Van Hollen slams $1.8B fund as "slush fund"

You're appointing four of the five members, aren't you, Mr. Attorney General? Pardon me? You're appointing four of the five members. I'm appointing all five members. You can certainly set up the rules. I would hope you would make a rule that anyone convicted of assaulting a police officer or a violent crime is simply not eligible. They should not apply. Let me ask you this. Because you compared it to the Keepseagle case. But I think you know full well that, in that case, the settlement agreement was approved by a federal judge, including the payments to people, who were not originally parties to the lawsuit. No federal judge has approved this fund, have they, Mr. Attorney General? No, no federal judge did approve this. So that's a big difference between this case and the case that you compared it to. No, it's not. Did a judge sign off on this case? No. A judge did sign off on the other one. Yes, but your question was, whether it's a big difference. It's not. Of course, it is. Because that allows for an independent person to look at it rather than the [INAUDIBLE]. There was no independence. There was no independence. There was a single commissioner. A judge signed off on it. A judge had nothing to do with deciding the money. There was a judge, who looked at it and signed off on it. So to compare that case to this one is incredibly deceptive. Let me ask you this about the Epstein case. Because as we speak, many Epstein survivors are in New York. They're reading portions of the Epstein files about the abuse that they suffered. Otherwise, they might have been here with us today. At a House hearing, your predecessor refused to acknowledge the pain experienced by some of those victims, when the administration improperly released their names and identifying information. So I want to know where you stand. I spoke to the representatives of some of the Epstein survivors yesterday. They are extremely frustrated that you keep calling for people to come forward, with more evidence. But you have not met with them to hear their stories. So simple question-- if I connect you with these survivors, will you meet with them? Absolutely. And what you just said is false. I have met with them. I've met with many of the lawyers for the survivors of victims, as did Attorney General Bondi. So whoever told you that, unfortunately, gave you bad information. I would encourage them. I would encourage them to reach out to the Department of Justice. Because, like, we do every single day, we absolutely care for victims. And we absolutely want to hear from them and their lawyers. Well, I've been told directly, from the representatives, they've not had a chance, at least this group, to meet with you. [INTERPOSING VOICES] So I'm glad to hear that. Did they represent they asked for a meeting? Can I ask you to commit that the Justice Department will not recommend a pardon for anyone named in the Epstein files? Can you repeat that question. I'm sorry. I didn't hear what you said.

Can you commit that the Justice Department, you, the acting attorney general, will not recommend a pardon for people named in the Epstein files? When you say, people named, there's tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of, quote, people named.

How about Ghislaine Maxwell, can you commit that you [INAUDIBLE]? Yes, I can commit to that, of course. Let me go back to this, slush fund. Because there's, also, an individual, who, after being pardoned by the president, went on to molest two children. And that person, actually, tried to buy the silence of these children by saying that he would pay them some of the funds that he was hoping to get from your slush fund. Can you commit to making the rule so that person is not eligible for a payout under this fund? Well, you're, obviously, lying in your question. Because there's no way that this person committed to that. The slush fund, as you call it, which didn't exist. But I can commit. Mr. Attorney General, don't ever do that again. I am reporting what he said. He said, on the expectation that he hoped to get some of the funds from a payout. He's [INAUDIBLE]. No, you said, from the slush fund, Senator. And that didn't exist when he said that. This is the fund that the president and all of you have been telegraphing all along that you're going to use to help the president's friends. Can you point to a single telegraph I made? What telegraph did I make? I have a last question for you. Do you know that it is a criminal offense to lie to Congress? I am very well aware of that. I'm glad to hear that. Thank you.