{"id":2482943,"date":"2025-09-05T15:47:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mike-johnson-says-epstein-discharge-petition-is-superfluous\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T15:48:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:48:23","slug":"mike-johnson-says-epstein-discharge-petition-is-superfluous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mike-johnson-says-epstein-discharge-petition-is-superfluous\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Johnson says Epstein discharge petition is \u2018superfluous\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmike-johnson-says-epstein-discharge-petition-is-superfluous%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2482943&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>This article reports on House Speaker Mike Johnson&#8217;s opposition to a bipartisan discharge petition aimed at releasing all files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Johnson called the petition &#8220;superfluous&#8221; and urged that it be stopped, arguing that recent developments and ongoing investigations led by the House Oversight Committee make the petition unnecessary. He emphasized that the Oversight Committee&#8217;s investigation is a bipartisan effort working to release all relevant documents responsibly, with adequate protections for victims, whistleblowers, and law enforcement personnel-protections he says the discharge petition lacks.<\/p>\n<p>The petition, launched by Reps. Thomas massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), seeks to force a vote to release the full Epstein case files. epstein survivors recently held a press conference supporting the petition and revealed plans to compile a private list of Epstein&#8217;s known associates. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) also supported the petition and expressed willingness to read the list publicly.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson commended the bravery of survivors but stressed the need to protect victims who wish to remain anonymous. He highlighted a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ny-gov-cuomo-shunned-experts-embraced-lobbyists-drove-top-health-officials-to-quit-over-pandemic-response-report\/\" title=\"NY Gov. Cuomo Shunned Experts, Embraced Lobbyists, Drove Top Health Officials To Quit Over Pandemic Response: Report\">closed-door meeting<\/a> between the Oversight Committee and Epstein survivors, expressing confidence that bipartisan lawmakers are determined to uncover and disclose the truth responsibly. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Mike Johnson says Epstein discharge petition is &lsquo;superfluous&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2220321\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>House Speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/mike-johnson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mike Johnson<\/a> (R-LA) said the bipartisan discharge petition to release files related to the late convicted sex offender <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jeffrey-epstein\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> is &ldquo;superfluous&rdquo; and &ldquo;should be stopped,&rdquo; as House Republican leaders and the White House <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3790673\/house-gop-leadership-discharge-petition-epstein-files\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fight back<\/a> on the measure.<\/p>\n<p>Reps. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/3500829\/thomas-massie-polling-primary-big-beautiful-bill-israel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thomas Massie<\/a> (R-KY) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ro-khanna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ro Khanna<\/a> (D-CA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3789962\/massie-epstein-files-discharge-petition-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launched a congressional petition<\/a> on Tuesday to force a vote to release the full Epstein files.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3795208\/adams-recommits-nyc-mayoral-race-door-open-trump-appointment\/\">Adams recommits to NYC mayoral race while leaving door open to rumored Trump appointment<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3795116\/biden-team-wanted-him-sign-pardons-by-hand-not-autopen\/\">Biden&#8217;s team wanted him to sign pardons by hand, not autopen<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3793283\/trump-200th-white-house-executive-order-rename-pentagon-war-department\/\">Executive warpath: Trump issuing 200th White House order to remake Pentagon<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;It should be stopped because it&rsquo;s superfluous now. It&rsquo;s not necessary,&rdquo; Johnson said Thursday on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8gBHZZvmu0o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Punchbowl News&rsquo;s <em>Fly Out Day<\/em><\/a>. &ldquo;The developments over August, as we knew would happen, made that effectively a moot point.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Johnson added that House Republicans this week voted to <a href=\"https:\/\/mikejohnson.house.gov\/news\/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2667\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">endorse and affirm<\/a> the House Oversight Committee to &ldquo;continue its ongoing investigation&rdquo; into Epstein and his former associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n<p>By having the Oversight Committee lead the charge, Johnson argued that the investigation will do &ldquo;everything the discharge petition wants and more.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The vote was very important because we endorsed the oversight committee; this is a truly and totally bipartisan effort to dig into the facts and release all the documents to the American public, but it&rsquo;s got to be done in a responsible manner,&rdquo; Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p>The Oversight Committee released<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3790705\/house-oversight-releases-33000-pages-epstein-files-doj\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> 33,000 files relating to Epstein<\/a> on Tuesday night, just hours after Massie filed the discharge petition.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said Massie&rsquo;s petition does not &ldquo;adequately&rdquo; protect the victims.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;My problem with the discharge petition is that it does not do that. It does not adequately protect the innocent victims,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a lawyer. This is what I do. I used to litigate these cases. They have haphazardly drawn up the discharge petition.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Johnson argued that the petition&rsquo;s lack of protections for whistleblowers, confidential informants, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/another-suspect-tried-to-assassinate-trump-pakistani-man-charged-in-potential-connection-to-murder-attempt\/\" title=\"Another Suspect Tried to Assassinate Trump? Pakistani Man Charged in Potential Connection to Murder Attempt\">undercover law enforcement agents<\/a>, who are essential for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/guest-column-im-so-sorry-this-is-happening-to-you-matt\/\" title=\"GUEST COLUMN: I\u2019m So Sorry This Is Happening to You, Matt\">sex trafficking investigation<\/a>, is a &ldquo;dangerous prospect.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, Epstein survivors held a<span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">&nbsp;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3789275\/massie-khanna-joint-press-conference-epstein-victims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press conference on Capitol Hill<\/a> with Massie and Khanna, calling on lawmakers to vote to release all the files.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/marjorie-taylor-greene\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a> (R-GA) also attended the press conference. She said she was &ldquo;honored&rdquo; to sign the petition and that the &ldquo;truth needs to come out.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Epstein survivors revealed at the press conference that they are working to compile a private list of Epstein&rsquo;s known associates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Greene, one of four Republicans who signed the petition with all House Democrats, said she would be &ldquo;proud&rdquo; to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3794064\/greene-massie-name-jeffrey-epstein-clients-house-floor-speech-debate-clause\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">read the list on the House floor<\/a> if the survivors asked her to.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson commended the women at the press conference for their bravery in speaking out, but said the petition does not protect the victims who do not want to be known.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;While we had a number of women, bravely, heroically stand in front of the cameras and tell their stories, there are as many, potentially a thousand victims of these Epstein evils&hellip;they do not want their names and identities known, &rdquo;Johnson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just the unmasking that would be allowed, (the petition) doesn&rsquo;t even affirm or require DOJ and its personnel to cover those folks, so we have to do that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3792501\/six-takeaways-epstein-survivors-speaking-out-capitol-hill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>SIX TAKEAWAYS FROM EPSTEIN SURVIVORS SPEAKING OUT ON CAPITOL HILL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3788991\/house-oversight-committee-meet-privately-jeffrey-epstein-victims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oversight Committee met with Epstein survivors <\/a>in a closed-door meeting for 2 1\/2 hours.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You have bulldogs on both sides of the aisles in that room,&rdquo; Johnson said about the lawmakers at the meeting. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re all dialed in, and you&rsquo;ve heard them. They&rsquo;re motivated, so the truth is coming out, and that&rsquo;s what should happen.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Johnson calls Epstein discharge petition &#8216;unnecessary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3984,"featured_media":2482944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25203603976547.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[59254,9006,4762,34218,5894],"class_list":["post-2482943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-discharge-petition","tag-epstein","tag-legislation","tag-mike-johnson","tag-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25203603976547.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3984"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2482943"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2482948,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482943\/revisions\/2482948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2482944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2482943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2482943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2482943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}