Donald Trump’s pick for FBI Director says that he is committed to giving clarity to Americans on who was involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring.
Kash Patel told senators at his confirmation hearing on Thursday that he would work with Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn to get the list of names and flight log for his private jet, so-called the Lolita Express.
‘I want to talk to you about the Epstein case,’ Blackburn said to Patel in the midst of his Capitol Hill grilling. ‘I have worked on this for years, trying to get those records of who flew on Epstein’s plane and who helped him build this international human trafficking, sex trafficking ring.’
‘I know that breaking up these trafficking rings is important to President Trump. Will you work with me on this issue so we know who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in building these sex trafficking rings?’ she questioned.
Patel replied:
Absolutely, senator. Child sex trafficking has no place in the United State of America. And I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI Director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past and how we are going to counterman missing children and exploited children going forward.
Blackburn claims that when Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was leading the Senate Judiciary Committee, he and Christopher Wray ‘blocked’ her request for the release of co-conspirators.
This led to a back-and-forth from the panel bench between Durbin and Blackburn.
‘In 2023 I was falsely accused of preventing releasing the names of Jeffrey Epstein’s network by Mr. Patel,’ Durbin insisted.
‘So many people are aware, sir, that you and Christopher Wray did not want those out,’ Blackburn fired back during the public disagreement.
‘We have fought this issue for quite some time,’ she added. ‘I look forward to having an FBI that will work to help get these records and end this human and sex trafficking in this country.’
