CNN’s Kaitlan Collins left Jim Jordan flustered after grilling him over delays in swearing in a new Democratic lawmaker whose vote could force the release of the Epstein files.
Incoming Rep. Adelita Grijalva was elected to Congress in September but says she has been stuck in political limbo because of her promised vote.
Grijalva has said she has heard “absolutely nothing” from House Speaker Mike Johnson about when she can assume office, despite two Republicans being sworn in in days, rather than weeks, in similar circumstances.
Democrats have accused Johnson of stalling because Grijalva pledged to sign a discharge petition that would force a vote on legislation requiring the Justice Department to release the files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide while in federal custody in New York City in August 2019 as he awaited trial on new sex trafficking charges.
Her support would provide the crucial 218th signature needed. Johnson has denied the accusations.
On CNN’s The Source Tuesday, Collins put the question directly to Jordan, who framed the matter as a procedural issue amid the ongoing government shutdown.
“Because they’re not in session,” Jordan said. “It’s typically done when we’re all there. It’s a special thing. The individual gives, the new member gives a speech in front of Congress, sworn in by the Speaker of the House, introduced by colleagues from their delegation.”
He added: “It’s always been done that way.”
Collins probed further. “So, you’re saying because it’s a pro forma session. That’s why?”
“Yeah, because there’s like, there’s two people on the floor, you know, whatever,” Jordan responded. “There’s– but normally it’s done in front of the full House. That new member in a special election gets, I think in some ways a kind of a neat experience where they get to talk to the House, their first day getting sworn in. And that’s happened every single time that I can recall with any new member elected in a special [election] in the middle of a congressional session.”
Collins countered by noting exceptions. “But a couple months ago, he swore in Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine in a pro forma session,” she said.
Jordan appeared caught off guard. “I, I, I, didn’t, I actually didn’t even know that when they were sworn in,” he said, before repeating that new members normally receive introductions in front of the full House.
Collins asked directly, “Do you think it has anything to do with the discharge petition and that she could be the 218th signature for the Jeffrey Epstein files?”
Jordan denied the suggestion. “No, I think it’s to make the clear point we have voted to fund the government at all levels, all the Democrats support it, and they now won’t support it because they’re bringing up an issue that, frankly, was not even part of the campaign last year.
Questioned separately on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Speaker Johnson insisted the delay had “nothing to do with” the files and pointed to the House being in “pro forma” session during the shutdown.
When CNN’s Manu Raju pressed him on her being the looming 218th signature, Johnson hit back, saying, “It has nothing to do with that at all. We will swear her in when everybody gets back,” before adding: “Uh… we’ll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants.”
Grijalva succeeds her late father, who died in March, as a Democratic Congresswoman in Arizona.
The White House has repeatedly pushed back after reports emerged that Trump was told in May that he was in files related to Epstein. Trump and Epstein were once friendly, but the president said they fell out in 2004.
Officials in the first Trump administration determined that Epstein’s death was a suicide, but conspiracy theories that he was killed to shield high-profile individuals have proliferated nonetheless.
The Trump administration, in February, declassified and released files related to Epstein, but they were highly redacted and did not offer major revelations. The FBI said in a July memo that a “systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list.”
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