SiriusXM host Stephen A. Smith criticized the Democratic Party on “Straight Shooter with Stephen A.” on Wednesday for not pushing for the release of files about deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein when former President Joe Biden was in office.
A discharge petition about the files reached the threshold to force a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday after Democratic Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn in as the newest member of the House and signed it. Smith questioned on his show why the Democratic Party did such an about-face on the files once President Donald Trump reentered office.
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“Ladies and gentlemen, keep in mind that the Epstein files were in existence and free to have been open during the Biden administration! You were there for four years!” Smith exclaimed. “How come you didn’t open it as a Democratic party then!? What am I missing!? I’m not saying I know, it’s a legitimate question! Maybe I don’t remember the answer. Maybe my extraordinary producers should be able to help me during the commercial break.”
“But from my understanding, the same files that were open or being open now, with the 220 pages of documents or whatever it is, with various emails, that could have been done when Biden was in office!” he continued. “Well, why didn’t you do it if it’s so important now!? What were the Democrats doing at that particular moment in time? See, this is the kind of stuff that smells.”
Smith argued that if there was “dirt” on Trump in the files, the Democrats would have released it under Biden to prevent him from winning his reelection campaign, given their hatred for the president.
“That’s just my thinking from a logical perspective,” he said. “But what do I know!?”
Later in the show, Smith’s producers apparently gave him information on a supposed reason why the Biden administration did not release the files.
“The Epstein files and the Biden DOJ [Department of Justice] — there may be more legal nuance, but the general thing was the DOJ didn’t release the full Epstein files primarily because federal law sharply restricts disclosure of grand jury materials,” Smith read. “Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6E, grand jury evidence is kept secret to protect witnesses, informants, victims, and the integrity of ongoing or past investigations. And the Justice Department cannot unilaterally release this material either.”
However, Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman also called out the Biden administration on “Morning Joe” Thursday for not releasing the files.
“[O]ne of my questions is like … we sat on those for four years, too,” Fetterman said. “So, I mean, I don’t really understand, you know, either. I mean, there are a lot of questions.”
Moreover, the House Oversight Committee on Sept. 2 published thousands of subpoenaed records about Epstein that were obtained via Trump’s DOJ.
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