Rep. Sherman Questions State Dept. Official on Epstein Files and Foreign Aid

Epstein Files and Foreign Policy Impact

• ❓ Representative Sherman inquired if releasing the Epstein files, even with redacted victim names, would harm American foreign policy.
• 🤷 Deputy Secretary Michael Rigas stated he had no idea if it would cause harm and had no reason to believe it would.

Voice of America Listenership Numbers

• 🗣️ Sherman questioned the credibility of State Department-issued listenership numbers for Voice of America, citing a quote from Carrie Lake.
• 📊 Rigas was unfamiliar with the specific numbers Sherman referred to, despite them being released under both the Biden and Trump administrations.

Foreign Aid Cuts and Consequences

• 💔 Sherman presented evidence of a child dying due to cuts in foreign aid, contradicting Secretary Rubio's earlier statement.
• 📈 He warned that these cuts could lead to 3.3 million deaths from diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, and AIDS, potentially impacting the US through disease mutation and migration.

Expired Food Aid

• 🥫 A large quantity of emergency food aid reportedly reached its expiration date and was set to be burned.
• 📉 Sherman criticized this as a management catastrophe, questioning why food acquired even before the current administration was not distributed to starving populations.