Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn in to the House Wednesday after a record 50-day wait, vowing to immediately join an effort to disclose files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Grijalva had expressed no special interest in the Epstein case prior to her Sept. 23 election. But she became intertwined in the fate of a bipartisan effort to disclose Justice Department files related to the disgraced financier after it became clear she could provide the final necessary signature on a discharge petition forcing a House vote on the matter.
She has had to wait seven weeks to do that, however, with Speaker Mike Johnson refusing to seat her as the House stayed out of session for the duration of the government shutdown.
Democrats have railed against Johnson, accusing him of seeking to propagate an Epstein coverup on behalf of President Donald Trump. Johnson, in turn, said the wait had nothing to do with Epstein and everything to do with Senate Democrats’ refusal to pass a House-approved measure to reopen the government. The lengthy delay prompted a lawsuit by the Arizona attorney general that is now rendered moot.
Grijalva played down her connection to the Epstein push in a brief interview Wednesday, saying it was “not what I was elected to do.” But she added that she still planned to sign: “It sort of continues this push that the American people have to really demand transparency and consequences, legal consequences for anyone implicated in those files.”
Her addition to the House also narrows Republicans’ majority to 219-214, meaning Johnson can now lose only two votes if all members are voting. Grijalva’s first votes will be on the funding package to end the shutdown.
Grijalva, a former member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, won a special election to fill the seat held by her late father Rep. Raúl Grijalva, a longtime progressive leader, who died in March at 77.
Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.
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