Recently-elected Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva could deliver the tie-breaking vote to release the government’s files on alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. That is, if House Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t delay her swearing in—and it looks like he’s planning to.
Grijalva, who won 68 percent of the vote in a special election for Arizona’s 7th congressional district earlier this week, is set to tip the scales for Democrats and their few Republican allies hoping to force the government’s hand on the long-awaited release of documents on Epstein. But when exactly she’ll be sworn-in isn’t set, and it’s cause for concern.
Grijalva could be sworn in when Congress is back in session on October 7, but if Johnson waits for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to deliver the official vote certification she will have to wait until at least October 14, and be sidelined during the vote.
“I think that maybe it has to do with the fact that I am the 218th signer to push for a vote on the release of the Epstein files,” Grijalva told KGUN 9, adding that she planned to head to Washington next week to caucus with Democrats.
“I am going, even though I have no official capacity there yet, it is very clear I won this election by nearly 40 points,” Grijalva said. She also pointed out that when Representative James Walkinshaw of Virginia won a special election just a few weeks ago, he was sworn in without having to wait for certification.
In a statement, Johnson’s office said that the House would proceed with “standard practice” and wait for the “appropriate paperwork from the state.” So far, Congress has only received a letter from Fontes’s office saying that unofficial results show Grijalva the clear winner.
Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna are just one signature shy on their bipartisan bid to force a vote—which would likely go to the House floor and pass with Grijalva’s signature.
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