Democrat accuses Mike Johnson of ‘suspicious’ delay of swearing-in to avoid Epstein vote

Nearly two weeks after her election, Rep.-elect Adelita GrijalvaD-Ariz., has yet to be sworn into office. On Sunday, Grijalva spoke with the co-hosts of “The Weekend: Primetime” to discuss the “suspicious” reason she believes could be behind the delay.

Grijalva told Ayman Mohyeldin, Elise Jordan and Antonia Hylton that she had heard “absolutely nothing” from House Speaker Mike JohnsonR-La., about a timeline to be sworn in. “It is very suspicious, the timing,” the Democrat said. “The majority doesn’t change because I get sworn in.”

Asked what she believed the hold-up could be, Grijalva said, “The only thing that I can point to that is different, that one, I’m a woman — a woman of color — but also that I’m going to be signing the discharge petition for the Epstein files.”

For months, the House has been inching closer to passing a discharge petition that would force the full chamber to vote on releasing files relating to the federal government’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The bipartisan petition needs 218 signatures to succeed. Once she is sworn in, Grijalva would be that 218th vote.

“You know, I really am not a conspiracy theorist–type of person in general,” Grijalva said. “I try to come up with, like, ‘What is the most plausible reason why this would be happening?’ And respectfully, I can come up with nothing else.”

The newly elected Democrat said she believed this situation “had nothing to do with the shutdown” and explained she was in Washington, D.C., one day before funding lapsed, “I could have easily been sworn in.”

Grijalva said that because of the delay, her constituents are being left without representation at this critical time. “It is important to this community to have a voice and to have constituent services when the government is in a shutdown, to explain things about what is happening and to provide support and services to those who need it,” she said. “And I can do none of those things.”

You can watch Grijalva’s full conversation on “The Weekend: Primetime” in the clip at the top of the page.