NBC’s Kristen Welker Presses Speaker Johnson On Refusal to Swear in Congresswoman Who is Likely Epstein Files Swing Vote

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) bristled when asked why he’s not swearing in a newly-elected Congresswoman thought to be the swing vote on a House measure to release the Epstein Files.

In an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Kristen Welker pressed the Speaker about his refusal to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ). When she is sworn in, Grijalva will be the 214th Democrat in Congress. Those 214 Democrats — plus four likely Republican defections — would mean proponents would have the required 218 votes to pass a discharge petition to release DOJ files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Welker quizzed Johnson on the House being closed during the government shutdown.

“You announced this week that the House will not be in session until the government reopens,” Welker said. “But there are still things that you could be doing. There are appropriations bills that you could be working on, there’s a new Democratic Congresswoman who still needs to be sworn in. Isn’t there still critical work that you could be doing on behalf of the American public?”

“We’re doing that critical work,” Johnson replied — before pivoting to criticize Democrats. “We have to keep the government open in order to have those bipartisan debates and discussions … The simple CR that we passed in the House, more than two weeks ago, does exactly that. It is a clean CR. It’s only 24 pages in length. It’s the simplest thing that’s ever been done, and it’s exactly what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and all the rest of them [previously] said must be done.”

The Meet the Press moderator followed up to ask specifically about the refusal to seat Grijalva — whom Johnson said he won’t swear in until the House returns to full session.

“As you know, many Democrats have looked at your move — they say the House is not in session because you don’t want to swear in this newly elected congresswoman, Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, who would be a critical vote to releasing the Epstein files,” Welker said. “How do you respond to that charge?”

Johnson did not receive the question kindly.

“It’s totally absurd” Johnson said. “This has nothing to do with that. It’s another red herring.”

Watch above, via NBC.

The post NBC’s Kristen Welker Presses Speaker Johnson On Refusal to Swear in Congresswoman Who is Likely Epstein Files Swing Vote first appeared on Mediaite.