CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin called out House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) after he delayed swearing in Arizona Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D).
During a Thursday interview, CNBC host Joe Kernen noted that Johnson refused to seat the lawmaker after she said she would be the final vote needed to force the release of files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"Okay, this is so absurd, and I've answered it so many times, but I'll do it again," Johnson complained. "I'm following the Pelosi precedent. She was speaker here a long time. She did this many times."
According to the speaker, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) took 25 days to swear in Rep. Julia Letlow (R-VA) after her special election.
"Rep.-elect Grijalva can work for her constituents right now," he insisted. "Constituent services answering the phone. She has computers and 16 employees, and there's no excuse for it."
"The Epstein files are being released," he continued. "43,000 pages now. There was another batch of documents dumped on Friday of last week, which included Epstein's personal ledgers, his financial ledgers, his daily calendar, his flight logs, all the things that people have been saying they wanted. It's all coming out."
Sorkin pointed out that former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R) had disputed Johnson's position.
"He made an interesting point, though, about what you're describing, which is that it is politics," the CNBC host remarked, "and I'm not suggesting it isn't. When you even look at what Nancy Pelosi did — we could, we could just, if we wanted, together, we could say this is a disgrace and condemn the fact that politics are taking place here and that there is a precedent."
"But I think rather than look to that, the question is, it doesn't have to be this way," he added. "This is a choice that's being made. And I think that is the issue here."
For his part, Johnson defended his refusal to reconvene the House during the shutdown.
"I mean, look, the CR that we sent over is a totally clean nonpartisan document," he argued. "This is the first time in American history that any party has had the audacity to shut the government down over a clean, nonpartisan CR."
In a lawsuit filed this week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) noted that Pelosi had sworn in Letlow at a time of her choosing.
"[T]hen-Speaker Pelosi communicated with Dr. Letlow immediately after the election, and the swearing in was scheduled at a time convenient for all parties," the lawsuit stated. "Ms. Grijalva would be delighted if Speaker Johnson would contact her to commit to a mutually agreeable time, as Speaker Pelosi did for Dr. Letlow."
