Mike Johnson defends decision to adjourn House rather than vote on Epstein petition
House speaker Mike Johnson defended his decision to adjourn the House early for the August recess instead of holding a vote on a bipartisan petition to force the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files. Johnson explained that Democrats were attempting to use the House Rules Committee to push politically motivated votes on the issue, which he saw as a misuse of the committee’s purpose. Even though Johnson emphasized that House Republicans want all credible details about Epstein to be released while protecting innocent victims, he criticized the petition lead by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna as recklessly drafted. As Johnson did not bring the bill to the floor, Massie and Khanna resorted to a discharge petition to force a vote, which will now take place after the recess. Massie has accused the Department of Justice of hiding behind victim privacy concerns to avoid releasing the full Epstein files.
Mike Johnson defends decision to adjourn House rather than vote on Epstein petition
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended his decision to release the House for August recess early, over the fallout of the Trump administration’s non-release of the files related to disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Johnson said it was necessary because Democrats were looking to force votes on releasing the Epstein files in the House Rules Committee. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced a bill to force the DOJ to release the Epstein files.
“So what we did do this week is end the chaos in the rules committee because the Democrats are trying to use this in a shameless manner for political purposes, quite obviously,” Johnson said on NBC News’ Meet the Press. “They hijacked the rules committee. And they tried to turn it into an Epstein hearing. That’s not what the rules committee is about.”
“So that’s why the floor vote ended on Wednesday instead of Thursday,” he added.
Johnson said that “House Republicans insist upon the release of all credible evidence and information related to Epstein in any way, but we are also insisting upon the protection of innocent victims,” but said Republican leadership’s concern was that “the Massie and Khanna discharge petition is reckless in the way that it is drafted and presented.”
Johnson refused to bring the bill to release the files to the floor for a vote, so Massie and Khanna had resorted to a discharge petition to force a vote. That vote will now come after the August congressional recess.
EPSTEIN FILES PARALYZE THE HOUSE, FORCING JOHNSON TO CANCEL VOTES AND START RECESS
Massie has said that the Department of Justice is using concern over releasing victim information as a cover for not releasing the entirety of the files.
“We’ve redacted things before. We don’t want to hurt the victims. We’re doing this for the victims. I think it’s just something that they’re hiding behind,” Massie said Sunday.
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