Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday said the House will take “appropriate action” when it returns to Washington in the fall if the Trump administration does not release the files pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein.
The comments came hours before the House is scheduled to break for the weeks-long August recess, which is beginning one day earlier than planned as the chamber remains at a partial standstill over the Epstein saga.
On Wednesday, Johnson said he wanted to leave time for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release the Epstein documents before staging a vote in the House on the matter. Last week, President Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to move to release relevant grand jury transcripts from the Epstein case, and the president himself has said “credible” information can be published.
“This information should have come out a long time ago,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol. “I’ve been an advocate of that, we all have. But that process is underway right now, and we’ve got to zealously guard that and protect it and make sure it’s happening. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll take appropriate action when everybody returns here. But we have to allow the court process to play out, that’s how it works.”
He argued that the DOJ needs time to sift through the information and redact the names of innocent victims and other individuals, which could “destroy their lives.”
