‘Why Not?’ Johnson Asked If Epstein Files Vote Is Why He Hasn’t Sworn In New Democrat
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pushed back on CNN reporter Manu Raju questioning if he was delaying swearing in Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva because she represents the final signature on a petition to release government files on sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, with Johnson saying “it has nothing to do with that at all” on Tuesday.
Raju asked Johnson why he was waiting, considering he swore in two Republican congress members during a pro forma session earlier this year.
“So why not swear in Adelita Grijalva, who was elected two weeks ago?” Raju asked. “Does it have to do with her 218th signature on the Epstein discharge petition?”
Johnson said that was not the case at all.
“We’ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants,” Johnson said. “We’re in a pro forma session because there is nothing for the House to do. The house has done its job.”
The speaker added that this should have been a “simple, traditional thing” to do, but that congressional Democrats, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), were holding up the process.
“The house will get back to our normal order and doing our job as soon as [Schumer] votes to reopen the government, because real people’s lives are hanging in the balance right now. This is not a joke,” he said. “It is beyond me that they are going to continue to dig their heels in and resist this.”
Grijalva won a special election on Sept. 23 to replace her late father, Rep. Raul Grijalva.
She is expected to sign a petition, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), that calls for a vote on a bill requiring the Justice Department to release files tied to Epstein within 30 days; the bill was written by Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).
The petition has 217 signatures to this point and needs one more to force a vote on the bill. It has received 213 votes from House Democrats and four Republicans.
Raju, a little bit after asking Johnson about swearing in Grijalva, noted on X that the speaker swore in Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) and Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) during a pro forma session in April.
You can watch him ask Johnson about it above, via C-SPAN.
