U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins hold a press conference on the ongoing federal government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 31, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
A professor of international politics was stunned during an interview on Thursday because Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has still not sworn in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona after more than a month after her election.
Grijalva, a Democrat, won a special election to replace her late father last month. She has pledged to support a discharge petition to force a discussion about releasing the Epstein files, which some experts have suggested is the main reason Grijalva has not been sworn in.
Scott Lucas, who teaches international politics at the Clinton Institute at University College Dublin, discussed Grijalva's situation in a new interview for "The Trump Effect" podcast.
"They're just trying to avoid the reckoning," Lucas said. "The fact here is I don't think you're going to shift Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and that handful of Republicans."
"It just smells fishy," he added. "It smells fishy that they will not even allow a discussion on this."
Lucas added that the situation with Prince Andrew in the UK adds an interesting wrinkle in the case.
"I honestly think that Johnson and the Trump camp just think it'll go away, and the reason why I think Trump may think that is...he's gotten away with it for so long, [he] can get away with it again," Lucas said.
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