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Richard Blumenthal: “The Department of Justice will do everything it can to avoid…”

Featuring: Richard Blumenthal, Democratic | U.S. Senate from Connecticut

CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal"

Published November 25, 2025 | Video Starts at 55:28

What is the substantive result? Do you believe in the release of the Epstein files? The substantive result? Yeah. What happens now? What does it matter now is The Department of Justice will do everything it can to avoid disclosure [of the Epstein files]. and we will do everything we can to force disclosure. And when I say we, I mean myself on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation. I'm the ranking member there. (55:28–55:34)

CLAIM

Asserts that the Department of Justice will try to avoid disclosing the Epstein files.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Richard Blumenthal

“People in Connecticut are forced to pay literally $20,000 more for this health care insurance.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 14:22-14:30
“Three quarters of all the people who will pay more as a result of ending these health care tax credits live in red states that Donald Trump…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 17:24-17:37
“When Bill Clinton left office, there was no national debt.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 34:04-34:08
“We have hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian assets that are in European banks.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 53:29-53:36
“Republicans were calling votes again and again on the same piece of legislation, namely what they called a clean CR.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 11:52-12:05
“Since there was no continuing resolution, the government was shut down.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 12:14-12:19
“Their idea of a clean funding proposal was no health care.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 12:19-12:25
“We were pretty unified as a caucus as Democrats.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 12:26-12:32
“I was disappointed and angry that Republicans forced this false choice on us.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 13:06-13:15
“The promise they made to the eight who decided to go along with their continuing resolution was that we would have a vote on continuing the…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 13:21-13:37
“These health care subsidies are necessary for thousands of people who buy their insurance through open enrollment in the Affordable Care…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 13:58-14:10
“In Connecticut, it's known as Health Access Health Connecticut to buy health insurance. And the prices premiums are spiking double, triple…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 14:09-14:23
“Everybody pays more because the sickest people have to get insurance.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 14:56-15:01
“Social Security may be insolvent unless we reform it by eliminating some of the exemptions for people above certain incomes.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 19:26-19:38
“I think there will be a vote. And unfortunately I think Republicans will be bludgeoned into voting against health care tax credits…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 20:10-20:21
“I've supported Medicare for All from day one when Bernie Sanders helped to lead it.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 20:56-21:03
“Medicare for All makes Medicare available for everyone in this country.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 21:15-21:20
“We have passed a bill as part of the time when we were in the majority that permits negotiation of Medicare drug prices for everyone.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 22:40-22:54
“The nation has followed Connecticut and putting a cap on insulin prices.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 22:56-23:02
“We pay tons of money, more for pharmaceutical drugs, for example, than other countries do.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 23:48-23:57
“SNAP provides for 42 million people.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 27:31-27:36
“There's no reason that we have a debt ceiling.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 28:47-28:50
“We don't have tax breaks for billionaires. We don't have 4 trillion. We're not talking about billion. We're talking about trillion dollars…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 29:36-29:45
“You want an effective SNAP program, you want effective health care, you don't cut a third of all the Medicaid recipients.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 29:58-30:08
“Connecticut, fortunately, is in a good fiscal position.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 30:08-30:13
“The governor, to his great credit, committed. He was going to provide for the SNAP benefits even if the federal government cut off.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 30:12-30:19
“We are in effect eviscerating our middle class.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 30:44-30:49
“Republicans may talk about reducing the national debt, but look at what they did on the tax breaks for billionaires.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 34:15-34:21
“Extremist violence is one of the greatest threats to the stability of our country.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 36:05-36:11
“There was a point where I received the intelligence briefings on threats to this country where they shifted from fears about extremists from…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 36:11-36:26
“You have a right not to obey an illegal order, which is actually one of the first principles of the Uniform Code of Military justice.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 37:46-37:56
“A number of my colleagues have raised this issue with respect to the strikes on those boats in the Caribbean that supposedly are carrying…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 39:18-39:29
“I have reviewed the classified Office of Legal Counsel memorandum that supposedly justifies these strikes on the boats. And I came away very…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 39:37-39:55
“I led a group of my colleagues, all of us Democrats on the Armed Services Committee. We just released the letter to the Secretary of Defense…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 40:16-40:36
“The rationale given so far publicly is inadequate based just on what has been publicly disclosed.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 41:07-41:19
“There have not been acts of war against Venezuela, but there have been potentially violations of international law in essentially killing…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 42:47-43:06
“It's not fentanyl which comes from Mexico, it is mostly cocaine that's going to other Caribbean islands or to Central America.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 43:59-44:10
“In 2014, I was in the United States Senate and on the Judiciary Committee, and we negotiated an immigration reform bill.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 45:13-45:28
“We provided for more visas, agricultural visas, as well as H1B visas for industry and manufacturing.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 45:53-46:02
“We provided a number of reforms to the asylum process to eliminate the backlog asylum claims and provided more resources for judges.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 46:02-46:14
“We provided a path to earn citizenship for undocumented people who are here, 11 million at the time.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 46:14-46:19
“It passed the United States Senate with more than 60 votes. Bipartisan measure.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 47:38-47:46
“The opportunity was lost because John Boehner, then Speaker of the House, would not give it a vote.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 48:02-48:09
“NATO membership [for Ukraine] be barred, Ukraine's military be decimated, foreign military presence in Ukraine be banned.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 49:08-49:22
“I've been to Ukraine eight times since the beginning of the war.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 49:47-49:53
“A Russia sanctions bill with 85 co-sponsors.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 50:03-50:16
“Putin is slaughtering children, women in their homes, in schools and hospitals.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 52:05-52:12
“Putin is committing war crimes. He's been charged with war crimes.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 52:17-52:23
“Europeans are paying for arms coming from the United States.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 53:01-53:06
“I have a bill that would essentially use those Russian assets to pay for American arms bought by the Europeans.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 53:38-53:49
“Putin wants to restore the old Russian empire.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 54:31-54:34
“We will do everything we can to force disclosure [of the Epstein files].”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 55:59-56:06
“My hope is, John, that we'll have bipartisan agreement that the Epstein files have to be made transparent.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 56:28-56:36
“The most important part to me is the survivors. They are the heroes here. They are the reasons that this legislation passed.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 57:17-57:27
“Trump reversed himself instead of opposing it so staunchly and steadfastly.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 57:27-57:35
“The norm. And the tradition has been that [the Department of Justice] doesn't [take orders from the White House].”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 59:01-59:06
“There were laws passed that protected against disclosure from the IRS, even to the Justice Department.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 59:57-1:00:05
“What we're seeing now is the most kind of flagrant abuse of that tradition and norm.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:00:07-1:00:15
“I have proposed a bill with Dan Goldman...that would essentially prohibit these kinds of contacts between the White House directing the…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:00:54-1:01:19
“We also proposed a right of action for abusive prosecution.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:01:18-1:01:26
“There are a lot of measures where guardrails and safeguards should be imposed that we will not see in this administration.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:02:18-1:02:25
“Republicans talk a good game privately and then fall into line publicly because they are so fearful of primaries supported or launched by…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:03:11-1:03:22
“Chris Murphy and I have been working on this bill for a very long time.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:04:00-1:04:06
“Background checks apply if you go into a gun store where the owner is licensed, but the private sales at gun shows or other kinds of ways…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:04:23-1:04:38
“We'd expand the background check coverage.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:04:37-1:04:41
“Background checks in Connecticut cover those sales more expansively.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:04:56-1:05:01
“Connecticut has shown that good, responsible gun violence prevention actually works. It saves lives.”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:05:01-1:05:11
“This Veterans Administration leadership has engaged in unnecessary and actual counterproductive cuts in for example, the Veterans Crisis…”
CT Mirror Presents: "In The Room: A Conversation with US Senator Richard Blumenthal" | Uploaded November 25, 2025 | 1:05:45-1:05:57