Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) praised the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein in a press conference Tuesday, holding it up as a more effective way to probe matters surrounding the convicted sex offender than a discharge petition effort to circumvent leadership and force a vote to release the “Epstein Files.”
In a break from his daily messaging on the government shutdown, Johnson argued the “bipartisan” House Oversight investigation is getting more information than would be gained even if the discharge petition was successful.
“The bipartisan House Oversight Committee is already accomplishing what the discharge petition, that gambit, sought, and much more,” Johnson said.
The Oversight panel last week released a transcript of a transcribed interview with former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was the prosecutor who oversaw Epstein’s much-criticized 2008 plea deal.
It also released more information from the Epstein estate, which the committee subpoenaed earlier this year. GOP leaders noted that the material from the Epstein estate — including Epstein’s personal schedules and infamous “Birthday Book” that included notes from President Trump and former President Clinton — would not have been compelled to be released by the discharge petition bill.
The discharge petition, once it reaches 218 signatures, would circumvent GOP leadership and force a vote on a bill directing the Department of Justice to release its files related to Epstein. The push, led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), is one signature away from triggering consideration of the underlying bill on the House floor.
Republican leaders, though, can act to try to “turn off” the mechanism to force a vote as part of a procedural vote — as they successfully did earlier this year when Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) led a successful discharge petition to try to force a vote on proxy voting for new parents. Doing so would require a majority vote on the House floor.
Asked about the Epstein discharge petition coming to the floor after the press conference on Tuesday, Johnson said: “If it hits 218, it comes to the floor, I mean — But it’s totally superfluous.”
Democrats have repeatedly hammered Johnson for refusing to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grivalja (D-Ariz.) until the House is back in regular session, accusing him of delaying the vote to delay action on the Epstein discharge petition. Grivalja would be the final signature needed to circumvent leadership and force action on the matter, but Johnson says those delays have nothing to do with the Epstein matter.
Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) at the press conference Tuesday also suggested that Oversight Committee Democrats were holding up depositions of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, both of whom have been subpoenaed by the committee.
Those depositions that were originally scheduled for earlier this month, but had been postponed amid negotiations with their attorneys.
“Public reporting, survivor testimony and official documents show that Bill Clinton had far closer ties to Epstein,” Comer said, than President Trump did. “We’re working to bring former President Clinton in for a deposition, but the Democrats aren’t helping one bit.”
