GOP in 'full-blown crisis mode' as 'dreaded' Epstein reckoning finally closes in: expert

Both President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) are set to face a reckoning this week as the government appears poised to re-open — and one that political science professor Costas Panagopoulos said the two have “dreaded” for a long time.

That reckoning is over Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted child sex abuser who died in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges and who once called Trump his “closest friend for 10 years.”

Circulating in the House has been a petition to force a vote on a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release all of its files on Epstein, a document that currently sits just one vote shy of succeeding. With a newly elected Arizona Democrat poised to be sworn in this week, one who’s vowed to sign the petition, Johnson now faces a difficult moment.

“By all accounts, Trump and his Republican allies have dreaded this moment, but it was inevitable unless some Republicans who support the release backtrack,” Panagopoulos said, speaking with Newsweek in its report Tuesday.

“If the files are released and they contain damaging information for the president, the Trump White House may need to be in full-blown crisis mode, but they may not be alone if the files implicate others, including high-profile Democrats. Either way, it appears Americans will not need to wait much longer to find out.”

Johnson has faced scrutiny over what critics have labeled attempts to shield the president over his past connections with Epstein, going as far as to once claim that Trump was an “FBI informant” charged with gathering incriminating evidence on the convicted sex offender, a claim he would later walk back. He’s also called the petition redundant given the ongoing probe into Epstein spearheaded by the House Oversight Committee.

While Johnson has been successful in blocking the petition thus far, with critics alleging he had even shut down Congress in an effort to block the petition, he’s now poised to face “a real test” of his power as speaker when the House reconvenes, said Todd Belt, a professor and head of the political management program at George Washington University.
“The Speaker has had a pretty firm control over his party on most issues, and the discharge petition will force his hand on the Epstein Files,” Belt said, speaking with Newsweek.

“No Speaker likes this to happen, because it means that at least a portion of the Speaker’s party has decided to vote against the Speaker’s wishes. This makes the Speaker weaker overall and could encourage more members to vote against the Speaker’s wishes on other issues, including the forthcoming government spending bills.”