Representative who will provide key vote to release Epstein files to be sworn in Wednesday

Representative who will provide key vote to release Epstein files to be sworn in Wednesday
MassLive
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Fifty days after her election, Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, D-AZ will be sworn into office Wednesday afternoon, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s, R-LA, office announced Tuesday.

Grijalva, who represents Arizona’s 7th congressional district, previously vowed to sign onto a bipartisan petition forcing the House of Representatives to vote on a measure demanding the Department of Justice release files on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the New York Times reports.

The petition, which currently has 217 signatures, requires 218 in order trigger the vote. Grijalva’s signature would be the final one required.

Even though Grijalva won a special election on Sept. 23, Johnson refused to seat her, claiming he could not and would not do so while the House was not in session, according to the New York Times. Despite Johnson’s claim, there is no rule in the House that blocks the swearing in of an elected member, the New York Times reports.

Democrats have accused Johnson of preventing the petition from moving forward by delaying the swearing in of Grijalva, with Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-AZ claiming the Speaker was trying to “cover up for pedophiles,” according to Politico.

A financier from New York City, Epstein faced federal charges related to the sex trafficking of minors. Prosecutors say that Epstein was aided by his long-time associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

Before his case went to trial in 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell that same year. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging. Maxwell is currently in prison.

President Donald Trump, who had an established relationship and friendship with Epstein, has sought to distance himself from the disgraced financier.

On Wednesday, emails written by Epstein were made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, according to the Associated Press.

In a 2011 email, Epstein wrote that Trump had “spent hours” at the financier’s house with a victim of sex trafficking and said in a separate message years later that the president “knew about the girls,” the Associated Press reports.

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