Republican Speaker Johnson retreats on demand for Epstein disclosures, saying Trump needs ‘space’

WASHINGTON – US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on July 21 that he would not hold a House vote this summer on whether the Justice Department should

release files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein,

retreating from his demand last week that the material must come out.

Reacting to intense pressure from the angry Maga, or Make America Great Again, base, Mr Johnson had on July 15 showed a rare glimpse of daylight between himself and Mr Trump, who was imploring his supporters to move on from the matter.

“We should put everything out there and let the people decide,” Mr Johnson had said on The Benny Show when asked about the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein. “I agree with the sentiment that we need to – we need to put it out there.”

The Rules Committee, a powerful panel controlled by the Speaker, had even approved a measure that would bring to the floor a resolution calling for the disclosures, though Republicans gave no timetable for voting on it.

Less than a week later, the Speaker reverted to his more familiar posture of deferring to the President.

“We need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing,” Mr Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on July 21 when asked about holding a House vote on releasing the investigative files.

“If further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that,” Mr Johnson said.

But he added that there would be no vote on the Epstein files before the House departs on July 24 for a six-week summer break, saying, “I don’t think we’re at that point yet, because we agree with the president.”

Mr Johnson was able to obtain his gavel and has been able to keep it because of his unshakable loyalty to Mr Trump. His initial call for the release of the Epstein files when Mr Trump was asking for the opposite underscored how the case had created an unusual and deep split between the president and his supporters.

But the Speaker’s reversal suggests that Mr Trump’s efforts to quell the unrest in his political base over the matter may be succeeding.

Mr Johnson implied that his concerns about transparency had been alleviated, for now, by Mr Trump’s move to authorise Attorney-General Pam Bondi to seek the public release of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of Epstein.

That is a far cry from the breadth of information the President’s supporters have demanded, yet it appeared to be enough to persuade the Speaker.

“There is no daylight between the House Republicans, the House and the president on maximum transparency,” Mr Johnson said on July 21. “He has asked the Attorney-General to request the grand jury files of the court; all of that is in process.”

It remains to be seen whether Mr Trump will be able to appease his supporters by selectively releasing material. But Mr Johnson’s quick turnaround indicated that he intends to slow walk, or stymie, a floor vote that could potentially damage Mr Trump.

Still, Mr Johnson cannot control all of his members, some of whom are still channelling the angry base and have joined a long-shot bipartisan push to force a vote on the matter within weeks.

“If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People,” Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on social media on July 21.

“If not. The base will turn and there’s no going back. Dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies. They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else.” NYTIMES