House Speaker Mike Johnson will finally swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) after lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., after nearly two months out of action, and that means the Jeffrey Epstein discharge petition will finally reach the necessary 218 signatures necessary to force the release of his criminal files by the Department of Justice.
Grijalva will be sworn in Wednesday afternoon, more than 50 days after winning a special election to replace her late father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), on Sept. 23, and she intends to sign the petition circulated by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) to force a vote on the full release of the Epstein files – which President Donald Trump has fought hard to avoid, reported Politico.
"That in itself will be the culmination of months of drama that blew up into a full crisis for Johnson this summer, with a GOP mutiny grinding the floor to a halt and forcing leaders to send the House home early for August recess," Politico reported. "The uproar over a possible Epstein cover-up faded but never disappeared entirely."
The rarely used mechanism will most likely come to a floor vote the first week of December, according to estimates by senior Republican and Democratic aides, and even if it passes the House, the measure would still require approval by the Senate – where it's expected to die – but the issue will reignite controversy over the well-connected late sex offender's crimes.
“I’m certain the House vote will succeed,” Massie told Politico. “Some Republican members who are not signers of the petition have told me they will vote for the measure when the vote is called. I suspect there will be many more.”
“I even wonder if Speaker Johnson might advise politically vulnerable members to vote for it,” Massie added.
Johnson has options to block the bill from coming to a floor vote, but has said he won't do that, and Republicans on the Rules Committee have told him they won't do it for him.
"GOP leadership circles estimate several dozen Republicans are considering backing the effort on the floor, even after Trump officials convinced several hard-liners to keep their signature off the discharge petition," Politico reported.
Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) have been outspoken in their support for the release of Epstein's files, despite intense pressure from the White House and senior Republican leadership, and they're expected to vote in favor.
“They’re all still on board,” Massie said.
Trump – a former longtime friend of Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell – has repeatedly insisted the matter is a "Democratic hoax," and Massie predicts a “last, desperate effort” by the White House to undermine the effort to release the DOJ files.
“But I expect that effort to fail,” Massie said.
“Even if one signer were to remove their name, there will be another member showing up later that will get us to 218,” Massie added, in an apparent reference to a special election next month in a safe Democratic seat in Texas. "All that matters is we reach 218.”
