At a press conference held by House Republican leadership, Speaker Mike Johnson discussed the ongoing efforts by House Republicans to increase transparency regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files and to seek justice for victims of Epstein’s crimes. He also criticized Democrats for what he described as a recent and sudden interest in the case.
Speaker Johnson stated, “The truth is, the biggest proponents of this discharge petition were never actually interested in transparency or ensuring justice or protecting victims of this unspeakable tragedy, the Epstein evils. And how do we know that? Because the Democrats had every one of the Epstein files in their possession for the four long years of the Biden Administration,” Johnson said. “The Biden Department of Justice had the files the entire time, and not a single one of the people who were so loud and animated right now ever said anything about it for all those four years.”
He further questioned why Democrats have only recently taken an interest in releasing information related to Epstein. According to Johnson, “For four long years under the previous administration of the Biden-Harris Administration, Democrats insisted there was no border crisis. Remember, they told you that that wasn’t a problem at all. They dismissed inflation as transitory. That’s what they told us. They told the American people not to believe what we could all see with our own eyes, that there was an obvious mental and physical decline on the part of President Biden individually. And now, seemingly overnight, these same cast of characters, they’ve taken a sudden and urgent interest in the Epstein investigation. Suddenly, it’s all in the name of transparency. That’s what they’re trying to tell us. But the truth is, the biggest proponents of this discharge petition were never actually interested in transparency or ensuring justice or protecting victims of this unspeakable tragedy, the Epstein evils. And how do we know that? Because the Democrats had every one of the Epstein files in their possession for the four long years of the Biden Administration. The Biden Department of Justice had the files the entire time, and not a single one of the people who were so loud and animated right now ever said anything about it for all those four years.”
Johnson argued that during this period no Democratic members called press conferences or demanded document releases related to Epstein’s case.
Turning to Republican actions on this issue, Johnson highlighted bipartisan work being done by Congress’s Oversight Committee: “This was an unspeakable tragedy, and we have great compassion for the victims. I’m heartened – I met with the victims, our House Oversight Committee members met with the victims, and they deserve justice. It has been too long delayed. Not just justice for what they were made to endure, but also, we need answers on why it took so long for the Department of Justice itself to do that job under previous leadership.” He added that over 65,000 documents from various sources including flight logs and financial records have already been released publicly through committee work.
Johnson expressed several concerns with a proposed discharge petition seeking broader release of documents related to Epstein’s crimes:
He noted that as currently written it does not fully protect victim privacy: “As drafted, the discharge petition fails to fully protect victim privacy… Congress should give the Attorney General broader authority to redact all victim information… This would prevent release of information that could be used to unmask victims who have chosen to remain anonymous.”
Quoting Judge Richard Berman from August 20 regarding grand jury materials: “names and identifying information of victims appear in subject materials.” He also read from a letter by Jane Doe 2: “I beg court to make sure it is utmost priority that in any sort release all every detail possibly revealing our identities be redacted.”
Johnson warned that improperly handled disclosures could harm innocent individuals named incidentally within documents or create new victims by associating them with criminal activity without evidence.
He criticized technical errors within discharge language regarding child sexual abuse material (CSAM), stating its incorrect references could force public release without proper legal protections.
Johnson raised national security concerns over demands for rapid declassification by agencies outside their jurisdiction: “The discharge requires Attorney General to release within 30 days ‘classified information to maximum extent possible.’ This ignores principle declassification should always rest…with agency originated intelligence.”
Mike Johnson currently serves as U.S. Representative for Louisiana’s 4th District since 2017 after replacing John Fleming (source). Before joining Congress he served in Louisiana’s state legislature between 2015-2017 (source). Born in Shreveport in 1972 and residing in Benton (source), Johnson holds both undergraduate and law degrees from Louisiana State University (source).
