveals lies of the president,” particularly regarding his oft-repeated claim to have thrown Epstein “out” of his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Jeffrey Epstein was never expelled from Mar-a-Lago,” Dean told Palmeri, reading from her notes she had taken while reviewing the unredacted email. “No, he was not a member. May have been a guest. He was never asked to leave. [Trump said] ‘I’ve been on a lot of planes, may have been on his plane. No young girls on plane.’”
Why was the e-mail redacted? This was not what was allowed by Congress. This was about protecting Chump and Chump's lies.
Todd Blanche has been confirmed by the US Senate as Attorney General despite all of his problems, all of his errors, all of his failures. Candice Norwood (19TH NEWS) notes:
Every minute of every day, Liz Stein has to relive the worst thing that’s ever happened to her. She does it during news interviews and when meeting lawmakers on Capitol Hill to demand justice for herself and other survivors of the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
And she’s had to do it throughout the attorney general confirmation process for Todd Blanche, a man who rose from being President Donald Trump’s criminal defense lawyer to the top official overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice. Blanche has served as deputy attorney general, the No. 2 at DOJ, since March 2025. He then became acting attorney general in April after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi, and officially nominated him to oversee the department in June.
Since that time, Stein and her fellow survivors have consistently urged senators to vote against Blanche’s confirmation, arguing that he has shown no urgency or concern with expanding the Epstein investigation. Despite some initial pushback from two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche cleared that first hurdle to advance to a full Senate vote, in part by meeting with survivors — something he’d previously declined to do.
[. . .]
Stein told The 19th that just last year she felt momentum toward accountability growing, driven by public outrage from across the political spectrum and the Epstein survivors’ decision to step into the national spotlight as a unified group calling for transparency. However, Blanche’s confirmation crystalizes another feeling for Stein: “It feels like the DOJ is weaponizing this case for political reasons, and it feels like we’re the pawns being used in that game,” she told The 19th.
That momentum feels stagnant for now, Stein said, but she wants people to know that it won’t be a deterrent. “I think that every attempt the Department of Justice has made to make us go away has not worked,” she said. “We’re not going away.”
August 6th, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse spoke on the Senate floor about why Blanche shouldn't be confirmed as Attorney General.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Then he [Todd Blanche] goes running down to Tallahassee to interview Epstein' comrade in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell. Did he use that interview to develop any new information? To go after people who were culpable in the Epstein files? No. He used that interview to extract the exculpatory comments from her about Donald Trump. 'Oh, he was a perfect gentleman.' And the next thing you know, she's rewarded with a transfer to a Club Fed type prison. What's the excuse for that? 'Oh, she was at risk. We felt she was in danger.' Well look, I've been around law enforcement for a long time. This is the first time I've seen a prisoner allegedly in danger be transferred to a less secure setting to solve the problem of danger. Right? You move the prisoner to a more secure setting, not to a les secure setting. It makes no sense. [. . .] Remember that there was a witness who spoke to FBI agents about having been assaulted by Donald Trump when she was about 14 years old -- physically assaulted and sexually assaulted. She spoke to the FBI at least four times and those four time were recorded in FBI 302s -- a 302 is the FBI's name for the witness statement that the agents write up after an interview. So four times, this woman has been interviewed about what happened to her as a girl. Three of those 302s specifically mention Donald Trump. In the disclosure that Todd Blanche made under The Epstein Files law the only one of the four that got disclosed was the one that didn't mention Donald Trump. That ought to be disqualifying right there. Luckily, the very sharp investigators realized through like gaps in date-stamp numbers that documents were missing and that the three 302s have not been disclosed and so Blanche was forced to cough those up. But behind the 302 come the agent notes. And there's still 37 pages of documents related to that that are still suppressed, that are still covered up.
On the topic of Ghislaine Maxwell, let's note this from US House Rep Raja Kirshnamoorthi's office:
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, joined House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) in sending a letter on Thursday urging Speaker Mike Johnson to immediately bring to the House floor a resolution opposing any presidential pardon, commutation, or other form of executive clemency for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. The lawmakers note that the Senate unanimously adopted such a resolution last week and argue that the House should do the same without delay.
In the letter, the lawmakers write:
“The Senate has unanimously passed a resolution opposing a pardon or clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell. The House must, without delay, do the same. There are now multiple resolutions that have been introduced holding that Ghislaine Maxwell—a convicted child sex trafficker and essential partner in lurid crime with Jeffrey Epstein—should not receive a pardon, commutation, or any other form of clemency from the President of the United States. You have not yet provided for any legislative forum or consideration of these resolutions. It is time for action.”
The letter argues that granting executive clemency to Maxwell would undermine confidence in the rule of law and inflict further harm on the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking network. It also notes that Speaker Johnson has previously stated Maxwell deserved a life sentence because of her "unspeakable crimes" and urges him to act consistently with those public statements.
The lawmakers continue:
“We urge you to call such a vote without delay and without asking the permission of President Trump, Attorney General Todd Blanche or anyone else reporting to the White House. This is a matter for the House of Representatives to consider. We urge you to put your own words into action and bring a resolution opposing any form of clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell to the House floor without delay so that the House may reaffirm that child sexual abuse and human trafficking are abominable crimes that should be met with justice, not a pardon.”
The lawmakers' letter is available here.
As the press release notes, the Senate passed a resolution on this issue last week. Australia's ABC notes:
The US Senate has unanimously struck down the pardon chances of Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
On Thursday, the resolution opposing any future pardon of Maxwell was ushered in by both Republicans and Democrats, drawing yet another symbolic divide between Donald Trump, his party and the president's own Epstein ties.
[. . .]
The resolution was introduced by Nevada Democrat senator Jacky Rosen, who first brought it forward in February.
By voting it in, the Senate agreed "Ghislaine Maxwell should not be granted a Presidential pardon or any form of clemency" for her sexual abuse and co-offending with Epstein.
The politicians agreed that a pardon or clemency would be "inconsistent with the interests of justice and accountability for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children".
The resolution also denounced any attempt by Mr Trump to usher in "any other form of executive clemency" to Maxwell.
Meanwhile, an investigation into Epstein's crimes is taking place in New Mexico. The US Justice Dept has been very little help to the investigation. As a result, Vincent Rodriguez (KOAT) reports, "The New Mexico Department of Justice has announced it has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the U.S. Department of Justice over files related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and the Zorro Ranch." Terence Repelente (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES) adds, "Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a federal lawsuit seeking complete and unredacted records connected to Epstein and his New Mexico property, arguing that the documents are crucial to the state's criminal investigation. The suit was reportedly filed in Washington, DC, and accuses the Justice Department of stonewalling access to material that could identify witnesses, victims and alleged participants in crimes at the ranch." On Wednesday, The Epstein Truth Commission issued an interim report. John Rupolo (KOAT) notes:
The report states that five women and girls were abused at Zorro Ranch between 1996 and 2012, but the commission believes the number is higher.
"The commission has counted at least 30 other individuals who potentially were abused in New Mexico, people we cannot yet confirm in most cases because their names are blacked out of the federal record," the commission said.
Between 1992 and 2019, Epstein's aircraft made 227 flights into New Mexico, with Epstein himself on 140 of those flights.
"But the most important numbers on this slide are the ones that might be missing. Eighty of those flights that we have obtained on the lists contain no passenger information at all, and roughly 26 passengers appear as female first names or initials," the commission said.
Ethan Manera (NEWSTALK ZB) notes New Zealand nationals Brice and Karen Gordon being noted in the interim report out of New Mexico:
Now, an investigatory committee led by New Mexico lawmakers into Epstein’s crimes in the state has shed fresh light on the Gordons’ involvement in Epstein’s affairs.
An interim report, released by the New Mexico Truth Commission, describes the Gordons as being in Epstein’s “inner circle” as employees at the ranch property, and details Brice Gordon’s involvement in supplying masseuses for Epstein.
Epstein’s longtime pilot, Larry Visoski, testified at Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial in 2021 that Gordon told him he had “arranged for masseuses from a Santa Fe spa, Ten Thousand Waves, to visit Zorro Ranch to perform massages on Epstein,” the report said.
It also references a 2007 FBI interview with Gordon, in which the New Zealander said he typically arranged Epstein’s masseuses whenever the financier stayed at the ranch.
In other news, the jobs report came out Friday. David Goldman and Matt Egan (CNN) discussed it:
David Goldman: Hey, Matt! The jobs report on Friday came in…less than good, let’s say. Are we back in this “meh-conomy,” where we have stagnant job growth and uncomfortably high inflation with no easy solution? Those are two difficult jobs to tackle at once, right? “Jobs” was not supposed to be a pun, but let’s go with it.
Matt Egan: Hey, Dave! I wish we were doing this under happier circumstances. Because, yes, it feels like we just got an economic plot twist no one wanted.
The thinking before Friday: Solid but not spectacular job market. The thinking now: Soft job market AND elevated inflation.
New clouds darkened the economic landscape on Friday, as the latest employment report showed the nation shedding 23,000 jobs in July.
The number came as an unpleasant surprise to most economists. The consensus prediction from experts canvassed by Dow Jones had been that more than 80,000 jobs would be created.
Democrats pounced on the number to reinforce their case that President Trump is mismanaging the economy.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a possible 2028 presidential candidate, wrote on social media platform X: “The economic failures of the Trump administration keep piling up. There’s no way to spin these dismal results, because Americans know they’re paying the price every day.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif,), the former Speaker, chimed in that, “Today’s disastrous report is the latest proof that the Trump economy has failed the American people.”
And Abdul El-Sayed, who this week won the Democratic nomination to battle former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in a U.S. Senate race in Michigan, wrote: “Trump dump…or slump. Either way, it’s bad. Mike Rogers wants to rubber stamp this. I want to stand up to it.”
Affordability is the "defining challenge" when it comes to economic mobility, according to a new report by the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The survey of 30,000 Americans across income levels found that 90% of those polled cited groceries and food prices as a top cost concern, even over other key expenses, such as housing and healthcare.
"We face a common challenge, and that is the rising cost of living," said John-Paul Julien, a partner at McKinsey & Co. and co-founder of the McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility. "Although people are experiencing the economy differently, there is this shared feeling that rising costs are making it difficult to get ahead."
Consumer prices pulled back in June, but food costs edged higher once again, bringing the year-over-year gain to 3%, according to the latest consumer price index.
Food at home, a measure of price changes at the grocery store, also increased from a year earlier.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Alex Padilla's office:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, called out the Trump Administration’s continued abuses of power through the carrying out of their violent mass deportation agenda and inhumane treatment of detained immigrants. Padilla highlighted how U.S. citizens and noncitizens alike are being shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement officers and demanded accountability from the Trump Administration.
In his remarks, Padilla raised concerns over those who have been terrorized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, including those who have died during violent encounters with federal agents. He detailed the story of Joan Sebastián Guerrero, an immigrant from Columbia who had been authorized to work in the United States, who was tragically killed by an ICE officer last month. Padilla criticized the Trump Administration’s refusal to take accountability and pushed for stronger oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as they increase efforts to quickly deploy 12,000 new ICE officers across communities without proper vetting.
“First of all, Joan Sebastián Guerrero’s daughter should still have her father. Second, and this is publicly reported, the man who took his life should never have been given a badge and a gun,” said Senator Padilla. “It’s emblematic of a much larger failure within the Department of Homeland Security, as ICE has rushed this last year, to put as many officers as they could into communities as quickly as possible. Something pretty hypocritical, by the way, from an Administration calling for the re-vetting of previously vetted refugees and other immigrants.”
Padilla also highlighted the unacceptable conditions in immigration detention centers, including lack of access to basic needs such as clean water, food, and medical care. Despite court orders to improve these facilities and a record number of deaths in ICE custody, Padilla emphasized how the Administration has doubled down on their anti-immigrant agenda by increasing detention facilities across the country and intensifying their detention and deportation efforts.
“ICE arrested 51,000 people in the month of July, the largest in a single month in DHS history. And again, the vast majority are not dangerous, violent criminals. And this Administration has the audacity to ignore court orders to provide basic care and dignity to the people that it’s cramming into these detention facilities,” said Senator Padilla. “ICE is now expanding detention facilities while continuing to carry out these mass enforcement operations across the country. They’re failing the humanity test. They’re being ordered by federal courts to do the job right. They’re doubling down and growing their operation.”
Padilla renewed his calls for stronger oversight of federal immigration enforcement agents, accountability for the killings and deaths resulting from the Trump Administration’s out of control agenda, and safeguards over immigrant communities across the country. Padilla underscored the importance of obtaining justice for those killed because of the Administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, including Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good, Ruben Ray Martinez, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, and Joan Sebastian Guerrero. He reaffirmed his commitment to fighting for immigrant communities facing family separation, detention abuses, and threats to due process and human dignity.
“Joan Sebastian Guerrero was one of those people, as there are thousands of others living in fear today. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. They’re our friends, they’re our co-workers and neighbors, all human beings deserving of basic dignity and humanity,” concluded Senator Padilla. “We should never accept an America where federal agents hide their faces, abuse their authority, or take life without oversight and accountability. It’s a choice, folks, that we’re making. What kind of a country are we working towards? It’s a choice that this Administration and congressional Republicans have made of what we’re seeing on the streets. America deserves better.”
Padilla has been an outspoken leader against the harsh and cruel operations of ICE and CBP under the second Trump Administration. In June, Padilla and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) sounded the alarm over the significant increase in deaths among detainees in ICE custody since January 2025, expressing concern over the announcement of the 50th reported death in ICE custody under the Trump Administration. Padilla also condemned Republicans’ partisan bill to provide ICE and CBP with an extra $70 billion without necessary reforms. Padilla also forced a vote on his amendment to the budget reconciliation bill that would require ICE agents to wear body cameras while on duty. Earlier this year, Padilla demanded answers from the Trump Administration on their decision to pull thousands of federal law enforcement agents away from their work protecting communities from dangerous criminals and reassign them to arrest, detain, and indiscriminately deport noncitizens without criminal records.
Video of Padilla’s remarks is available here.
Transcript of Padilla’s remarks is available below:
Mr. President, colleagues, there’s a lot going on in the country right now. Actually, a lot going on around the world. And I rise today not to address specifically the cost-of-living challenges that so many working families are struggling with. That’s certainly a topic of news these days, rightfully so. Not here to focus on what families of deployed service members must be feeling right now. Although that is certainly worthy of our thoughts and consideration and empathy, particularly the family members and the loved ones of the 18 service members that have lost their lives in this unauthorized war with Iran that the President has brought us into. I want to focus on something that about a year ago was really dominating the evening news and a lot of our social media feeds: immigration. And specifically, this Administration’s cruel, often violent tactics, as part of their mass deportation and, deportation agenda. Families are still being torn apart. Tens of thousands of immigrants currently being detained in detention centers around the country.
Loved ones of those killed by federal agents in broad daylight are also still hurting, including the family of Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 25-year-old father, an immigrant from Colombia, who had work authorization. He was driving in his car last month when a federal agent opened fire, shooting him in the head, and killing him. I hope you remember the story. It wasn’t that long ago. If you followed the story, you’ll know that his partner and his three-year-old daughter, still dressed in her Bluey pajamas that morning, were there at the scene because it was so close to their home. And according to witnesses, Joan’s last words were, “I tried to stop.” I raise this because, whenever there’s a tragedy like this that happens under this Administration, we quickly hear from department officials, from the White House, and MAGA supporters that all these victims had to do were follow instructions as if it was their fault that they’re being shot and, in some instances, killed. Well, that’s exactly what Joan was attempting to do. Yet he was killed anyway. Now I know we don’t have all the details of exactly how this tragedy unfolded. In large part, we don’t have all the details because some people say, “Well, just let’s go to the video. Let’s go to the body cam footage and see exactly what happened.” Despite receiving billions and billions of taxpayer dollars, which included funding for body cameras, these officers weren’t wearing any, but there are a couple things that we know for certain.
First of all, Joan Sebastian Guerrero’s daughter should still have her father. Second, and this is publicly reported, the man who took his life should never have been given a badge and a gun, and that’s not just coming from me. That’s coming from Tom Homan. That’s right, President Trump’s quote border czar, who recently said in a TV interview that I don’t think he should have ever cleared vetting. From what we’ve learned, this is a man who verbally, emotionally, and physically abused not just one, but two ex-wives. And once threw his 13-year-old daughter through a glass coffee table. So, Mr. Homan’s absolutely right when he says that this man’s hiring was a failure of the agency’s vetting process. But it’s emblematic of a much larger failure within the Department of Homeland Security, as ICE has rushed this last year, to put as many officers as they could into communities as quickly as possible. Something pretty hypocritical, by the way, from an Administration calling for the re-vetting of previously vetted refugees and other immigrants.
But I digress. In less than a year, ICE has hired more than 12,000 officers. A 120% increase in staffing. Huge increase in a small amount of time. In part, they were so eager to hire up that they were offering $50,000 bonuses for people who signed on to the agency. Along the way, they also lowered recruitment standards to try to hire as many people as possible, and they shortened training. Shortened training for law enforcement officers before deploying them into the streets. Anybody with history and experience with state and local law enforcement knows what happens when you do this. It’s it’s it’s a bad combination, a recipe for disaster when you hire too quickly, shorten training, and lower recruitment standards. And now the federal government is seeing the consequences of those bad decisions.
How many more unqualified individuals, who have not been sufficiently vetted or trained, are now in our communities? Not just armed, but armed and dressed as if they’re going to war? That’s not the job they’re doing. Along the way, violating constitutional rights, using excessive force, risking innocent lives, and worst of all, facing no accountability. Colleagues, accountability isn’t an inconvenience for law enforcement. It’s imperative in a society where we entrust law enforcement officers with the power to take lives, our liberty, or our property – when warranted.
Accountability is what gives law enforcement the legitimacy in a democracy. But that’s not what’s going on today. Just a couple weeks ago, it was reported that the FBI will no longer investigate confrontations with immigration enforcement agencies. Instead, Homeland Security will do the investigating to determine whether officers or agents have broken the law. If true, how’s that supposed to inspire confidence or legitimacy? After all, it’s been six months since the killing of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. And still nobody’s been held accountable for those deaths. Let me repeat their names: Alex Pretti, Renee Nicole Good, Ruben Ray Martinez, Silverio Villegas González, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Joan Sebastian Guerrero. God, I pray there’s not more to come. How many more need to die before this Administration recognizes, acknowledges, and admits that something is deeply wrong?
Another important point I want to make today is that these failures don’t end on the streets in our communities. They’re also happening inside the walls of detention facilities, where, as of yesterday, at least 54 people have died since the beginning of this Administration. The year 2025 was a record year – not a good record – the most deaths in ICE custody in the calendar year, and we’re on track to exceed that in 2026. At this moment, more than 67,000 people are being held in overcrowded and understaffed facilities. Where many are denied access to healthy food, clean water, even basic medical care. Forget about life-saving care for people with extreme conditions. Folks that I’ve seen and talked to personally suffering from injuries they sustained when being taken into custody because of the cruelty and the violence of how it’s being done. And reporting just this morning from the Associated Press shows us that more than 50 parents and spouses of active duty service members have been detained since the beginning of the second Trump Administration, and at least six have been deported. Think about that. Their sons and daughters, husbands and wives are willing to put their lives on the line for this country during wartime, no less. And the Trump Administration is rewarding their service by detaining and deporting their family members.
Yet, despite all this, Donald Trump and those around him keep repeating the lie that they’re only going after the worst of the worst. It’s not true. Even federal courts have found that the conditions in these detention facilities, by the way, are unacceptable. A federal district court judge in California just ordered improvements to basic needs like access to clean water, nutritious food, and medical and disability care in the Adelanto ICE processing center. Basic standards for humanity that are both federal law and international law. In February, a similar order to provide access to medical care was issued regarding the largest detention center in California, the one located in California City. But just last week, we learned from a neutral court-appointed monitor that ICE is failing to comply with that order. This Administration just doesn’t care. Despite these deaths, despite these conditions, and despite the enormous human toll, the Administration is actually doubling down.
ICE arrested 51,000 people in the month of July, the largest in a single month in DHS history. And again, the vast majority are not dangerous, violent criminals. So we have a historic number of arrests, coupled with a historic number of deaths in ICE custody. And this Administration has the audacity to ignore court orders to provide basic care and dignity to the people that it’s cramming into these detention facilities. And on top of all that, the Republican majority in this Congress has given ICE and Border Patrol more than $150 billion, with no accountability, no safeguards required. So they don’t even have to come back to Congress to justify their funding requests and answer questions for the next three years. ICE is now expanding detention facilities while continuing to carry out these mass enforcement operations across the country. They’re failing. They’re failing the humanity test. They’re being ordered by federal courts to do the job right. They’re doubling down and growing their operation.
And we now know that over 300,000 Haitian immigrants are now facing arrest and deportation after the Trump Administration has ripped away their temporary protected status. Colleagues, how many people need to die at the hands of ill-trained, unqualified, and unaccountable federal agents and inside inhumane detention centers before we, as the Congress, at least the Senate, say enough? Before we call for accountability and demand common sense reforms. What’s it going to take? Because our proposals are out there, like my VISIBLE Act, which says immigration enforcement officials have to have very clear, very visible identification. Something that’s standard for law enforcement agencies nationwide. If a group of masked individuals in unmarked cars runs you off the road, jumps out of their cars with guns drawn, and starts screaming in your face without any way to easily and quickly know that they’re federal agents, of course somebody’s going to panic.
We just saw that exact scenario play out in Houston a few weeks ago. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was driving in his van on his way to work when two unmarked cars, without sirens or lights, began chasing him. Eventually, blocking his car on a small side street. As he was trying to turn around, they shot him and killed him. Without any clear identification, how could Lorenzo know that these cars chasing him belonged to law enforcement? As one expert reviewing the footage of this chase from public cameras said, “It looks more like a carjacking attempt than it is a police stop.” And we wonder why some people panic. That’s exactly why we need the basic standards for federal law enforcement, like those called for in Senator Booker’s Federal Law Enforcement Standards and Accountability Act, and for the protection of agents and civilians alike, law enforcement needs to have the body cameras, and to have them turned on, which the FOCUS Act would require.
These are the kinds of basic safeguards that Democrats have been proposing over and over again, but the Administration and the Republican majority doesn’t want to act on it. Now we have a lot of policy debates here in Congress, but too often we lose sight of the people behind the headlines and the people behind the statistics that are impacted by these policies. Joan Sebastian Guerrero was one of those people, as there are thousands of others living in fear today. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. They’re our friends, there are our co-workers and neighbors, all human beings deserving of basic dignity and humanity. Last month, Joan Sebastian Guerrero got into his car, expecting just a normal, regular day. And now his daughter will grow up in a world without him in it. And she carries his memory with her for the rest of her life. Not only of him, but how he was taken from her. She’ll remember that forever. And colleagues, I implore that we remember as well, and let’s learn from it and do everything possible to keep it from happening again. Because we are a nation of laws that need to be enforced, but a nation of laws includes being a nation of due process, of accountability, and above all, human dignity. And we should never accept an America where federal agents hide their faces, abuse their authority, or take life without oversight and accountability. It’s a choice, folks, that we’re making. What kind of a country are we working towards? It’s a choice that this Administration and congressional Republicans have made of what we’re seeing on the streets. America deserves better. America deserves better. Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.
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