Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-02-02 Monday

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

Democracy Now! Monday, February 2, 2026

From New York, this is Democracy Now. We are supposed to have our constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press. I don't feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because now federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago. Press freedom groups are expressing alarm after federal agents arrested two journalists, Georgia Fort and former CNN host Don Lemon, for covering a protest inside the St. Paul Church, where a top ICE official serves as pastor. We'll speak to Georgia Fort, then hear voices from another major protest in Minneapolis, part of a nationwide general strike against ICE. Then the Justice Department releases three million more pages of documents. related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But the DOJ is still holding back over 2 million more pages, despite a law requiring everything be released.

Today's release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance with the Act. the department has engaged in an unprecedented and extensive effort to do so. We'll speak to a lawyer for Epstein survivors and the journalist Vicki Ward. And we'll look at the FBI's raid on the election office in Fulton County, Georgia. As President Trump continues to falsely claim he won the 2020 election, we'll speak to Ari Berman of Mother Jones. All that and more coming up.

Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the Warren. Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. A federal judge in Minnesota denied a request by state officials to temporarily block the surge of 3,000 federal immigration agents that led to the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Preti in Minneapolis. Federal Judge Kate Menendez, who is appointed by President Biden, said in their ruling, quote, a proclamation that Operation Metro Surge has simply gone so far on the other side of the line is a thin read on which to base a preliminary injunction, and unquote. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Fry denounce the ruling saying, quote, this decision doesn't change what people here have lived through, fear, disruption, and harm caused by a federal

operation that never belonged in Minneapolis in the first place, unquote. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X calling the ruling, quote, a huge legal win for the Trump administration. Meanwhile, ProPublica identified the two federal immigration agents in Alex Preti's fatal shooting. including 43-year-old Jesus Ochoa and 35-year-old Ramondo Gucera, CBP, has refused to release their names and has disclosed little information about Pretti's killing. It comes as Minnesota Public Radio is reporting the police chief in the city of St. Peter intervened to prevent federal immigration agents from detaining a local resident who's a U.S. citizen. The woman was tracking and recording federal agents in her car in a video she shared with

Minnesota Public Radio, federal agents chased the woman, then got out in front of her, forcing her out of her car with guns drawn. The agents then pinned her down and handcuffed her before detaining her. She was later released when the local police chief got involved. It's the first time a police department in Minnesota intervened in federal immigration activity since the surge of federal agents began in Minnesota two months ago. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort were arrested last week on federal charges for reporting on a peaceful protest inside a St. Paul Church, where a top ICE official serves as a pastor. A federal grand jury indicted Fort and Lemon for interrupting church service and depriving congregants of their religious freedom. Lemon and Fort maintained they were not participating in the protest, but were reporting as journalists. They were released from federal custody Friday and vowed to fight the church.

charges and keep reporting. This is Georgia Ford speaking shortly after she was released. I would challenge every journalist in America to ask themselves how it felt to them today to see their colleagues be arrested for reporting the news. And if any of them say that it made them fearful. It made them concerned. It made them second guess going out tomorrow and covering what's happening in their communities. Then, yeah, I would say that that was probably the intent. We'll speak with Georgia Fort after headlines. In more related news, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father reunited with family members in Minnesota Sunday after they were released from an ICE family jail in Texas amidst mounting pressure from activists and elected officials.

Texas Congress member Joaquin Castro shared footage on social media as he welcomed Liam and his father, Adrian Conejo, outside ICE's South Texas family residential center in Dilley and flew them home to Minneapolis. Liam and his dad were detained in a suburb of Minneapolis last month. Images of Liam went viral after he was picked up. by federal agents while still wearing his Spider-Man backpack and a blue hat with bunny ears. Castro visited Liam and his father inside Dilley last week as protest intensified demanding Liam's release, as well as the release of all immigrant families detained in Dilley,

where children and their parents led a protest last weekend over inhumane conditions. Congressmember Ilhan Omar later posted a photo with Liam and his father, with a caption that read in part, quote, Liam is home now. He was wearing his bunny ears again. According to the Marshall Project, the Trump administration detains around 170 immigrant children on average per day compared to 25 children a day under President Joe Biden. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets this weekend as nationwide protests continue against Trump's immigration crackdown and escalating militarization. More than 300 anti-ice protests were held across the United States

Friday, including in Minneapolis, New York, Washington, D.C., Tucson, Arizona, and dozens of other cities. Chance of abolish ICE and no ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA echoed across the country. Thousands of others also participated in a nationwide general strike Friday. This is a protester in San Francisco. I hope it will happen is that more people will wake up. It's true that peaceful protest, nonviolent protests, is what brings down dictatorships. I was a huge sacrifice for that, but that's what we need to do. And people need to wake up to this. Reports have emerged of demoted Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, allegedly making

offensive remarks about the Jewish faith of Minnesota's U.S. attorney Daniel Rosen. That's according to the New York Times, which said Bovino's comments were made during a phone call with Minnesota prosecutors earlier this month. Bovino reportedly mocked Rosen for observing Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, and used the term chosen people in a sarcastic way. The call reportedly came as Bovino attempted to pressure Rosen to more harshly criminally prosecute protesters. Bovino accused of allegedly obstructing federal agents from enforcing Trump's mass immigration raids. Rosen was absent from the call, and Bovino complained he'd been hard to reach because of Shabbat. This comes as details have emerged of Bovino being compared to a Confederate

general in an email sent to him by a colleague in 2018. At the time, two Border Patrol agents sued Bovino, accusing him of discrimination and obstructing the promotion of black and Latino agents within customs and border protection. The city of Chicago's ordered local law enforcement to investigate and document reports of illegal activity conducted by federal immigration agents. Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson issued the executive order this weekend as tensions continue to rise with the Trump administration over federal immigration operations. Johnson wrote on social media, quote, nobody's above the law. With today's order, we're putting ice on notice in our city. Chicago's leading the way as the first city to create infrastructure for holding ICE and CBP agents

accountable for crimes against our communities, Mayor Johnson wrote on X. The Justice Department has released over 3 million pages of the Epstein files. Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche says the review was over and that it's unlikely anyone else will be prosecuted. The Wall Street Journal reports the names of 43 survivors were left unredacted in the files that were made public. According to the Wall Street Journal, more than two dozen. names of survivors who were minors are exposed in the filings, along with identifying details that

make them readily traceable, including home addresses. The release of the document sheds more light on the late-convicted sex offenders' ties to Hollywood elites, CEOs, and government officials. For instance, Epstein had used his contacts to arrange meetings for Steve Bannon with European government leaders. The two men had dinner together often, and Epstein had offered Bannon to state as Paris apartment as Palm Beach House and use his private plane on multiple occasions. The DOJ also released photos of Brett Ratner. The director of Melania Trump's Amazon film with Epstein and several young women. Ratner was accused by six women of sexual impropriety in 2017.

We'll have more on the Epstein files later in the broadcast with the journalists who's covered Jeffrey Epstein and a lawyer for Epstein survivors. in Gaza. Israeli forces will reportedly reopen the Raq crossing into Egypt for only six hours a day and enforced strict travel restrictions on Palestinians. The Rafah crossing has been shuttered for two years due to Israel's war and blockade and is being reopened as part of the so-called ceasefire, brokered by the Trump administration between Israel and Hamas. Tens of thousands of sick and severely wounded Palestinians, including children, are eagerly waiting to leave Gaza for urgent medical care.

Within the new restrictions, 150 people will be allowed to leave Gaza through the southern Rafa crossing, and 50 people will be permitted to enter the territory. That's according to Al Jazeera. Gaza health officials estimate over 1,200 Palestinians have died in Gaza while waiting for medical transfer due to Israel's closure of the Rafa crossing. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports some 12,000 medical staff in Egypt are preparing to receive medical evacuees from Gaza with hundreds of hospitals and ambulances ready to treat Palestinian patients among them children who've lost limbs in Israeli strikes. This is Mohamed Mahdi from Kanyunis who is getting ready to evacuate Gaza with a patient. It feels like a dream, especially as my father, we had lost hope of him receiving treatment.

And then they suddenly called us and told him to come to receive treatment and travel. This system, this system is a dream, a dream, I swear. This comes as Israeli forces continue their strikes across Gaza, killing at least 30 people, including six children this weekend in violation of the ceasefire. Some of the victims were taking shelter in tents. This was reportedly one of the deadliest Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in months. In Iran, authorities arrested Medi Mamudian. who was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing the scream play for Jaffar Panahi's acclaim film.

It was just an accident. The arrest comes as Mahmoudian signed a public statement condemning Iran's supreme leader, Aleh Khomeini. The statement also denounced the crackdown on anti-government protesters saying, quote, the mass and systematic killing of citizens who bravely took to the streets to bring an end to an illegitimate regime constitutes an organized state crime against humanity, unquote. Meanwhile, Arafan Soltani, who was reportedly sentenced to death for participating in anti-government protests, was released on bail, according to human rights groups. In Texas, Democrats flipped

a state Senate seat and picked up an additional congressional seat in a special election. Democrat Christian Meneffi won the special election runoff Saturday for Texas's eighth congressional district, narrowing Republicans' majority in the House to just four seats. Meanwhile, in a race for Texas State Senate, Democrat Taylor Remitt flipped a district that President Trump had won by 17 percentage points in 2024. President Trump announced he's closing the Kennedy Center for two years for renovations. It comes as President Trump's handpick board of trustees added his name to the Kennedy Center's building back in December. leading to a wave of artists boycotts. CNN's reporting Kennedy Center staff found out about the closure through President Trump's social media post about the renovation.

It comes as the Kennedy Center currently lists no scheduled events to honor Black History Month after several artists canceled their events to protest President Trump's takeover. An artist attending the Grammys last night wore anti-ice pins while others use their victory speeches to speak out against President Trump's. Trump's mass raids and deportations. Among them, Bad Bunny, who took home three awards, including album of the year, making history as the first Spanish language album to win in that category. Bad Bunche is from Puerto Rico. He'll be performing in the Super Bowl halftime show next weekend. This is part of his Grammy speech last night. Before I say, thanks to God, I'm going to say, eyes out. We're not

savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans. Also, I want to say to the people, I know it's tough to know, not to hate on these days. And I was thinking sometimes we get contaminados. I don't know how to say that in English. The hate get more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.

And this is singer-songwriter Billy Eilish, who won for Best Song of the Year. As grateful as I feel, I honestly don't feel like I need to say anything, but that no one is illegal on stolen land. Yeah, it's just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now. And I just, I feel really hopeful in this room, and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. And our voices really do matter and the people matter. After Eilish received her Grammy, Trevor Noah said, that's a Grammy that every artist wants, almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense because Epstein's island is gone. He needs

a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton, Noah said, and President Trump on social media threatened to sue him. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. We begin today's show looking at the arrests of two journalists for covering a protest at the city's church in St. Paul, where top official, ICE official, serves as pastor. Former CNN anchor Don Lemon, an independent journalist Georgia Fort from the Twin Cities, were released Friday after initial court hearings. A federal grand jury in Minnesota indicted Lemon in Fort for violating two laws. An 1871 law originally designed to combat the Ku Klutz Klan and the FAS Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which was written to protect abortion clinics. The indictment names a total of nine people, including the two journalists. U.S. Attorney General Pambandhi took personal credit for the arrests of Ford and Lemon and two others on Friday, posting on X that the arrests occurred at her direction.

Don Lemon, who was arrested late Thursday night by the FBI in Los Angeles, had been reporting on the church protest in St. Paul in January as an independent journalist. His attorney, Abby Lowell, described the arrest as a quote, unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration, Lull said. On Friday afternoon, Don Lemon vowed to continue reporting after peering the court in Los Angeles. I've spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now. In fact, there is no more important time than right now this very moment for a full moment. and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.

Again, I will not stop now. I will not stop ever. The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless of other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them, and I will not be silence. I look forward to my day in court. Thank you all. Don Lemon attended the Grammys Sunday night. Also arrested Friday was Georgia Ford, an independent journalist from the Twin Cities.

She posted a video to Facebook just as federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration were about to arrest her and take her to the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. I wanted to alert the public that agents are at my door right now. They're saying that they were able to go before a grand jury sometime, I guess, in the last 24 hours, and that they had. have a warrant for my arrest. I've talked to my attorney and I'm being advised to go with them, I guess down to Whipple. And my children are here. They're impacted by this. This is all stemming from the fact that I filmed a protest as a member of the media. We are supposed to have constitutional right of the freedom to film, to be a member of the press. I don't feel like I have my First Amendment right as a member of the press because now

federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest a few weeks ago. For more, we're joined now from Minneapolis by that long time independent journalist, Fort, whose reporting has been recognized with three Midwest Emmys. Welcome to Democracy Now. We thank you so much for being with us, Georgia. Explain what happened next. You have agents at your door, and then what happened? Good morning, Amy. My home was surrounded by about two dozen federal agents, including agents from DEA and HSI. I asked to see that. the warrant. My mother was here. My mother asked to see the warrant. They did show us an arrest warrant, which was then sent to my attorney who verified its legitimacy. Since it was an arrest

warrant, we decided that it would be safest for me to exit through the garage so that we could lock the door to our home behind me. And so I surrendered. I walked out of my garage with my hands up and I asked the agents who were there to arrest me if they knew that I was a member of the press. They said they did know that I was a member of the press. I informed them that this was a violation of my constitutional right, the First Amendment. And they told me, you know, we're just here to do our job. And I said, I was just doing my job. And now I'm being arrested for it. And so by about 630 a.m., they had me in cuffs in the back of the vehicle. We were headed to Whipple.

What I later learned after I was released is that these agents stayed outside of my home for more than two hours. And when my 17-year-old daughter felt, you know, threatened, felt scared that these agents weren't leaving. She decided that it would be safer for her to drive to a relative's home. And so she loaded up her sisters, who are seven and eight. and they went to leave somewhere where they could go and feel safe. And these agents stopped my children on their way trying to leave because they were scared that these agents were not leaving even after two hours of me being apprehended. My husband also, he was trailing them.

He drove out at the same time that they drove out. They stopped him, questioning him, asking them if they were taking my belongings away when they were simply trying to leave because no one could understand if I was arrested at 6.30 in the morning, why were all of these agents still just sitting outside of my home at 8.39 a.m. And so how long were you held? And if you could respond to the charges that were brought against you, Ironically, violating an 1871 law originally designed to take on the Ku Klux Klan and the FACE Act, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which is supposed to protect abortion clinics and people going into them for health care. Well, Amy, to answer your first question, I was detained at Whipple for several hours. then I was transferred to the U.S. Marshals prison, which is connected to the federal courthouse.

So I was at Whipple for maybe two or three hours and then transferred to this other facility. I had to be booked into both of them. They collected my DNA. They collected my fingerprints at both of those facilities. And then by 1.30, I was able to go before a judge who did approve my release under normal conditions until this case continues to play out in court. And so I ended up being released by the afternoon, I think about maybe by about three o'clock the same day. Now, in terms of the charges that I am facing, I think it's really absurd to weaponize a law that was meant to

protect black people and weaponize it against black people. Specifically, members of the press, we are at a critical time in this country when you have members of the press, award-winning journalists who are simply showing up in their capacity to cover the news, being arrested for doing their jobs. I think I wouldn't be the first person to say this, but we're having a constitutional crisis. if our First Amendment rights, if our constitutional rights cannot be withheld in this moment, then what does it say about the merit of our Constitution? And that was the question that I asked right after I was released. Do we have a Constitution? If there are no consequences for the violation of our Constitution, what strength does it really have?

What does it say about the state and the health of our democracy? Two judges said that you, the journalists, and in specifically dealing with Don Lemon, should not be arrested. And yet, ultimately, Pam Bondi took this to a grand jury. It goes back to the merit of our Constitution. Who has power in this moment? And I think what we're seeing here in Minnesota is the people are continuing to stand. They are continuing to demand that our Constitution be upheld. I believe that journalism is not a crime.

And it's not just my belief. It's my constitutional right as an American. And so I'm hopeful that I have a extremely great legal team. And so we'll continue to go through this. But I'd ask the question, I think you played the clip earlier. What message does this send to journalists across the country who are simply doing their jobs, documenting what is happening? But the reality is, when you're out documenting what's happening,

you are creating a record that can either incriminate or exonerate someone. And so what we do has so much power, especially in these times. And so I believe that is why journalism is under attack. Media is under attack. This would not be the first time in the last 12 months where we have seen a tremendous force come against people who are speaking truth of power on their platforms. Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off air. The nation was outraged about it.

There was a segment that was supposed to air on 60 minutes that was pulled. This isn't the first time. I mean, and we can even historically go back there. Ultimately was played after enormous outcry only recently. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I was going to say, you know, we could even go back further and look at the recent, you know, exodus of black women and mainstream media,

Joy Reid, Tiffany Cross, Melissa Harris Perry, April Ryan. So there has been, this is not new in terms of the attack on media and journalism, the attack on black women who are documenting what's happening. And so I, I will say, I am extremely grateful the National Association of black journalists issued a statement on behalf of myself and Don Lemon, which was signed by dozens of other journalism agencies and institutions. I am the vice president of my local chapter. We saw the International Women's Alliance of Media issue a statement. We saw our local media outlets here, Star Tribune, NPR, Minnesota Reformer, Minnesota spokesman recorder, and Sahan Journal. So many media and journalism institutions standing up and speaking out against this attack on the free press and the violation of our constitutional right.

Well, Georgia, I want to thank you so much for being with us and we will continue to follow your case. Independent journalist George Ford speaking to us from Minneapolis. She and former CNN host, Don Lemon, arrested last week for covering a protest inside a St. Paul Church where top ICE official serves as a pastor. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets this weekend as nationwide protests continue against Trump's immigration crackdown and escalating militarization. More than 300 anti-ice protests were held across the United States Friday, including in Minneapolis, New York, Washington, D.C., Tucson and dozens of other cities. Thousands of others also participated in nationwide

general strike Friday. Democracy Now is in the streets of Minneapolis Friday, speaking with protesters who marched in sub-zero temperatures. ICEO! Ice! Ice! Ice! Ice! ICE! ICE! My name is Robert Blair Dondalay. I'm the director of Engage in Advancement at Film North and also the creative director at The Idealist Project.

First and foremost, I'm out here to show that, well, we're not going to accept it, right? These are our family, our friends, our neighbors, our brothers, our sisters. We have children. This country itself, as well as a state, is largely built by migrants and immigrant population. and we're not willing to accept what's happening to all of our friends. I'm Andy. I live in St. Paul, and we are here marching on the streets because we need ICE to get out of our community.

They've been terrorizing innocent observers and bystanders. They've been stealing neighbors out of their workplaces, homes, schools, and we need ice out of our community right now. The whole city has been affected. Workplaces have been closed down. I have friends that are scared to go get groceries. I have people who are scared to show up for work. So yeah, I've been affected. This whole city has been affected.

I've grown up in Minnesota and I'm an aspiring teacher and I think that right now in this divide, our country lacks empathy and I think we need to teach peace. We need to stand up for our human rights. and protect our students and teach what's right. With the current events, students are feeling less and less safe. And not only is that impacting their education, but their mental, physical, well-being. I think that if you can't feel safe in your own home and your own country,

how are you supposed to feel safe in a school? My name's Ryan. This is a protest demanding that ICE gets out of Minneapolis immediately. leave. I mean, they came here to terrorize us and they came here to suspend our constitutional rights. It's a lot of anxiety to say the least, and I'm not one of the people they're targeting, but I still fill it. They need to leave our city now. Illegal, paramilitary police forces have no place in Minneapolis or in America. I think they're going to leave because they're going to have to leave. Because no one is going to, this is going to be relentless. It's time for them to go.

And I think people need to realize that they came here not for a law enforcement action, but to terrorize our city, our citizens, and our immigrant neighbors. And it's time for them to go. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here. My name's Noel. I've lived in Minneapolis for my whole life, and I'm just deeply concerned and afraid. But I also really feel empowered by the way that Minneapolis residents, by the way that neighbors have come together

to support each other. My brother is a student at South High School and one of his former soccer teammates, who's 16 years old, was detained by ICE along with his sister. So I know that really touched the South community, really hit close to home for us. I was born and raised in Minneapolis and currently a resident. My sign here, Renee, Alex, you. Renee, you know, Alex, they were standing up for what was right. They were looking out for their neighbors. And so really, it's just who's next, you know, at this point. I feel like it's not an if, it's a when. So just really kind of realizing the danger that we're facing here, you know, it affects everybody. No matter the color, the citizenship status, it's really heartbreaking.

Crystal, and I am from La Leach Lake of Ojibwe Reservation here in Minnesota. My family has been here, ever since we migrated to this space in Minnesota. My sign says ICE out. I'm here today for my two beautiful grandbabies so that their future is bright and opportunistic and not a land where they have to be afraid to be themselves. My name's Alicia. This is my sister, Claire, and we're here to protest calling for a general strike

and also to tell ICE to get the hell out of it. of our city. I saw them at 26th and 27th in Nicolet last weekend. My sister and I went there to pay our respects shortly after the shooting and to see if anybody needed help. We ended up, she ended up turning into a regular Florence Nightingale. She was there washing tear, washing tear gas out of people's eyes and helped somebody who had passed out. It was really pretty intense. So, yeah, that's why we're here. This is totally ridiculous. Yeah, they have to leave. They have to leave. They have to get out of here. They're terrorizing our neighborhoods and our communities, and it's just not right. It's not right. Voices from Friday's anti-ice protest in Minneapolis, one of hundreds of protests that took place across the country this weekend.

Special thanks to Democracy Now's John Hamilton in Minneapolis. Coming up, we look at the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files and the DOJ's decision to keep withholding over, two and a half million more files. Stay with us. Through the winter's ice and cold, down Nicolid avid, a city of flame fought fire and ice, Neatheirs' boots. King Trump's private army from the DHS, guns belted to their coats, came to Minneapolis to enforce the law or so their story against smoke and rubber bull. Citizens stood for justice. Their voices ringing to die on Snowfield Street. I looks pretty and Renner.

Streets of Minneapolis by Bruce Springsteen. He performed his song on Friday in Minneapolis. at a concert organized by Tom Morello. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. The Justice Departments released an additional three million pages of documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

and what the DOJ, the Department of Justice, is calling the final release of Epstein files. But there are over two and a half million more pages that remain unreleased. On Sunday, meet the press host, Kristen Welker, interviewed Democratic Congressmember Roeconov, California, co-sponsor of the Epstein-Files Transparency Act. Has the Justice Department fully complied with the law, Congressman? No, they haven't. They've released, at best, half the documents. But even those shock the conscience of this country. I mean, you have some of the most wealthy individuals, tech leaders,

finance leaders, politicians, all implicated in some way. having emails about wanting to go to Epstein's island, knowing that Epstein was a pedophile. It's frankly one of the largest scandals, in my view, in our country's history, and there is a demand for elite accountability. But the survivors, lawyers that I've talked to have said that the survivors are still upset. They're upset that many of their names accidentally came out without redactions, and they want to make sure the rest of the files come out.

The New York Times reports the new files include 5,300 files containing more than 38,000 references to Donald Trump. First Lady Melania Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and other related words. Many of the references are news articles about Trump, but the new files also include an FBI document that summarizes allegations made against Trump by people who had called the FBI's threat operations center. tip line. The documents also reveal new details about Epstein's connections to the rich and powerful across the world. And one email, Elon Musk, ask Epstein, quote, what day night will be the wildest party on your island, unquote? Virgin Islands founder Richard Bronson sent Epstein an email in 2013 saying he wanted to see him again, quote, as long as you bring your harem, unquote. E-mails showed Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik arranged to visit Epstein's Island in 2012,

years after Lutnik had claimed he'd cut off ties with Epstein. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said it's unlikely anyone else will be prosecuted. A group of Epstein survivors criticized how the DOJ had handled the release. In a statement, the survivors said, quote, this latest release of Jeffrey Epstein files is being sold as transparency, but what it actually actually does is expose survivors. As survivors, we should never be the ones' names scrutinized and re-traumatized, while Epstein's enablers continue to benefit from secrecy. This is a betrayal of the very people this process is supposed to serve, unquote. We're joined now by two guests,

Vicki Ward, longtime investigative journalist, host and co-producer of the podcast series Chasingie Lane, the untold story of the woman in Epstein's shadow. also became a TV series by the same name. Gielaine Maxwell is expected to testify before Congress on February 9th. Eric Vodali is also with us. He's a partner in managing attorney of the Bloom firm, which is a victim's rights law firm. He represents 11 of Jeffrey Epstein accusers. Let's start with you, Eric.

Talk about what came out in these documents and what didn't. In fact, one of your survivors, the people that you represent, represent was named over 500 times? That's absolutely correct. 538 times. And what's so baffling is this seems to be sort of the perfect storm between incompetency and an active cover-up. It's both. And it's so mind-boggling because they're withholding documents that they shouldn't be withholding that the public deserves to see based on attorney-client privilege and some other of very vague privileges. But on the other hand, they're showing documents that they shouldn't be showing because they contain unredacted names of survivors. 538 times is an outrageous amount of

mistakes to expose a woman who was sexually trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein from Uzbekistan in 2009. And that is so significant because that is a year after Jeffrey Epstein got the sweetheart deal from Alex Acosta, which again, not a lot of documents there explaining Alex Acosta's decision to ignore survivors and give Epstein this this sweetheart deal. I remember seeing her very shy. I was very shocked in Washington when all the other survivors were there. Incredibly brave. She had decided just late the night before to present herself, right? To stand in solidarity from Uzbekistan. But you spoke for her. Yes, absolutely. I spoke for her because she's still been hesitant to become public.

Some of the collective empowerment of the other survivors really empowered her to at least show up and show her face. That was a really big moment for her. Remember, she was abused while Jeffrey. Epstein was wearing an ankle bracelet from the Alex Acosta plea deal. So, I mean, it's really compelling. And now she wants to still remain private. She doesn't want her name out there in the grand national news. And 538 times the DOJ missed her name. And that is a name that was provided by my firm to the DOJ.

There's just no excuse for that type of incompetency and that type of mistake. And what about the people who are being protected, not the survivors, clearly. That's what's so mind-boggling about. The whole thing is they're naming survivors. They're protecting potential, you know, predators. And the real issue here is there's just no oversight. And there's been motions for the court, and we're actually filing an amicus brief and some letters to the court on behalf of ours clients, to demand that a special master be appointed

to review all of the materials and decide what should be privileged, what should be produced, what should be redacted, and what shouldn't. Because right now the public, the survivors, all of us are forced to trust a Department of Justice, Trump's Department of Justice that has done absolutely nothing to earn our trust. Vicky Word, what were you most struck by with the release of the millions of pages of files and the pages that weren't released? Right. Well, just to Eric's point about your poor client being trafficked to Epstein in 2009,

I did read some interesting exchanges among, you know, redact. officials within the Justice Department. You know, they were dated 2011, and it was when Bradley Edwards and other of the attorneys who's, you know, represented so many survivors was pushing, arguing that it had been a breach of the Crime Victims Act that this non-prosecution agreement had been done behind their backs without their knowledge. And you see these unnamed Justice Department officials saying, well, whether or not that deal was good or bad,

we've got to dig in and protect ourselves. But there's almost, I mean, I was struck by the, I mean, I'm paraphrasing, but it was whether or not that was a good, whatever the content of that deal was, they knew. They knew. Absolutely. It was a, it was a really bad thing to have done. There's reporting that Alex Acosta instructed his fellow prosecutor.

not to inform the victims of the special plea deal. That's a big deal. I was a prosecutor for like six months. I didn't care for it. But the one thing I learned in that six months is that when you do a plea deal, you inform the victim. So the fact that that's reported that he did, that he instructed them not to inform the victims,

that's pretty suspicious. And just for people's memory, because this is a complicated story back in 2007, what that plea deal was, and the bravery of the farmer sisters, There's a Maria Farmer coming forward, what, over a decade before. And the number of young women, girls, children who had been abused and yet the deal that was reached. It's really, I mean, it's revictimizing.

It's beyond a travesty of injustice. The one thing, you know, he was literally, many victims were ignored. And he was literally given a slap on the wrist. One thing that is important to understand, though, that the one thing Alex Acosta did do is he did make him a register. sex offender in 2007, 2008. So that was public knowledge. And that brings some real questions to anyone that's been released in these new files, anyone who is continuing to associate closely with Jeffrey Epstein after he became a publicly

known registered sex offender, I think has some questions to answer. Well, and to that, Amy, I will say, you know, as you know, I have a personal history on reporting this story. and I went through hell in 2002 with Epstein threatening me because I had got to the pharmacists. And I found it nauseating to suddenly see this facts from Jeffrey Epstein to Graydon Carter bashing me and the questions I'd been asking of him and Gillesne Maxwell about the pharmacists back in 2002. Let's be clear because we've talked about this in detail. But back in 2002 you were writing for Vanity Fair, you were asked to do a piece.

and this up-and-coming millionaire, Jeffrey Epstein. And then you found the story of the farmer sisters. Epstein actually came into the offices of Vanity Fair. Behind my back. And you were about to have twins. I was about to have twins. I was on bed rest.

We were wrapping up the final sort of stages of fact-checking. The pharmacists were definitely in the piece and their allegations. But what I did not know was that Jeffrey Epstein had sent my boss this fax, casting all these absurd aspersions on me. And obviously it was after that that the pharmacists and their allegations were cut. What I then found interesting, again, going back to what Eric was saying, that there were all these emails from all these guys after it was known that Jeffrey Epstein was a convective sex offender.

Even then, I found emails with another Vanity Fair reporter who sadly dead John Connolly, but ended up co-authoring a book with James Patterson. and now Mike O'Wilthor, Filthy Rich. There are all sorts of correspondence. It was called Filthy Rich. Yes. There were all sorts of correspondence about John Connolly. And at one point, Epstein reaches out to Michael Wolfe and says, shall we ask Graydon?

In other words, Graydon Carter was part of the Boys Club, at least in Epstein's mind. But part of the Boys Club, along with Elon Musk and Steve Tisch and Howard Lutnik and Richard Branson on. Richard Branson, who is the founder of Virgin Airways. Yes, and you know, Andrew Mount Battenwin. You know, it was, I mean, we just see over and over again in these documents, this is just one big billionaire's boys club that, you know, treated women like objects. I mean, you know, discussion of, I don't want to even talk about it on here,

the discussion of their body part. I mean, you know, and you see Epstein writing, let's not put, you know, let's not put this down on paper. too much. I mean, at least he was aware of that. But I do want to mention one thing, which is, as you mentioned, Gulen Maxwell is supposed to testify before the House Oversight Committee virtually next Monday. And in, you know, I think we probably won't learn anything. I think she's going to plead the fifth. But in her habeas corpus filing that she's filed as part of her appeal, she does talk about 25 men with whom, settlements were done. And she claims that they were done. They were pressured into doing these

settlements because of the criminal proceedings hanging over her. I have always said that my sources have told me this, that there were a lot of civil settlements done behind the scenes with men who, and if those settlements had not been done, maybe they would be being criminally prosecuted. When you say private settlements, you mean money settlements? Yes, with non-disclosure agreements. And you're, I mean, you have 11, you represent 11 survivors, but the Uzbekistan survivor, the woman who came from Uzbekistan being promised to what, a modeling deal was what 19. It wouldn't have happened to her if Jeffrey Epstein back in 2007. Right. Absolutely. And that's what's so appalling about that deal is it did absolutely nothing to protect women from Jeffrey Epstein. That's the whole point of what a district attorney is supposed to do when they catch criminals. It's to stop them in their tracks and to protect the other potential victims. And that's the exact opposite what Alex Acosta and his team did. That's what such a travesty, because had he not given him that sweetheart deal, had he not given the slap on the wrist, my client and many, many other women would have never met Jeffrey Epstein, would have never been trafficked. and their lives would be much, much different today. And that's, and that's the other such a frustrating thing about the documents releases,

I'm not seeing anything. I haven't seen anything really explaining the prosecution agreements, the prosecutor's notes, what really the discussions, the emails, what went in to that deal that is such a suspicious and just really travesty of an injustice type of deal. Well, you do see what you do see, though. Again, it's the brotherhood at work. You do see how Alex Acosta was great buddies. with Jay Lefkowitz and other of the lawyers on Jeffrey Epstein's team, that Epstein was very clever

bringing in all the lawyers that he thought would be able to work lawyers in the Justice Department for whatever reason. Alex Acosta, once he left his position in government, went into private practice in the same firm as Jay Lefkowitz. I mean, this is how the world works really tragically. Finally, there are extreme allegations in these millions of pages of murder, of sexual assault, in one case, the President Trump, it's talked about having raped a 13-year-old. But these are allegations, although there was a lawsuit brought by a young woman who that lawsuit was then taken away immediately.

Yeah, vanished, right. He's talking about Katie. And he's come through a tip line, of course. These all have to be investigated. But it looks like Blanche says the investigations are done. Yeah. That's what he says. But he's also withholding documents, apparently, due to ongoing investigations or something very vague about that.

And again, that's why we need a special master. Someone to oversee this other than the Department of Justice policing itself. Because I don't believe the Department of Justice can be trusted to police itself when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein. Because Jeffrey Epstein continues to be the only criminal I've ever looked into who continues to get special treatment beyond the grave. Well put. We're going to continue to follow this. And of course, the Gilein Maxwell testifying next Monday. I want to thank you both for being with us, Eric Vidali.

represents 11 Epstein survivors. And I want to thank Vicki Ward, a long-time investigative journalist, co-produced the podcast and TV series, Chasing Elaine, the untold story of the woman in Epstein's shadow. This is Democracy Now. When we come back, the raiding of polling places in Georgia, the raiding FBI raid on the election office in Fulton County, Georgia, Stay with us.

Minneapolis this weekend. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. We end today's show with the FBI raid of an election office in Georgia's Fulton County last week, seeking computers and ballots related to the 2020 election. The raid came as President Trump continues to falsely claim his defeat in the 2020 election was a result of widespread voting fraud. For more, we go to Ari Berman, voting rights correspondent from other Jones magazine. His most recent piece headline from Minnesota to Georgia, Trump's plans to interfere in the mid- terms are becoming more dangerous. Ari, talk about the significance of the Trump administration going after the Blackist County election office in Georgia, and then Pam Bondi, saying maybe they'll pull out the agents in Minnesota if they hand over voting rolls? Yeah, we're seeing, Amy, a dramatic escalation of the administration's tactics to try to interfere in in the 26 midterm elections. The FBI raid in Fulton County represented the full weaponization of Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. The fact that they seized 700 boxes of ballots was incredibly disturbing and sets a chilling precedent for how Trump might try to interfere

in the 26th election to do similar kind of things to challenge election results he doesn't like. He's challenging a result from six years ago. You can imagine how they're going to try to challenge the result of the upcoming election, should Trump's party lose. And then in Minnesota, you have ICE basically terrorizing a blue state and a blue city, and the Attorney General of the United States essentially extorting that place to hand over voter rolls, the Department of Justice. So what I really want your listeners to understand is that this is now a multi-front

concerted effort to try to interfere in the midterm elections that's taking place in a number of different ways from Georgia to Minnesota and beyond. What happens to the computers and the data they took out of the Georgia election office? Well, that's a very good question. It's one of the many unanswered questions about this raid in Fulton County. The FBI now has it. Who are they going to share it with? What are they going to do? Who's going to supervise? this process, all of these records were under seal. And now they're in the hands of the Trump administration. And one of the biggest unanswered questions is why Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence was there, because she is prohibited by law from participating in domestic

law enforcement activity. So that's a giant red flag right there. Tulsi Gabbard shouldn't have been anywhere near that operation, anywhere near those ballots. And it seems to me like they're setting up to do something crazy, like saying, now we have the proof, we have the balance, now we know Venezuela interfered in the election, or Iran interfered in the election. And this is much, as much about, as I said, the 2020 election as it is about the next election. So they're going to continue lying about the 2020 election, so then they can lie about the next election and try to interfere in a lot of different ways. And then can you talk about the voting roles of Minnesota? Uda? Yeah. So what the Justice Department is trying to do is they're trying to get the voter rolls, not just of Minnesota, but of 24 states overall. And they want this data so they can have the first ever national database of all registered voters in the country. And that has a lot of problems with it. There's privacy problems. You're talking about sensitive information like driver's license, social security numbers, party history.

There's security risks. It's a lot easier to hack. 15 seconds, Ari. It's a lot easier to hack a massive database. But ultimately, what they want to do is they want to lie about voter fraud, remove people from the rolls, and challenge election outcomes. And the attempt to take voter rolls is just a larger part of Trump's scheme to try to rig the midterms. Trump supports states rights except when it comes to voting rights.

Ari Berman, voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones magazine. We'll link to your article. That does it for our show. I'll be in Santa Barbara this weekend for the International Film Festival. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.