Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) has raised questions about what the Justice Department might be doing with the Jeffrey Epstein files, all while Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to swear her into office.
Johnson told Fox News that Grijalva has keys to her office and can perform her duties and take calls, prefacing his remarks with the southern phrase, “bless her heart,” and adding, “she doesn’t know how it works” in Congress. Notably, Grijalva’s father previously held the same seat.
During an interview on MSNBC, host Alex Witt asked Grijalva, “You know what you’re doing, right? The ‘bless your heart’ part. I mean, it could be taken seriously or kind of condescendingly. What do you say?”
Grijalva responded, “No, it’s totally condescending, patronizing, misogynistic, and really telling of where he is. I mean, I think that people can see what’s happening here. His push to obstruct me getting sworn in is because I will be the 218th signer of the Epstein files.”
There is currently a discharge petition circulating that requires 218 signatures to mandate the Justice Department release all investigatory documents from the probe and indictment of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of trafficking minors and more.
Grijalva added, “This is a delay tactic. I believe he’s trying to get one of the other four Republicans who signed on to the petition to remove their name. So, my swearing-in is not that big of an issue.”
She went on to question what the Justice Department is doing with the Epstein files while the process is delayed. “I do feel like they’re going to do everything they possibly can to have things permanently redacted. The longer these files sit, you wonder who has access to them and how complete they will be when the American people finally see them,” she noted.
When Witt asked whether Grijalva had “thought about personally talking to the Speaker,” she explained her attempts to communicate. “I have called, we sent a letter, and now our attorney general sent a demand letter two days ago, basically saying, ‘Swear her in.’ You are depriving 812,000 Arizonans of their voice in Congress.”
Responding to Johnson’s comment that she could be working, Grijalva invited him to her office to see the reality for herself. “Speaker Johnson, why don’t you come over and check it out? I have keys. But we have no phones, no computers. We even brought in a printer because we don’t have government email to connect to any of the services here. How am I supposed to take constituent calls and manage information without government email? We don’t have the capacity to tap into resources.”
She concluded by questioning Johnson’s understanding of his own role: “Does he know his job? Because we can’t do this without being sworn in.”
https://www.rawstory.com/adelita-grijalva-epstein-files/