Who?
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL)
LISTEN: Laslo & Luna
Ask a Pol asks:
What do you make of the first lady’s call to have public hearings with the Epstein survivors — and how do you broach that with GOP leaders?
Key Luna:
“I actually had been encouraging that,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tells Ask a Pol Politics.
But there are obstacles?
“The Department of Justice gave plea deals to people that they knew were trafficking people, and so there is no justice for the victims,” Luna says. “Ghislaine Maxwell should not be the only one sitting in prison.”
Caught our ear:
“We have to do what we’ve promised to do. Sometimes that means calling out your own party,” Luna tells us. “I knew that when I brought the expulsion of [now-former Rep. Eric] Swalwell that it would set up a chain reaction event, and I frankly don’t care.”
What should we ask Congress next?
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (4-16-2026)
SCENE: Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo waits in the wings as the TV networks pepper Rep. Anna Paulina Luna with questions about all these competing sexual assault allegations hovering over Washington.
Once there’s a break, Laslo breaks in to Ask the Congresswoman’s thoughts on First Lady Melania Trump’s call for the House Oversight Committee to hold public hearings with the Epstein survivors…
Matt Laslo: “What do you make of the First Lady [Melanie Trump']’s call to have public hearings with the survivors? Have you broached that with GOP leaders?”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna: “Yeah, I actually had been encouraging that. I mean, the fact is right now though is I think again a lot of people are scared about coming forward and naming people and there’s this also aspect of — you had settlements potentially being reached. So again, if you know there’s a settlement, people are then sometimes asked to sign NDAs and so they don’t talk.”
Luna: “But I do want to be really clear about something — the Department of Justice gave plea deals to people that they knew were trafficking people, and so there is no justice for the victims that were basically, you know, seeing these people get off. And Ghislaine Maxwell should not be the only one sitting in prison.”
Luna: “But going back to this whole climate — we have to do what we’ve promised to do, sometimes that means calling out your own party. I appreciate the members on both sides that have been doing that. And I knew that when I brought the expulsion of [now-former Rep. Eric] Swalwell that it would set up a chain reaction event and I, frankly, don’t care.”
Ask a Pol AI Disclosure:
Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape. (generative) AI isn’t tomorrow’s tech — it’s yesterday’s…
