Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., joined Alex Witt on Saturday to break down the latest developments in the House Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation, including last week’s testimony from Ted Waitt, a former romantic partner of Ghislaine Maxwell.
During his testimony, Waitt, a billionaire businessman and philanthropist, said he had no knowledge of any illegal activity. Walkinshaw, a member of the oversight committee, told Witt he found it “hard to believe” that Waitt “never had an inkling of knowledge about the crimes that were being committed by Maxwell and Epstein.”
“They were in a romantic relationship for a long period of time,” the congressman said. “Maxwell was committing crimes with Epstein at that same time he claimed to have heard no evil and saw no evil.”
Walkinshaw said that “the most common phrase” he heard from Waitt was “I don’t recall.”
“There were a lot of conversations and things that he couldn’t recall,” the Virginia Democrat continued. “So I find it hard to believe that you could have no knowledge that your romantic partner was involved in these kinds of very serious crimes. But that’s what he said.”
Waitt has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein’s or Maxwell’s crimes.
Walkinshaw also spoke about former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s scheduled appearance before the committee on May 29. She agreed to appear after Democrats threatened to hold her in contempt for failing to comply with an earlier subpoena from the committee.
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“The questions I have for [Bondi] are pretty simple,” he told MS NOW. “When she was attorney general, the buck stopped with her, and we know that the Department of Justice failed to follow the law with respect to releasing the files. They didn’t release the files by the deadline. They still haven’t released all the files. They illegally redacted thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of files. They released documents that should have been redacted, and they revealed information related to survivors that shouldn’t have been revealed.”
“I want to know who made those decisions. Were there conversations between her and Todd Blanche to redact files? Any conversations with the White House?” Walkinshaw asked.
The congressman said he was “disappointed” that Bondi’s appearance was “a transcribed interview rather than a deposition,” but said he still believed he and his colleagues could get answers for the American people.
“While she won’t be under oath, it still is a crime to lie to Congress, so my expectation is she’ll tell the truth when she’s asked questions,” he said. “Otherwise, she’ll be in violation of the law, whether she’s under oath or not. I’m also hopeful that Chairman Comer will videotape this transcribed interview so the public will be able to see it and judge for themselves.”
You can watch Walkinshaw’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”