Top congressional Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has shockingly come out in favor of the Jeffrey Epstein files being released, despite the administration claiming the ‘client list’ doesn’t exist.
The Republican shared on a podcast with conservative pundit Benny Johnson that he would like more transparency from the White House surrounding the highly sought after files on the deceased pedophile.
Asked if he would support efforts to have Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell testify before Congress, the speaker said ‘I’m for transparency.’ He also appeared open to Congress issuing subpoenas to the FBI and Department of Justice to force the agencies to turn over any previously undisclosed files.
‘We’re intellectually consistent in this… I trust him (Trump). He put together a team of his choosing and they’re doing a great job,’ the Republican said. ‘It’s a very delicate subject but we should put everything out there and let the people decide.’
‘The White House, and the White House team, are privy to facts that I don’t know. I mean this isn’t my lane, I haven’t been involved in that. But I agree with the sentiment that we need to put it out there.’
He also specifically mentioned Attorney General Pam Bondi’s previous remarks noting she had Epstein-related documents on her desk before the DOJ claimed last week that no ‘client list’ exists.
‘Pam Bondi, I don’t know when she originally made the statement, I think she was talking about documents, as I understood it they were on her desk,’ Speaker Johnson claimed.
‘I don’t know if she was specific about a list or whatever. But she needs to come forward and explain that to everybody … I am anxious to get this behind us.’
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would support efforts to force Jeffrey Esptien’s imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, to testify before Congress
His sentiment appeared to cut against the White House’s reluctance to engage on the topic.
Last week, Trump balked after a reporter asked him about Epstein, and he posted over the weekend questioning his base’s interest in the case.
Within days the DOJ and FBI came out with a memo saying the ‘client list’ does not exist at all. The findings have shocked Trump’s MAGA base.
However, as pressure has grown on Attorney General Pam Bondi to release sealed documents on the financier’s crimes and jailhouse death, Trump has seemingly relented and is now for additional files being released.
‘The attorney general has handled that very well. She’s really done a very good job. I think when you look at it, you’ll understand that. I would like to see that also, but the credibility is very important,’ he said about the Epstein files Tuesday.
When asked about Trump’s Tuesday comments about her, Bondi said that ‘our memo speaks for itself, and we will get back to you about anything else.’
Firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., along with other conservatives have been pushing for more information on the Epstein case.
‘I fully support the transparency on this issue,’ Greene said Tuesday. ‘I also think Pam Bondi is doing a great job.’
Attorney General Pam Bondi has been facing pressure to release additional files on Epstein after the DOJ claimed last week that there was no ‘client list’ related to the dead sex offender
Surveillance footage of Jeffrey Epstein’s cell dated August 9, 2019, with a time stamp of 12 midnight.Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday sought to tamp down outrage on the right over the Justice Department’s recent memo on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.The Justice Department and FBI released a roughly 11-hour video Monday recorded outside Epstein’s prison cell door to dispel claims Epstein did not die by suicide. Some on the far right have seized on time stamps in the video, which skip from 11:58 p.m. to midnight
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, also told Benny Johnson he’d like to see Maxwell testify on Capitol Hill.
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘If she were to testify, I think she could answer a lot of questions that would put this into perspective.’
On Monday evening one Republican, Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, voted for a amendment to a bill that would’ve forced Bondi to release unseen Epstein files on a public portal within 30 days of passage.
Norman joined all the Democrats on the Rules Committee push the files into the light of day, however, most Republicans voted down the amendment. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, did not cast a vote in the matter.
Roy and Norman are both members of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative flank of the House GOP that – in line with their anti-swamp antics – are eager to see what is contained in the elusive documents.
Democrats, meanwhile, have seen Republican floundering over the files’ release as a sign of division – and they are seeking to exploit it for political gain.
‘It makes no sense why they want to hide the evidence against Epstein, and the potential client lists that the attorney general is talking about,’ the amendments author, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told the Daily Mail.
He heaped praise on Greene and Norman for being supportive of the documents’ release.
‘They should release the files and let the chips fall where they may for whoever for Democrats or Republicans,’ Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., similarly told the Daily Mail.
‘It’s really, I think, kind of insulting to their own base, because it’s like they campaigned on it,’ he added.
‘Either they were lying from the get go, or they’re covering something up that’s in there that they don’t want to get out.’
