Mike Johnson To Betray The House To Protect Trump On The Epstein Files

Speaker Mike Johnson has a plan to kill the Epstein files discharge petition, and it involves going back on his word and changing the rules.

In September, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) predicted that the Epstein files discharge petition would fail.

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Democrats are expressing the belief that Johnson is refusing to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva to block the vote on the Epstein files, but there is a different reason related to the Epstein files discharge petition that explains why Adelita Grijalva has not been sworn in, and it involves how Johnson plans to kill the discharge petition.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) expects Johnson to try to derail the petition:

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., tried and failed to force Republicans to swear in Grijalva, the last lawmaker needed to compel a vote on the files’ release, during a short session Monday. He told Semafor after that he expects Republicans to change the rules to block the bipartisan Epstein push — “I have no doubt that Speaker [Mike] Johnson will go against everything he has said and find a way to try to derail it” — but said members should still “put them to the test.”

Johnson has said in the past that he won’t change House rules to block a discharge petition. That is what McGovern is referring to, but it is expected that Johnson will change the rules to increase the number of signatures needed on a discharge petition, potentially from the current majority of 218 to 220 or more.

Since Grijalva would be the 218th vote against the rules change, it is expected that Speaker Johnson will not swear her in until after the vote to change the discharge petition rules has passed.