Rep. Pressley: Epstein files must come out “in full” — and health care crisis to deepen in Mass.
It’s been an eventful couple of weeks in Washington, from the sudden agreement to release the Epstein files to unresolved fallout from the government shutdown deal that’s left the nation’s health care crisis untouched.
Meanwhile, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) is introducing a resolution to honor surviving family members of homicide victims. And a controversial ICE raid in Allston is raising fresh questions about enforcement and community trust.
Congresswoman Pressley joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to discuss all that and more. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.
Arun Rath: Let’s start with the big news — that would be the Epstein files. The release was opposed by both the White House and Speaker Johnson. Tell us about how we even got to having the vote.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley: Well, I do think it’s important first to just center the survivors. This is a testament to their bravery, their resilience and their tenacity. They have been for decades seeking accountability, some form of justice, only to experience institutional betrayals by their government and law enforcement.
One of the survivors was sharing that every time they’ve told their story, they thought for a moment that their humanity was being seen and centered, only for nothing to happen, and they would sort of resort back to a ghost-like status. You know, this has derailed and, in some instances, permanently deferred many of their dreams. It’s been a lifetime sentence of deep trauma.
This is long overdue, and it’s also important to note that Republicans have worked actively to obstruct, stonewall and slow roll any progress on behalf of the survivors of Epstein’s trafficking. Again, these are grown women who I’ve spent a fair amount of time with, but they were children as young as 14 when they were groomed, preyed upon, exploited, violated and trafficked. They were children, and that changes you. It changes you on a cellular level. It changes the trajectory of your life.
The Republicans have been more interested in shielding predators and not seeking accountability for this predator, pedophile Ponzi scheme, exacted by the powerful and the privileged: Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislane Maxwell and their co-conspirators. I mean, the House Republicans even shut down the House, but House Democrats have used every tool available — issuing subpoenas, hosting roundtables, calling for congressional hearings, working closely with the survivors.
So, we passed that vote out of the House, unanimous consent out of the Senate to Donald Trump’s desk; he has 10 days to sign it and 30 days to follow the law and release the files in full.
Rath: Let me ask you then — staying with the focus on the survivors here, rather than talking about process — how confident are you now that the survivors and the public are going to see all of these documents coming out, based on where we are right now?
Pressley: Well, I mean, whether you’re talking about the Bureau of Labor Statistics or public health data out of the Department of Health and Human Services, this is an administration [that] certainly does not pride itself on transparency, and they do work hard to obscure data. I know that there were some caveats that we embedded in the subpoena, some extra protections that for any redacted information, they have to offer a full explanation.
But, you know, even with that cynical eye, I’m still greatly encouraged. I know the Epstein survivors, but the broader survivor community is encouraged that we are one step closer to some accountability for them, and it is important that we know just how far-reaching this is. I mean, there are implications here once we have the full files released that could lead to additional work — not just in the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which I serve, but also the other committee I serve, financial services, or the judiciary committee.
There’s also an effort in the Senate that’s specific to the Treasury piece, which is calling for those files to be released as well. So, I mean, this is the biggest human trafficking operation in the history of this country, and again, there are accusations of Jeffrey Epstein being a foreign asset, implications as well on our banking industry. So, we’re going to follow the money, but right now, [we’re] just waiting for the full release of these files, and we’ll follow wherever they take us.
Rath: I want to take a moment and get your reaction to something that’s just happened [yesterday], which was the President’s social media posts regarding some of your colleagues — Democratic lawmakers — who apparently had written a letter to the Armed Forces stating that they had the right to disobey unlawful orders, t. That was basically the thrust of it. O on social media, t. The President was suggesting that these lawmakers should be executed.
Pressley: It’s stunning, and language like this should not be normalized. We should not in any way — it just should not be normalized. I mean, it’s not normal. The occupant of the White House openly calling for violence against sitting members of Congress and the United States Senate, members who serve this country? It’s dangerous. I, and it must be condemned, and vigorously so.
Rath: Let’s shift now to the fallout from the government shutdown deal, specifically how it left the health care crisis untouched. Can you talk about the consequences Massachusetts families are going to feel?
Pressley: The consequences are dire. I mean, listen, we understand that elections have consequences, but it is beyond me that someone operating with a majority and having a so-called mandate would use that mandate to exact and enact harm on people. Our greatest wealth as a nation is the health of our people, and the health of our people is in great jeopardy. W when you compound that with the impacts of the “Big Betrayal Bill” and those cuts to Medicaid for, you know, some 15 million people, t. That not only impacts Medicaid recipients, but also the community health centers, the hospitals, the nursing homes, the schools that rely on those Medicaid reimbursements, so there is a residual impact felt there.
This is of deep concern to me. The Massachusetts 7th Congressional District, which I have the honor of representing, has some of the most disparate health outcomes in the Commonwealth, and already has lost two hospitals. When you compound that with the fact that the Affordable Care Act sSubsidies — which are essential to keeping the cost of health care affordable — have not been extended, it means that people are not going to get any diagnoses that they need. People will get sicker. It means that people will die.
In my district, as I’ve spent time with constituents who’ve shared their fears, there’s one social worker who comes to mind who’s a formerly unhoused person who now manages a homeless shelter. He shared that the letter that he received said that his health care costs were going to go from $200 a month to well over $900. Either people are losing their health care, or if they’re still able to keep their health care, it’ll be so unaffordable that they just simply won’t access it.
I have another constituent named Paula whose husband lost his job, and the Affordable Care Act has really been their lifeline. It’s carried them through years of uncertainty, while she became his caregiver when he became ill. So now, she worries that the health care coverage that once saved them could soon be out of reach.
There are some 29,000 people in my district, just like the two constituents that I named there. And again, the fact that they’re using this majority to make people poorer, sicker, hungrier and less safe — the people just deserve so much better.
Rath: The majority has said that they will have these negotiations now about health care, and potentially adding things in. Do you have hope for that? Or, what can you do now to address the crisis from where you’re sitting?
Pressley: Well, again, House Democrats have had to be very nimble in our defense of the American people and of the health care that they deserve, so we do have a discharge petition at the desk. Again, that’s what was just used to force a vote to dispatch a subpoena to the Department of Justice for the Epstein files. A discharge petition, when you hit that magic number of 218, forces a vote, and it calls for the Affordable Care Act, those subsidies, to be extended for three years.
My colleagues across the aisle can say whatever they want to say, but at the end of the day, we’ll see how they move on an up or down vote with this discharge petition. It’s just, this is a matter of life and death, and that’s why we have to keep fighting to save health care again. Our greatest wealth as a nation is the health of our people, and it is in jeopardy.
Rath: Another topic of interest locally, and just down the road from us here at GBH — the ICE raid at the Allston Car Wash, which, according to reporting, was initiated by the head of BU’s Republican Club, who is a British citizen. Tell us about your reaction to that raid and what you’re hearing from constituents.
Pressley: Well, the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District is a diverse district. [They] really felt the impacts, disparately so, from the first Trump presidency, and the same is true now. I feel my district is one that has really been under siege.
You know, this campaign of terror that ICE is sowing is not doing anything to keep our communities safer. Everyone is less safe when you sow fear and chaos, when you move with disregard for human dignity and, of course, people’s constitutional rights to due process — and that’s true in Allston and all across my district. My district office has been in close touch with the families that have been impacted, working with local partners just to make sure they have access to legal counsel and other resources. But this is shameful, and it has to stop.
These actions are rogue and unconstitutional, dangerous and deeply traumatic, and, again, it is making all of us less safe. The administration alleged that they were going after the worst of the worst, and we have seen no evidence of that. They continue to go after the best of the best. I mean, those impacted by this raid at the Allston Car Wash — these are hardworking people who deserve to be at home with their loved ones and have their right to due process respected.
I’m relieved that two federal judges have granted all the bond petitions that were requested, and again, our strategy in the face of this lawlessness is to combat it with the rule of law. Our first line of defense remains in the courts. You know, litigation, legislation, agitation, mobilization. [The Trump administration is] flooding the zone. They are doing everything to roll back progress, to erode the public trust, to dismantle our federal workforce, to sow division, to perpetuate terror, and we just have to fight it at every turn — resist and reject.
This is not about if we can survive the next four years. This is about shaping the next 100.
Rath: One more thing — I’m sorry we kept you longer than we promised — but I need to ask you about the resolution you’re introducing that honors survivors of homicide victims. Tell us about why you decided to take this on right now.
Pressley: Yes, I’ve been … You know, I fight for all survivors — survivors of sexual assaults, survivors of harassment, surviving family members of homicide victims — and I’ve been doing that work since I was on the Boston City Council.
In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there was a resolution passed many years ago designating November 20 through December 20 as a month to raise awareness about the surviving family members of homicide victims. There are some 22,000 lives that we’re robbed of every year because of the public health crisis that is gun violence. For every life that we’re robbed of, it affects a minimum of 20 people.
During the holiday season, you know, I’m thinking of those families that will have one less person at the dinner table and how hard that is every day, but especially during the holidays. So, I’ve partnered with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and Senator [Ed] Markey advocating for a federal month of designation and recognition for the surviving family members of homicide victims.
