Arizona sues Mike Johnson over refusal to swear in Democrat who could sway Epstein vote | US politics
Arizona’s attorney general is suing House speaker Mike Johnson over his refusal to swear at Democrat Adelita Grijalva, who won a special congressional election in September.
Grijalva was elected Sept. 23 in the southern Arizona district that his father, Raúl Grijalva, held until his death earlier this year.
Kris Mayes, the Democratic attorney general in Arizona, had vowed to sue if Johnson did not allow Grijalva to start his job. HE sent a letter On October 14, he appealed to Johnson to schedule an inauguration within two days, but this did not happen.
“By preventing Adelita Grijalva from taking the oath of office to which she is entitled, [Johnson] It subjects Arizona’s seventh Congressional district to taxation without representation. I will not allow Arizonans to be silenced or treated as second-class citizens in their own democracy,” Mayes said in a press release announcing the lawsuit.
Grijalva, who has held local offices in Arizona for decades, traveled to Washington in early October, hoping to be sworn in and start his new job. So far, Johnson has not scheduled an inauguration for him, leaving him without the ability to use his office or access members of Congress’s sections reserved for members of Congress without an escort. “I want to go to work, but I can’t,” Grijalva said in early October.
One video On Oct. 16, Grijalva walks around his office at the Capitol and points out all the tasks he can’t do because he hasn’t been sworn in: he can’t print because he doesn’t have government email, he can’t access government computers without an access code, he doesn’t have the budget to fly flags to voters.
“Yes, I have access to an office,” he said. “But it’s like someone saying: Here’s a car and it doesn’t have an engine, gas or tires.”
Grijalva said he believed Johnson delayed swearing him in because he wanted to release the Epstein files. Although his presence does not give Democrats a majority in the House of Representatives, it could lead to a vote on the files. The legislative maneuver, known as a discharge petition, requires 218 signatures; “There are currently 217 and Grijalva will sign it,” he said.
“This is an unlawful violation of our Constitution and the democratic process… Johnson cannot continue to disenfranchise and deny representation to an entire district in order to shield this administration from accountability and obstruct justice for Epstein’s survivors,” Grijalva said in a statement.
Grijalva called on his supporters to sign a petition demanding that he be sworn in. “Voters in Southern Arizona elected Adelita Grijalva to Congress — but Republicans are delaying her swearing-in, preventing her from becoming the decisive 218th signature to vote on the release of the Epstein files.” petition he says.
Arizona senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, Democrats who tried to pressure Johnson into being sworn in, confronted him earlier this month and asked why he wouldn’t seat him. Johnson blamed the government shutdown and called the idea that the Epstein files played a role “completely ridiculous.” He described the two senators as “experts at misunderstanding and distraction.”
One TV interview Last week, Johnson called the Grijalva issue a “farce” and accused Democrats of shutting down the government. Even though there was no official ceremony, he said he could still do his job and have access to his office.
