File 165 - Lee Zeldin From Gutting the EPA to Running the DOJ. His Epstein Position Is a Blank Page.

Lee Zeldin nominated as AG after Bondi firing. Former EPA administrator.

Zero public statements on Epstein. Zero indication of how he would handle three million withheld pages. What does his record tell us.

Sources for this episode are available at: https://nbn.fm/epstein-files/episode/ep165

About The Epstein Files

The Epstein Files is an AI-generated podcast analyzing the 3.5 million pages released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA). All claims are grounded in primary source documents, published on the Neural Broadcast Network website for verification.

Produced by Island Investigation

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to the Epstein Files. Last time, we walked through Pam Bondi promising a client list on Fox News, getting fired three weeks later, and refusing a congressional subpoena. Today, we're following Trump's next chick for the job, Lee Zeldon. He spent the last year gutting the Environmental Protection Agency. He has never made a single public statement about Jeffrey Epstein. As always, every document and source we reference is available at the Neural Broadcast Network website. So when Trump nominated Zeldin to replace Bondi as Attorney General, reporters search for any prior statement, interview, or social media post from Zeldin referencing Epstein, Maxwell, or the EFTA. There was nothing. A blank page.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Right. And the premise here relies entirely on that public record, and that record establishes a very uh specific sequence of events. Lee Zeldon was nominated as Attorney General directly following Pam Bondy's April 2nd firing. Right. Before this nomination, she served as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. And, you know, as you noted, a comprehensive review of his public life yields zero indication of how he intends to manage the three million withheld pages.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

The FC network pages.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Exactly. The tension we are looking at is not based on speculation. It is based on this absolute absence of data intersecting with the highest law enforcement office in the country.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

And just to set the parameters for you as you listen to this, everything we discuss today relies strictly on public statements, uh, congressional records, and documents already released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the EFTA. Yes. We are looking at the documented administrative record to understand how a governing philosophy applied at one federal agency translates to another.

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

So let us establish exactly who Lee Zeldin is based on the public record.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

He is a former Republican congressman. He represented New York's first congressional district, which covers the eastern end of Long Island from 2015 to 2023.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

That is correct. His background is firmly rooted in elected office, political campaigning, and military service.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Yeah, the military record is documented.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Right. Before his time in the House, Zeldin served in the New York State Senate. He also served in the United States Army, which included a deployment to Iraq as a military intelligence officer and prosecutor. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

But that was in military context, right? Not civilian federal prosecution. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Correct. Military context only. In 2022, he ran for governor of New York, a race he lost to Kathy Hoachul. Right. Then following the 2024 election, President Trump appointed Zeldon to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. He held that cabinet level position until this recent nomination to replace Pam Bundy.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Okay, so that tenure at the EPA requires a massive amount of scrutiny today.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

It does.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Because it is literally the only executive leadership record we have to analyze. It is the only data point showing what he actually does when you hand him the keys to a federal agency.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

Yes. And budget documents and internal agency memos released over the past year show that his tenure at the EPA was defined by an aggressive deregulatory agenda.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Aaron Powell He systematically rolled back environmental protections.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

We are looking at the documented reduction of air quality standards, the weakening of water pollution regulations, and the easing of chemical safety requirements.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

And we need to look at how that deregulation was actually achieved structurally, you know, based on the EPA records. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Right. The administrative record demonstrates his approach was fundamentally ideological. He viewed regulation as an inherent impediment to economic growth.

unknown 3:27

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

But you do not just snap your fingers and erase a regulation.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Aaron Powell No, you do not. The ETA under Zeldon prioritized industry access by structurally reducing the agency's capacity to enforce the law.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Federal employment data shows a deliberate reduction in the agency's enforcement staff and a shrinking of the enforcement budget.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Aaron Powell Let me make sure I understand the mechanics of this because I want you, the listener, to picture how this actually works. If you are the head of the EPA and you want to let chemical companies off the hook, you do not necessarily rewrite the Clean Water Act, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:01

No, that requires an act of Congress. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

You just stop paying for the water inspectors.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Precisely. It is a mechanism of administrative capture. When you reduce enforcement staff, you are mechanically reducing the agency's capacity to penalize noncompliance.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Trevor Burrus You cut the travel budget so inspectors cannot physically visit the chemical plant.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

You freeze hiring so that when veteran environmental lawyers retire, their positions are left vacant. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

Right. So it is a structural shift from policing in an industry to accommodating it.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

You neutralize the enforcement arm of the agency without ever having to pass a new law.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Aaron Ross Powell That is exactly what the EPA budget records show. ZLDI was essentially hired to dismantle the burglar alarms so the factories could pollute without tripping the sirens.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

That is an accurate assessment of the administrative record.

SPEAKER_00 4:47

Aaron Powell I get that. If you are an energy company, Z Lden is your preferred administrator. But how does that translate to the Justice Department?

SPEAKER_01 4:55

The subject matter is entirely different, yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

The DOJ is not dealing with carbon emissions or chemical spills. They are hunting down international sex trafficking rings and managing massive transparency mandates. Those two jobs have absolutely nothing in common. How does an ideological approach that prioritizes industry access translate to the Department of Justice?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

The philosophy of administration translates directly when you identify the core dynamic. Which is At the EPA, Zeldin favored the regulated entities. The public record shows a consistent pattern of favoring energy companies and chemical manufacturers over the statutory enforcement of the law.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

Aaron Ross Powell Okay, yes.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

If we apply that exact same administrative philosophy to the Department of Justice, we simply have to identify the regulated entities in the context of the Epstein case.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Aaron Powell Right. The people the DOJ is supposed to be policing.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

Aaron Ross Powell Exactly. In this specific file, those entities are the financial institutions that facilitated the money transfers, the political figures who benefited from the network, and the high net worth individuals referenced throughout the E5A documents. Aaron Powell So if his established pattern of favoring the powerful overstatutory enforcement holds, it suggests a Department of Justice that will protect those named in the files rather than enforce the transparency mandate that requires releasing their information.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

He is now being handed the keys to the biggest bank vault in the world, the Epstein files. He does not need to burn the files, he just needs to unplug the transparency alarms.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Correct. The EFTA compliance staff functions identically to the EPA water inspectors in this analogy.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Let us look at the exact timeline of this nomination, because the context of the vacancy dictates the operational reality of the building he's walking into.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

The timeline is critical here.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Zilldin's nomination occurred in the immediate aftermath of Pam Bondi's firing on April 2nd.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

At the moment this nomination was announced, Deputy Attorney General Pod Blanche was serving as the de facto operational head of the department. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

And Lanch's management of the DOJ, and specifically his management of the Epstein file, was already the subject of intense documented scrutiny.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Based on his previous role as President Trump's defense attorney.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Which brings us to the qualifications gap documented in the public record. If you look at the historical norms for the attorney general position, previous officeholders have almost universally possessed extensive resumes within the federal justice system.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

We are talking about former federal prosecutors, highly experienced litigators.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Former state attorneys general or legal scholars with deep structural backgrounds in criminal justice.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Like Edward Levi, Janet Reno, William Barr, or Merrick Garland. They all had deep roots in the machinery of federal law.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yes. Whereas Lee Zeldin has none.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

Wait, none. The Attorney General of the United States, you are telling me the public record shows Lee Zeldin has never prosecuted a single civilian federal case.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

The public record confirms he has no background in civilian criminal law, federal prosecution, or Department of Justice Administration.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

None at all.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

He possesses a law degree from Albany Law School, and he practiced law briefly before entering politics, in addition to his military legal experience. But his career has been spent in elected office and executive branch management.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

He would be the first attorney general in modern history to lead the department without substantial prosecutorial or DOJ experience.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

That is correct.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

If you are listening to this and wondering why a resume gap matters, think about what the Attorney General actually does every day. They are signing off on complex wiretap applications, evaluating multi-jurisdictional indictments, and managing over 115,000 employees.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Including the FBI.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Including the FBI, exactly. To drop someone with zero federal prosecutorial experience into that role serves a very specific political utility for the administration making the nomination.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

It communicates a specific institutional posture. By placing Zeladin in this role, the administration inserts a loyalist into the highest law enforcement position.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Someone who has absolutely no institutional allegiance to the DOJ's career staff or its traditional norms.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

A career prosecutor might feel a loyalty to the institution of the Justice Department, a desire to protect its historical independence. A political manager from the outside has no such allegiance.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

And let us look at the immediate political problem this solves. It effectively removes the acting authority from Todd Blanche. Blanche's conflict of interest was drawing sustained bipartisan criticism. You had the president's former personal defense attorney running the Justice Department and actively telling the public to move on from the Epstein files.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Replacing Blanche at the top with an administrator from the EPA solves the immediate public relations problem regarding Blanche.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

While redefining the Attorney General role as a purely managerial position rather than a prosecutorial one.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

The administration is signaling through this nomination that they do not view the management of the DOJ or the handling of its most sensitive files as a legal or prosecutorial challenge. They view it as an administrative challenge.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Aaron Powell And as we have established using the EPA records, Lee Zeldin is an administrator with a documented history of neutralizing the agencies he runs. Yes. But this brings us to the central tension of today's analysis. Zelden is a blank page on the most consequential document release decisions in the department's recent history. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

And a blank page in executive leadership does not remain blank.

SPEAKER_00 10:19

No. It will either be written on by the career prosecutors and AFTA compliance staff who are statutorily mandated to process these releases.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Or it will be written on by the political interests that are fundamentally threatened by the Epstein files.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Based on the administrative record we just outlined from his time at the EPA, the evidence strongly suggests which force will prevail.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Let us examine the mechanics of that blank page because the thoroughness of this silence is remarkable.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

It is absolute.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Following the nomination, investigative reporters and transparency advocates conducted exhaustive reviews of the public record. They searched LexisNexis databases, congressional transcripts spanning his eight years in the House. Social media archives, press releases, debate transcripts from his gubernatorial run, and interview logs.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

And according to those records, what did they find?

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Zero. In any searchable database, Lee Zeldin has made zero public statements about the Epstein case. Nothing. He has never mentioned the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He has never commented on the status of the document releases. He has never referenced the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces memo.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

The OCD ETF memo.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yes. He has never spoken about the prosecution of Epstein's network. Furthermore, his congressional voting record between 2015 and 2023 contains no votes on Epstein-related legislation.

SPEAKER_00 11:42

Is an absolute absence of data.

SPEAKER_01 11:53

We can contrast his silence with his predecessors to establish that baseline.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Look at the public record of previous attorneys general and nominees since Epstein's arrest in 2019. William Barr spoke publicly and forcefully about the systemic failures at the Metropolitan Correctional Center where Epstein died.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Merrick Garland's absolute silence on initiating new prosecutions was in itself a definitive and heavily scrutinized stance that defined his tenure.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

Pam Bondy aggressively made the client list claim on national television before her confirmation.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Todd Llanch made a definitive public statement urging the country to move on.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Every single one of them staked out a position on the public record. Zeldin's silence is unprecedented.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

And we must document exactly what that silence currently covers.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

Right, because it encompasses every critical decision pending before the department.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

We do not have documentation for his stance on the three million withheld pages. We do not know if he plans to reverse Todd Blanche's block of the OCD ETF memo.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

We have no record of whether he will recuse himself from decisions involving individuals referenced in the EFTA files who possess close ties to the administration that nominated him.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Aaron Powell We have no statement on whether he would pursue additional prosecutions or how he intends to handle the department's compliance with pending congressional subpoenas.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

Aaron Powell The silence spans the entire operational jurisdiction of the Attorney General regarding this case.

SPEAKER_01 13:14

It does.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Look at it from a political survival standpoint. There are really two analytical interpretations of this documented silence. The charitable interpretation is simply a matter of jurisdiction. He was serving as a congressman, focusing on Long Island, then running for governor of New York, then leading the Environmental Protection Agency.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

So the handling of an international sex trafficking network simply was not his portfolio. He had no operational reason to comment on it.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

That is the charitable view.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

The alternative interpretation, which aligns more closely with standard confirmation strategy, is that taking a definitive position on the Epstein file before Senate confirmation creates immense political exposure.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

Because the Epstein case is politically radioactive.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

Exactly. Making a commitment to full transparency angers powerful interests embedded in the files.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Financial institutions, political donors, international figures.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

And making a commitment to block the files angers the public and transparency advocates and invites hostile questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

So what is the smartest play? Say absolutely nothing.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Strategic silence preserves maximum flexibility. If this second interpretation is accurate, his silence is not simply the absence of a position. It is a highly informative tactical maneuver.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

Designed to secure confirmation without making enforceable commitments.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

He arrives at the confirmation hearings without any past statements that can be used against him.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

But if he is confirmed without making those commitments, we have to look at the exact scope of the authority he will immediately inherit.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

The authority is vast.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

This is not just about reading files. The public record shows the Attorney General maintains direct control over multiple DOJ components that intersect directly with the Epstein case. Let us map this out for the listener.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

We can break it down by component. First, the Attorney General oversees the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Who conducted the initial sprawling investigations into Epstein and his network.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Gathering the surveillance, the financial records, and the victim testimonies. Second, the AG oversees the Southern District of New York, or SDNY, which is the federal jurisdiction that brought the actual charges against Epstein and Gislaine Maxwell.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

And we cannot forget the Bureau of Prisons.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

The AG controls the Bureau of Prisons, which is responsible for the systemic documented failures at the MCC facility where Epstein died.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

And finally, the AG commands the Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Which ran the financial investigations outlined in the heavily contested OCDETF memo.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Additionally, and perhaps most critically for our analysis today, the Attorney General oversees the internal departmental components responsible for processing the EFTA releases. Yes. We have discussed this statutory framework before on the Epstein files, but we need to look at the mechanics of it under a new administrator. There are approximately three million pages still withheld by the Department of Justice.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

And the Attorney General possesses total discretion over the pace of that document review.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

This is where we must unpack the concept of bureaucratic starvation that we discussed regarding his time at the EPA.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

EFTA compliance is not a passive process. It requires active authorization of resources.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

You have to picture how document release actually works at the DOJ. It is not an automated system. You have a room full of career lawyers who have to read three million pages line by line.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

To redact legally sensitive information, protect victim identities, and apply statutory exemptions.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Right. It is an incredibly labor-intensive process. If you want to hide the files, you do not hold a press conference and say you are hiding them.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

That would trigger a massive public backlash and immediate lawsuits.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Exactly. You just quietly reassign 90% of those compliance lawyers to a different department, perhaps antitrust or civil rights.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Aaron Powell You cut the budget for the software used to process FOIA and EFTA requests. Suddenly, a review process that was supposed to take months will statistically take 40 years.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

That is bureaucratic starvation.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

The Attorney General determines which exemptions are claimed to justify withholding specific documents, and they determine how many people are assigned to process those exemptions.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

If Zeldin applies his EPA management style to the DOJ's transparency office, the three million pages will simply remain in a perpetual state of being under review.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

And that administrative control extends to the most complex legal hurdle in this entire transparency process.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

We need to spend some time on this because it is the primary shield the DOJ is using to keep these files locked down. Yes. For the listener, Rule 6E is the law that demands absolute secrecy for federal grand jury proceedings. If you testify before a grand jury, what you say is secret.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

The prosecutors cannot leak it, the stenographer cannot leak it, and the DOJ cannot release it.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

And this is where the Attorney General's discretion becomes absolute. The EFATA statute mandates transparency, but millions of pages within the Epstein file are classified as grand jury materials under Rule 6E.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

These materials remain sealed unless an exception applies or a federal judge orders their release.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

But a judge does not just wake up one day and decide to unseal them. Someone has to ask the judge.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

That is the critical mechanism. The Department of Justice holds the keys to requesting that court order.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

The Attorney General must proactively instruct the department's lawyers to draft a motion, file it in federal court, and argue before a judge that the public interest in releasing these Epsking grand jury files outweigh the historical mandate of grand jury secrecy.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

It requires a massive coordinated legal effort by the DOJ against its own historical precedents.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

So if Lee Zellden simply does nothing, if he maintains his documented silence and issues no directives, what happens to those grand jury files?

SPEAKER_01 19:03

They remain permanently sealed.

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Permanently. And when you rely on the DOJ bureaucracy, they will always advise caution.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

The institution's natural instinct is self-preservation. The DOJ's institutional instinct is to guard its files, protect its sources, and defend its past decisions.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

A nominee with no legal framework to challenge that bureaucracy will naturally defer to it.

SPEAKER_01 20:19

The control of that machinery extends to the single most consequential power the office holds: prosecution authority.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Let us talk about the 14 unnamed co-subjects. The Attorney General has the unilateral authority to authorize new grand jury proceedings for the uncharged co-conspirators documented in the files.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

Conversely, the AG has the authority to decline additional prosecutions.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Which effectively closes the investigative chapter permanently.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

The power to open or close criminal liability for the network rests entirely with the office Zeldin has been nominated to fill.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

And we must evaluate how that authority intersects with congressional oversight, because a conflict between the DOJ and Congress is the exact reason this vacancy exists.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

The public record demonstrates that both Pam Bondy and Todd Blanche actively resisted congressional oversight regarding the Epstein files.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Bondy refused to comply with a congressional subpoena, resulting in her termination. Blanche actively blocked the OCD ETF memo that was formally requested by Senator W. H. Wyden.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

The Attorney General directs the department's posture toward these congressional demands.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

If you are wondering why the OCD ETF memo matters so much, let us look at what the organized crime drug enforcement task forces actually do. They do not just kick down doors, they follow the financial trails.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

They are multi-agency financial strike teams.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Senator W. H. Wyden, as the head of the Senate Finance Committee, has been demanding the release of the OCD ETF memo because it reportedly contains the financial mapping of the Epstein network.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Who funded it, where the money went?

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Todd Blanche blocked it. Pam Bondy ignored it. Now Liz El Din inherits the standoff.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Which requires us to analyze. Is the structural narrative surrounding this nomination? We are looking at a system that concentrates an immense amount of discretionary authority into a single political appointee.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

The pace of document release, the application of redactions, the petitioning for grand jury unsealing, the initiation of new grand juries, and the response to congressional subpoenas.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

When that appointee has never stated a public position on the case, has zero prosecutorial experience, and possesses an administrative record defined by dismantling enforcement to favor regulated entities, concentrating that much authority is a severe institutional risk assessment.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

It is not a neutral administrative transition. It is the consolidation of power in a blank page.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

That risk assessment brings us to the historical reality of this specific moment in the transparency process.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

The evidence shows that Zell Din is the first attorney general nominee in the post-Epstein era, arriving without any Epstein-related history or professional context.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

There is no baseline data to allow the public, the press, or the victims to anticipate his approach to the EFTA mandate. We are flying completely blind into the most critical phase of document release.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

The immediate stakes awaiting his decision are completely documented. The moment he takes the oath of office, he inherits a massive, complicated portfolio. First, he inherits the 3 million withheld pages.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

Second, he inherits the blocked OCD ETF memo that the Senate Finance Committee is actively demanding.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Third, he inherits the case files of the 14 unnamed co-subjects who have yet to face charges.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

And fourth, he inherits the defense of the pending victim privacy lawsuit against the department.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

We should expand on that lawsuit as it highlights the conflict of interest inherent in the DOJ managing its own transparency. The DOJ is currently defending itself against litigation from victims regarding how their information was handled.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

And the department's failure to protect their rights under the Crime Victims Rights Act during the non-prosecution agreement process.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

The Attorney General determines the litigation posture of the United States, meaning he decides how hard the DOJ fights back against the victim.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Exactly. He can choose to settle that lawsuit, admit fault on behalf of the department, and implement structural reforms.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Or he could deploy the full unlimited resources of the Department of Justice to fight the victims in court.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Effectively protecting the prosecutors who engineered the original deals.

SPEAKER_00 24:22

When an administrator with a record of protecting institutions over individuals is handed that decision, the public record suggests he will deploy the DOJ's lawyers to defeat the victim's claims.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

Which brings us back to the reality of Todd Blanche. Zeldin's nomination removes the acting authority from Blanche, but it does not remove Blanche from the department.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Blanche remains as deputy attorney general.

SPEAKER_01 24:44

If you have an attorney general who lacks prosecutorial experience, what does he naturally do? He delegates.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

If Zeldin delegates the operational management of criminal files to his highly experienced legally credentialed deputy, then the operational control of the Epstein file remains exactly where it is right now.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

It remains with Todd Blanche, the individual who already told the public to move on and who actively blocked Senator WHY Den's requests.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

That structural dynamic perfectly aligns with the strategic interpretation of Zeldin's silence. He does not need to make a public statement about the Epstein files if the internal architecture of the department is already calibrated to withhold them.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

The public record shows a seamless transition of obstruction over the past several months. Pam Bondy promised transparency, realized the impossibility of delivering it without harming institutional interests, and was removed when she clashed with Congress.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Todd Blanche stepped in to formalize the blockade.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Now Lee Zeldin is nominated to oversee the department, bringing an administrative philosophy of deregulation, a reliance on his deputy, and a completely blank public record on the specific issue at hand.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

This places an extraordinary burden on the Senate Judiciary Committee during the upcoming confirmation process. The confirmation hearings represent the bottleneck for this entire process.

SPEAKER_01 26:02

The EFTA releases are theoretically ongoing, though heavily delayed.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

The congressional subpoenas are still active. Senator W. H. Y. Den is still demanding the OCD ETF memo.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

The pressure matrix surrounding the department is not pausing for the confirmation process.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Every day that passes without clear and forcible commitments from the incoming Attorney General is another day that the 3 million pages remain secured in the DOJ systems, inaccessible to the public and the victims.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

The Senate Judiciary Committee has a mandate to extract verifiable commitments. Under oath, the senators must ask specific operational questions.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

They cannot allow him to retreat into broad administrative platitudes. They must ask, will he commit to a firm timeline for EFTO release compliance?

SPEAKER_01 26:50

Will he unblock the OCD ETF memo and provide it to the Senate Finance Committee?

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Will he formally recuse himself from decisions involving individuals referenced in the files where political or financial conflicts of interest exist?

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Will he authorize grand juries for the uncharged co-conspirators?

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Will he direct his attorneys to file Rule 6E unsealing motions? These are not philosophical questions. They are binary administrative decisions.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

If the Senate Judiciary Committee fails to secure those commitments under oath, the public is left with the final factual synthesis of this nomination.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

We have only one documented reference point for how Lee Zelden governs an executive agency, his record at the Environmental Protection Agency.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

The public record shows that when given administrative authority, he consistently chose the interests of the powerful and the regulated over the statutory enforcement of the law.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

He dismantled the burglar alarms. If that operational pattern holds at the Department of Justice, the Epstein case will simply have its fifth attorney general who chose institutional protection over accountability.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

It is a philosophy of systemic neutralization. You do not need to rewrite the laws if you simply neutralize the department responsible for enforcing them.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

In the context of the Epstein Falls Transparency Act, the law exists. The mandate is clear. The public has a right to the documents.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

But if the administrator of the agency neutralizes the compliance mechanisms, refuses to petition for grand jury unsealing, relies on a deputy hostile to disclosure, and shields the uncharged co conspirators from new grand juries, the law is rendered functionally inert.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

The silence of the nominee is the first and most potent indicator of that neutralization process. Next time on the Epstein files, three million pages released, three million more withheld. What is in the half the DOJ refuses to give you?