1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Just a heads up that this episode contains distressing themes, 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: including child sexual abuse. Listener discussion is advised already. 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 2: And this is this is the. 4 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: Daily This is the Daily. 5 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 2: Ohs oh, now it makes sense. 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Wednesday, 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: the fourth of February. 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 2: I'm Elliott Lourrie, I'm billefit Simon's. 9 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: Last week, the US Department of Justice released three million 10 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: documents from the Epstein files. Multiple high profile Australian figures 11 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: have appeared in the documents, including former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 12 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: mining magnetue Clive Palmer and the daughter of former PM 13 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: Paul Keating. In today's podcast, we're going to walk you 14 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: through what we learnt about some of the Aussies mentioned 15 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: in this release, how they have responded, and what's next 16 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: in the Epstein saga. 17 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 2: So, Elliott, over the weekend, there were three million documents 18 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 2: that were released in this latest drop of the files. 19 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: Obviously you have read all three million documents. 20 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: That's for it. 21 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 2: That is the task we put you too yesterday. No, 22 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 2: but I think that we should start by just explaining 23 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 2: who exactly Jeffrey Epstein is. 24 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, I think his name gets thrown around 25 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: a lot, but a bit of background is that Jeffrey 26 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: Epstein was an American financier and businessman who is probably 27 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: most well known for his crimes. So that included in 28 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight when he was sentenced to thirteen 29 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: months in jail after pleading guilty to sex trafficking crimes. 30 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: He was then arrested again in twenty nineteen on federal 31 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: sex trafficking charges after investigators found that he had been 32 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: paying teenage girls money to perform sex acts for years. 33 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 1: His former girlfriend, Galline Maxwell was also charged with helping 34 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: abuse these girls. Now, Epstein ultimately died by suicide in 35 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: his cell out of federal jail in New York. That 36 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: was about a month after he was arrested in twenty nineteen. 37 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: But the reason this case has never really gone away 38 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: is because of Epstein's connections. So he was friends with presidents, royals, billionaires, 39 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: celebrity and all these really powerful people from around the world. 40 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: There's kind of always been this question hanging over the case. 41 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: Did any of these people have anything to do with it? 42 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: And did they know about or participate in his crimes? 43 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say when Jeffrey Epstein was alive, the 44 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 2: focus was on holding him to account for what he did. 45 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 2: But since he died, the focus has turned to, well, 46 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 2: who were the people around him who either facilitated those 47 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 2: crimes or also actively participated in those crimes exactly, And 48 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 2: that is what these files are all about. But it's 49 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 2: important to say, and I know you will also emphasize 50 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 2: that just because you were named in these files doesn't 51 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 2: mean that you are accused of any wrongdoing. 52 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: Correct. 53 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,080 Speaker 2: Do you want to just explain what these Epstein files explicitly. 54 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: Are, Yeah, of course. So in short, the Epstein files 55 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: are all the documents that were collected by the US 56 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: Department of Justice or the DOJ, when they were investigating Epstein. 57 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: So during his most recent presidential campaign, the current president 58 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: Donald Trump vowed that if he was elected, he would 59 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: release all of those files. It was kind of a 60 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,679 Speaker 1: big election campaign promise. Then, in November last year, the 61 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: US Congress passed legislation called the Epstein Files Transparency Act 62 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: that was to force the release of the files, and 63 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: it meant that the DOJ was then required to publish 64 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: all available files by the nineteenth of December. Now it's 65 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: important to note this didn't actually happen, and the DOJ 66 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: said the process was delayed because they were redacting the 67 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: names and identities of victims in the crimes. That was 68 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: quite a manual process, so that was kind of their 69 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: justification for the delay of the release because it was 70 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: so many documents. And it is true that there is 71 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: a lot of redactions in the final files that we've 72 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: seen publicly, but we don't know what's hidden behind them, 73 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: so we as journalists can't verify if it's just the victims' 74 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: names that has been hidden or if there's something else 75 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: in there, which we'll talk about later. 76 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 2: Yep Okay, So that's kind of the context of who 77 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 2: Epstein is, what these files actually are. And over the 78 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 2: weekend we got the last drop of all of the files. 79 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: Right, yeah, that's correct. So, as I mentioned up top, 80 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: three million pages. So to put this into context, if 81 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: you printed them all out and stack them on top 82 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: of each other, that would account to roughly the size 83 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: of the Eiffel Tower in terms of how much information. 84 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 2: We're talking Wow, the height of the Eiffel Tower, Yes, exactly. 85 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: So it is important to note that the collection of 86 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: documents that was shed last week will likely be the 87 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: last major release, as you mentioned, and that's because the 88 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: DOJ has said that it has now produced, with a 89 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: couple of exceptions, quote, all documents, files, records, videos and 90 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: images related to the investigation. So the new files did 91 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: include mention of people like the form of Prince Andrew, 92 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: current US President Donald Trump, and billionaires Elon Musk and 93 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: Bill Gates, as well as quite a few notable Australian 94 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: people who were going to talk about today. 95 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we could do a whole podcast on 96 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,239 Speaker 2: all of the very high profile people who were named 97 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 2: in these files. But I do think, you know, we're 98 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 2: an Australian podcast. I think it is interesting to focus 99 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 2: on the Australians that were named in these files. Who 100 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 2: are they? 101 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: So, as you can imagine, with three million documents, there 102 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: are a lot of names that people have had to 103 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: go through and I do just want to pause here 104 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: and reiterate again that just because someone is mentioned in 105 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: the Epstein files, it doesn't mean that they are connected 106 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: to his criminal activity or that they even knew him. Yeah. However, 107 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: the people I'm going to focus on today are the 108 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, mining magnate Clive Palmer and 109 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: Katherine Keating, who is the daughter of former PM Paul Keating. 110 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 2: Got it Okay, Before we go through each of them individually, 111 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 2: here is just a quick message from today's sponsor. Okay, Elliott, 112 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 2: I want to go through each of them one by one. 113 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 2: Let's start with former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. If anyone's 114 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 2: not familiar with him, he was elected Prime Minister in 115 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 2: two thousand and seven and was the Prime Minister for 116 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 2: a few years, on and off, on and off, Yes, famously, 117 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 2: on and off. 118 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: Famously, on and off. So Rudd was referenced a couple 119 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: of times in the release documents, which showed Epstein had 120 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: repeatedly tried to organize meetings with him. One such scheduled 121 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: meeting included a quote vegetarian lunch to be attended by Epstein. 122 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: In June of twenty fourteen, Epstein emailed his assistant Leslie Groff, 123 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: asking him to include quote also non vegetarian food as 124 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,160 Speaker 1: now Kevin Rudd is also coming. In another exchange with Epstein, 125 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: this time from twenty sixteen, former Norwegian PM torn Born 126 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: Jagland referred to Ud as a friend of us. 127 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 2: Both so there is there any evidence that they actually 128 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 2: met or these are just emails trying to organize a meeting. 129 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, so we did actually reach out to Bud's office 130 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: and they came back to me to kind of dispute 131 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: that the pair had ever met. They said, you know, 132 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: it was possible that they were at the same events together, 133 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 1: but that Rudd had no reason to believe that he 134 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: had ever actually met Epstein. 135 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 2: Got it, And I think again important to emphasize there 136 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 2: that you know, there were conversations about a potential meeting, 137 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 2: but again, Kevin Rudd is not accused of any wrongdoing, 138 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 2: no evidence of that ever happening. Okay, so that's Kevin Rudd. 139 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 2: Who's next. Who's another Australian who was mentioned? 140 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,479 Speaker 1: Yes, of course, so we'll go to Clive Park. Now, 141 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: he's a mining billionaire and politician who launched the United 142 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: Australia Party and later the Trumpet of Patriots more recently, 143 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: he's probably best known for spending record breaking himounts of 144 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: money on political advertising for those parties. And Palmer is 145 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: actually mentioned in a text exchange between what is believed 146 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: to be Epstein and a former Trump advisor called Steve Bannon. Now, 147 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: Bannon is a really important figure in American politics. He's 148 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: kind of considered the godfather of the Make America Great 149 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: Again movement, and in the exchange, Bannon claims he convinced 150 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: Palmer to bankroll an advertising campaign during the twenty nineteen 151 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: Australian federal election, saying I had Clive Palmer do the 152 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: sixty million dollar anti China and climate change ads. 153 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 2: Wait pause for a second, So that's twenty nineteen. Jeffrey 154 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 2: Epstein is still alive at the point of this exchange. 155 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 2: How does this relate to Epstein? 156 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, a great question. You might remember that during the 157 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen federal election there was a lot of sort 158 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: of misinformation swirling around, marked by a large scale adlets 159 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: run by Palmer's United Australia Party. 160 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 2: Yes, do you remember, is that when we were getting 161 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 2: texts or before then? 162 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:04,880 Speaker 1: I actually can't remember. 163 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 2: I think it was before the text pretext. 164 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: Yes, so definitely, some TV campaigns and things like that. 165 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: And on election night Palmer himself even said he pivoted 166 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: his strategy in the final weeks of the campaign to 167 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 1: quote polarize the electorate and damaged Labour's chances of winning. Ultimately, 168 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: Scott Morrison's coalition went on to win that election, despite 169 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: Poles consistently saying that Labor was set to win. That's 170 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: something that Epstein actually directly referenced in the text chain 171 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: as well, saying telephone polls not accurate to Bannon. 172 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 2: So Epstein was supporting Clive Palmer in that election. 173 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,679 Speaker 1: Well, certainly, Steve Bannon is implying that he gave Parma 174 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: the idea to run those ads. 175 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 2: I see, got it? 176 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: Now. It is important to note that Palmer has actually 177 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: come out since these documents have been released, calling the 178 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:53,480 Speaker 1: claims by Bannon bullshit, saying that he's never met or 179 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: spoken to him, and that came from one of his 180 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: spokespeople on Sunday. 181 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 2: Okay, got it. And then let's move on to the 182 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 2: final person. You said. It was Catherine Keating, who is 183 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,800 Speaker 2: the daughter of the former Prime Minister Paul Keating. 184 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: That's correct. So her case is an interesting one because 185 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: she probably came up with the most amount of results 186 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: out of the people we're talking about today. The latest 187 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,679 Speaker 1: release shows that she had contact with Epstein and his 188 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: associates hundreds of times between twenty ten and twenty thirteen. 189 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,480 Speaker 1: As you'll recall, Epstein had already been convicted of child 190 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,960 Speaker 1: sex offenses at this point in time. Keating has told 191 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: nine newspapers her connection with Epstein reflected her interest in 192 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,319 Speaker 1: meeting quote reputable and major leaders of American business, and 193 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 1: the emails do show Epstein sort of mentoring Keating during 194 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: her time in America, trying to build a career in 195 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: TV over there. In one such email, Epstein actually gave 196 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: her a bit of a hard time, telling her I 197 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: think the sales pitch and or the product in brackets 198 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 1: you needs to be tweaked. So that was to do 199 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: with her career. But another exchange that has caught a 200 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: lot of attention was when Epstein was organizing a dinner 201 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:58,679 Speaker 1: party at his New York home in twenty eleven. The 202 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: famous Hollywood director Body was set to attend the event. 203 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: Now he's another sort of controversial figure and he comes 204 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: up a lot of times in the Epstein files. One 205 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,280 Speaker 1: tex exchange that came up in this release shows him 206 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: saying to Epstein, quote, I don't want to be one 207 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: of your women, or should I say girls would be 208 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: much more expensive than that. 209 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 2: So Woody Allen said that to Epstein. 210 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: That's correct. So back to this dinner Epstein's hosting it. 211 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: Allen is attending and Epstein's sort of emailing with Keating 212 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: about it and has said to her Allan likes pretty women. 213 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: Keating then responded suggesting that she could invite her younger sister, Alexandra, 214 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 1: describing her as twenty five, very cool and sharp as attack. Now. 215 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: Keating has yet to publicly comment on this interaction, but 216 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,600 Speaker 1: she's defended her other associations with Epstein, saying it was 217 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: purely professional. 218 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 2: So those are some of the most high profile Australians 219 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 2: who are mentioned in this latest drop of the Epstein files. 220 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 2: And like we said, that is the last drop. So 221 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 2: what happens now the Epstein files? 222 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,959 Speaker 1: So in theory it's all done. The DOJ will now 223 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: prepare a final report to Congress kind of detailing how 224 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: they have complied with the Act. That meant all the 225 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: files have come to light. However, Democrat members of the 226 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: US Congress that are overseeing this operation have actually ridden 227 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: to the Attorney General last week requesting access to the 228 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,840 Speaker 1: fully unreducted files. So in their letter, the members said 229 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: that only about half of the six million Epstein files 230 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 1: had been released by the DOJ, with two hundred thousand 231 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 1: of those being redacted in some way. The committee also 232 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: said it is looking to verify that the reductions have 233 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: happened in a narrow circumstance and not on the basis 234 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: of quote embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to 235 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: any government official. Now, I would say, since you know 236 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: the current president Donald Trump, He's been mentioned a number 237 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: of times across these files, the Democrats that are trying 238 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: to get the unreducted versions, they would probably be implying 239 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: with that quote that there is more information on him 240 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: there that could be referring to other political figures as well. 241 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 2: Okay, so those are the Epstein files. I know we 242 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,079 Speaker 2: also have hearings that are taking place that a committee 243 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 2: is overseeing. I saw yesterday that Bill and Hillary Clinton 244 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 2: have finally agreed to testify at that hearing. So you know, 245 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,839 Speaker 2: the files are now done. But politics in US talking 246 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 2: about Epstein and talking about the implications of the Epstein files, 247 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:27,559 Speaker 2: that is definitely ongoing. 248 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, we have a lot to watch out for. 249 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 2: Yes, Elliott, thank you for taking us through that. Thanks 250 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 2: and thank you so much for listening to this episode 251 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 2: of The Daily OS. If you're listening on Spotify, there 252 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 2: is a comment section where you can leave us your thoughts. 253 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 2: We would love to know what you think, and if 254 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 2: you're watching on YouTube, obviously you can also comment there. 255 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 2: We will be back this afternoon with your evening headlines, 256 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 2: but until then, we hope you have a great day. 257 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,319 Speaker 1: My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Aarunda 258 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: Bungelung Chalcuttin woman from Gadigal Country. 259 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,079 Speaker 2: The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on 260 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,599 Speaker 2: the lands of the Gadigal people and pays respect to 261 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 2: all Aboriginal and Torrestrate island and nations. 262 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, 263 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: both past and present.