Chairman Comer (00:00):
Shine on the federal government. I can think of no better person in Congress to lead this task force than Representative Luna. Last month, President Trump signed an executive order to begin the process to declassify information on the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK. This task force serves to build on President Trump's actions.
(00:22)
For far too long, the American people have had reasonable questions of what their government, which they fund every day keeps hidden about certain issues. And for far too long, the federal government has not answered these questions. This creates distrust in our institutions. That ends today. The voters of this nation delivered a historic mandate to President Trump on November 5th. The keystone of that mandate was demanding increased transparency of their government and elected leaders, and the mandate of this task force is to acquire that transparency. We'll open this up for a question from the media, but first I'd like to hand it over to my esteemed colleague and chairman of the new task force Congresswoman Luna, for her remarks.
Congresswoman Luna (01:11):
Thank you, Chairman Comer. When our founding fathers stood against tyranny, they did not merely oppose taxes. They defended the sacred idea of individual sovereignty. They declared that no government, agency, or title could infringe upon the freedoms of speech, religion, thought, and the pursuit of truth. For too long, the American Spirit has been dimmed by veil secrecy by a government that has grown too comfortable in the shadows, denying us the transparency we deserve.
(01:40)
But today, we stand at the dawn of a new era where the light of truth begins to shine through. A few weeks ago, President Donald Trump made a historic announcement. With the stroke of a pen, he committed to declassifying the files concerning the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A decision not just monumental but pivotal. It is with profound honor that I have been entrusted by Speaker Mike Johnson and Chairman James Comer to lead the House Oversight Task Force on Declassification of federal Secrets. Together with the help of the White House, our intelligence allies, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, we'll be conducting investigations into the following. The assassinations of JFK, RFK and Dr. Martin Luther King, unidentified aerial phenomena, also known as UAPs. Unidentified submerged objects, also known as USOs. The Epstein client list, the origins of COVID-19, and the 9/11 files.
(02:41)
This task force will be a beacon of bipartisanship on the Republican side representatives Burchette, Boebert, Erlison, Crane Gill, and Mace will be joining me, although I'd like to note that I'm expanding this to the entire governing body and will be allowing certain members to wave on. Our first hearing is set for March. The date will be announced soon, and we've already initiated close to a dozen communications with various agencies to include Pam Bondi at the Department of Justice and the Secretary of State.
(03:09)
This will no longer be a task force that makes bold promises only to fade into irrelevance or send strongly worded letters. This will be a relentless pursuit of truth and transparency, and we'll not stop until the American people have the answers they deserve. We will cut through their bureaucracy, challenge the stonewalling, and ensure that the American people finally get the truth that they have been denied for too long.
(03:33)
If we are to endure and thrive as a nation, we must restore trust. Trust through transparency. The American people must be trusted to think for themselves, to form their own judgments from the truth that they're entitled to know. We've been treated like children for too long and kept in the dark by those we elected to serve us. It is my solemn duty to begin mending this trust to form a new relationship between the government and the governed. Let us embark on this journey together towards a government that does not just serve, but one that enlightens. Trust through transparency, that begins now. Without further ado, we'd like to open it up for questions as I'm sure many of you have those. Hands up.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Thank you, [inaudible 00:04:17]. Obviously, your goals are aligned with the administration's declassification of Martin Luther King and the Kennedys. How would you handle if you end up, whether it's President Trump or Attorney General Bondi or [inaudible 00:04:31], if they disagree with what you're looking to declassify on a certain topic, whether it's UAPs or 9/11 or something like that, how would you handle if there's some stuff that they don't necessarily want to declassify?
Congresswoman Luna (04:44):
Well, certainly I think that they'd be supportive being that they're advocating for this, but also I want to remind the American people that this is bipartisan. There's also Democrats that are looking into answering these very questions, but certainly we would share that information with the American people. This is about transparency, and I think, again, as I stated, for far too long there's been a massive push to keep the American people in the dark, and that ends today.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
Do you have subpoena power?
Congresswoman Luna (05:07):
Chairman.
Chairman Comer (05:10):
The task force does not have subpoena power. I do, the task force is going to be subsidiary of the full oversight committee. So if we have to issue one, Congresswoman Luna will discuss it and we'll take appropriate action.
Congresswoman Luna (05:24):
But in full transparency, we have a great working relationship, as I stated earlier, with the White House, with the DOJ, with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State. The incoming FBI director I think will be very supportive. And we've also been told that the CIA director is very supportive. To put in perspective, I think that this issue transcends not just one administration but multiple administrations, and it hasn't been until now that we've been able to get people actually in positions of power that will push for transparency. Now, if I find that different entities in the various intelligence agencies are stonewalling us, I'm going to make that known to the American people. But as of right now, we are cautiously optimistic.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
What's your priority, because Epstein, 9/11?
Congresswoman Luna (06:08):
Our first investigation will be announced, but it's going to be covering on a thorough investigation into the John F. Kennedy assassination. And I can tell you based on what I've been seeing so far, the initial hearing that was actually held here in Congress was actually faulty in the single bullet theory. I believe that there were two shooters and we should be finding more information as we are able to gain access into the skiff hopefully before the files are actually released to the public.
Speaker 5 (06:34):
Thank you for doing this. Have you identified the Democrats who will sit on the task force and could you talk a little bit more about the role of Democrats in this?
Congresswoman Luna (06:40):
Yeah, so again, this is a bipartisan commission. Remember JFK was a Democrat, RFK was a Democrat, and I'm sure that, I think the entire conference has a question on what actually happened with Dr. Martin Luther King. But also UAPs, you guys know that that was the biggest bipartisan bicameral hearing that we've ever had, I think in Congressional history. I do not know who their members are yet they've noticed it, but they're taking this very seriously. This is not a conspiracy theory investigating committee. We're actually looking to present truth to the American people, and it's in my opinion that no one person elected to office is more important or more qualified to look at the information that they've been hiding from us. And so, we look to push for that transparency.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
What sort of witnesses will you expect to have at your hearings? I know you said the first one's in March. That be your department heads, former employees of various agencies?
Congresswoman Luna (07:30):
Would you like to jump in?
Chairman Comer (07:31):
Go ahead.
Congresswoman Luna (07:31):
I was going to say based on what we're actually looking to do with the JFK investigation, I'm looking to actually bring in some of the attending physicians at the initial assassination and then also people that had been on the various commissions looking into, like the Warren Commission, looking into the initial assassinations. There's been conflicting evidence, and I think that even the FBI at the time reported some anomalies in the initial autopsy at Bethesda, Maryland. All of those though seem to have been rinsed and repeated in the media to push a certain narrative that we don't agree with. And so, I think that in order to put to bed some of the theories that have been out there on John F. Kennedy, we have to know the full truth. And the full truth starts with transparency, and that's why these files is so important for the American people to read for themselves.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
With this task force, what are you hoping to uncover as far as UAPs that you have not already heard from other UAP hearings?
Congresswoman Luna (08:21):
The biggest information problems that we've had with UAPs is the amount of stonewalling, stove piping, and also it seems that there is this push to gaslight the American people into looking at the evidence and then not fully believing it. I think for us, if we're writing the budget, for example, into the Pentagon, if we're writing the budget overall for whatever programs might be out there, why is it that members of Congress who are given a top-secret security clearance are being denied access? That's not a free and true government.
(08:51)
And so for us, especially being that we have now a Secretary of State who's actually open to declassification in Marco Rubio, we're hoping to present that information and at least acknowledge it from a government perspective that we are not alone, but also let's see what the evidence is.
Speaker 7 (09:09):
Thank you. Have you already been in contact with, or started to send requests to these different agencies and federal departments for this information?
Congresswoman Luna (09:15):
Yes. In fact, the letters went out this morning, not just on RFK, JFK and MLK, but on everything that I had listed above to include UAPs, Epstein, and 9/11, and COVID, to the State Department, department of Defense, CIA. And then also we'll be sending some to the FBI and letters have also gone out to the NSA.
Speaker 8 (09:33):
How is this going to be different than the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which did investigate both the John F. Kennedy assassination and the King assassination?
Congresswoman Luna (09:40):
Well, what's interesting on that specific committee is to my understanding, when they actually brought in expert witnesses, they weren't actually people that were in an attendance to the initial autopsy at Bethesda, but also this is a bigger committee than just the JFK assassinations. We're also expanding into Epstein, COVID origins, 9/11s, and then UAPs and USOs. And so, before where we initially had some of these hearings, this is going to be an encompassing committee that's going to work directly with the White House on information that they're declassifying.
Speaker 8 (10:14):
To be clear, [inaudible 00:10:15] mention the Warren Committee, that there's the Warren Committee, but also the selection [inaudible 00:10:19].
Congresswoman Luna (10:20):
Correct, correct. There's actually three different government investigations into the JFK assassination. But again, this committee is expanding not just there, but outwards into other fields. And again, we're working directly with the White House. In previous investigations, they didn't have access to the information that we are going to have access to. And so, that's a big deal, especially if you're looking at what truly happened with JFK.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Are you going to get a top-secret clearance?
Congresswoman Luna (10:44):
I already have a top-secret clearance. All members of Congress have a TSCI. The question is, do we get SAP access? Of which Chairman Comer has been very supportive and will be getting SAP access as well. Okay, two more and then we're going to wrap it up.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Obviously, some of the questions on some of these topics, whether it's Jeffrey Epstein or COVID-19, the questions are obvious. What specifically though, are the questions you're looking to get answered with regards to September 11th?
Congresswoman Luna (11:10):
We just want the truth. How much did the CIA know in advance? But also remember, when you have only certain information that's shared with the American people, that's when conspiracy theories happen. And it's in my opinion that conspiracy theories can be detrimental. It doesn't mean that in the last couple of months we haven't been right on a few things, but what I will say is I think that we deserve to give this information to the American people. I don't agree with the stonewalling that's occurred. And also, how do we prevent things like it from happening in the future? And we have to know the full picture and the American people deserve to know that as well.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Can we expect any collaboration with the Department of Government Efficiency?
Congresswoman Luna (11:50):
I don't know what information DOGE would have, but I would encourage them if they have anything on JFK, Epstein or anything in between that they bring it to our office immediately. Okay. One more and then we'll wrap it up.
Speaker 9 (11:59):
We have this one, This is for Chairman Colmer, if you don't mind.
Congresswoman Luna (12:01):
Of course.
Speaker 9 (12:01):
[inaudible 00:12:02] your oversight of sanctuary cities., Senior City Mayor Eric Adams stand apart from the other Democrats in that he's cultivating a relationship with President Trump and has been critical of sanctuary laws. And what do you hope to uncover with this hearing?
Chairman Comer (12:13):
Well, we have a lot of questions. Some of the people in the mayor's administration have been vocal that they weren't going to comply with federal law, that they were going to continue to act as sanctuary cities. We want to know about coordination and communication they had between the previous administration. How did so many of these illegals get there? Who was paying for it? Who were they communicating with to be able to provide housing and so many other benefits to such a large population of people? Just the basic questions we all have. Who was paying for it? Who was leading the efforts to transport the illegals from wherever their entry point was in the United States to the sanctuary cities? And are the mayors going to comply with federal law now? Are they going to work with Tom Homan and the National Security Groups and the Trump administration to try to deport the criminal illegals and stop being a sanctuary city?
Speaker 9 (13:19):
Do you feel less worried about Eric Adams himself, considering his signals?
Chairman Comer (13:23):
Worried about what?
Congresswoman Luna (13:23):
Do we feel less worried about Eric Adams?
Chairman Comer (13:26):
Eric Adams? I mean, he was one of the first mayors to bring up the crisis situation, the fiscal impact on the city. So I think he would be a very good witness. And we have a lot of questions for him, just like we do the other three mayor.
Congresswoman Luna (13:42):
All right, one last question, then we're going to wrap it up. News Nation, let's go.
Speaker 10 (13:45):
Can I ask about your relationship with whistleblowers? Is it going to be the normal process that oversight typically does or are you going to create a separate avenue for the task force?
Congresswoman Luna (13:55):
I mean, we're all about the normal process, but look, if you have information and it's credible. We've always approached it in that I'd like to be the person that does the interviews for it, mainly because especially with stuff like this, we want to make sure that there's not bad actors that are pushing false information to create a narrative that's simply not there. And so, every whistleblower that does come forward, as of right now, there's people that have been publicly out there, for example, in the JFK stuff that were actually present at the operating room where he was actually brought to right after the shooting. So we hope to bring those people in to testify. And again, these hearings will be open to the public. I'm also expanding this to the entire conference. So if someone's going to take this seriously and look at it through an investigative lens and get answers to the American people, they're welcome to ask questions of the witnesses. And you guys will all receive notice of that.
Chairman Comer (14:45):
And we'll work with anyone who currently works for the federal government that wants to declare whistleblower status and receive whistleblower protection, if that's what they're interested in doing. And I don't think they're going to face the type of retaliation that the previous administration gave whistleblowers, particularly the IRS whistleblowers that blew the whistle on the cover-up of the Biden family.
Congresswoman Luna (15:08):
I'd also like to close with this. If you are an independent investigator, we are being told that the FBI has now located thousands of pages of documents that they lost before, specifically relating to JFK. We are going to get through as much as we can. We have a great team of attorneys, we have a great team of investigators looking into this, but it doesn't mean that we won't accept help from the public. And so, we will be setting up a place for collection for people to present information.
(15:35)
But again, this is about transparency. The government works for us. There have been people, I think, in power for too long that try to silo us and keep us in the dark, but that stops today. You're seeing that same message come out of the White House, out of the CIA, the FBI, and every other agency in between. So we are very happy to have the support of all of those individuals. Happy to have the support of Chairman Comer and Speaker Johnson. And if you guys have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to Oversight Comms and we'd be happy to answer those at that time. Thank you, guys.
Speaker 9 (16:01):
Thank you.
Chairman Comer (16:01):
[inaudible 00:16:10]