House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) scrambled to deny reports that he was adjourning the U.S. House of Representatives to prevent a vote on releasing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"Yesterday, some of you may have seen a false headline in the New York Times, and the headline was terribly misleading," Johnson said on Wednesday. "It said, 'House Republicans are adjourning until September to avoid a vote on releasing Epstein materials.' I just want you to know, and everybody here knows, that's an outright lie."
"No one is adjourning early," he insisted. "We have an August district work period that is very important to the function of Congress that has been recognized for all of memory of this institution... No one in Congress is blocking Epstein documents."
"What we are doing here, Republicans are preventing Democrats from making a mockery of the Rules Committee process because we refuse to engage in their political charade. That is what is happening and nothing more. The way Democrats have tried to weaponize this issue is absolutely shameless."
Johnson went on to question the value of testimony from Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, after Republicans moved to subpoena her.
"Is she a credible witness?" he remarked. "I mean, this is a person who's been sentenced to many, many years in prison for terrible, unspeakable, conspiratorial acts and acts against innocent young people. Can we trust what she's going to say?"
Reporters, however, pressed Johnson about why he had no "sense of urgency" about releasing the Epstein files.
"Why not just hold the vote today?" one reporter asked.
"There's no point in having a vote today because the administration is already doing everything within their power to release them," the speaker claimed. "The president himself has said all credible evidence should be put out to the American people... There's no point in passing a resolution to urge the administration to do something that they are already doing."
