Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 18 October 2025
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective
America’s Longest-Running Column, Founded 1932
Why Epstein, Mr. Speaker?
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
WASHINGTON – Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s reputation is melting faster than the Wicked Witch of the West melted in The Wizard of Oz, and it is entirely self-inflicted. He is stonewalling to cover up and not for himself. He is falling on his sword for whom? Why?
It has been more than three weeks since Adelita Grijalva won a special election in Arizona to fill the seat vacated by her late father, Raul Grijalva. She has been waiting to be sworn in as a member of Congress, but Speaker Johnson has gone to great lengths to avoid doing his duty and officiating at Grijalva’s swearing-in ceremony. Why?
He says it is because the House is not in session, although he recently swore in two Republican members from Florida when the House was not in session. That is because their families were in town, Johnson lamely explained.
The conclusion reached by many is that Johnson is doing whatever he can to delay Grijalva’s entry into Congress because she represents the deciding discharge petition signature to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files.
Lest we forget, the late Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex trafficker who specialized in underage girls. He was also a very rich playboy who counted among his friends many high rollers in business and politics, including Donald Trump when he was a real estate tycoon.
The vote that Johnson wants to prevent would put the force of law behind a motion to release the Epstein files. Three Republican women members of Congress have joined all Democrats to support the motion.
The three women are well-known, outspoken members of the MAGA movement and are considered stalwarts of the Trump movement. Now, they have broken ranks with their party and their president, which takes courage. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. don’t even like each other, having traded insults on various issues, but not this one.
The third holdout is Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who attended a press conference where women abused as girls by Epstein spoke out about the trauma they suffered. Mace was seen leaving the event crying. She has spoken in the past about sexual assault she experienced as a college student.
Johnson is on a fool’s errand. He can’t stonewall forever. He has closed the House for a month, which is not a good look for politicians who are getting their paychecks while President Trump says furloughed government workers should not get paid.
Johnson is counting on one of the women to back down under whatever pressure he and others are applying. But knowing these women and how they have persevered this long, that is unlikely.
The real story here is Johnson. He is doing everything possible to stall. Why?
You do not have to be a conspiratorialist to suspect there is something in the Epstein files that he or others do not want out. It is unlikely it is something that affects him personally. He has not been linked to Epstein or any of his high-flying parties in New York.
It is more likely that he is acting on behalf of others, including Trump, to keep at bay any negative information.
In the interim, it is Speaker Johnson who is taking the hit. He is staking his reputation on this, and when the Epstein papers come out, as they invariably will, Johnson will look terrible for having blocked secrets to protect his benefactors.
Nobody is going to jail. The statute of limitations has run out, but the judgment of the voters has yet to be heard.
And in the end, Johnson’s name will forever be linked to Epstein, a man he probably never met and whose proclivities he never shared.
 
See Eleanor Clift’s book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
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END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND