Discharge petition to force House vote on Epstein files succeeds with Grijalva’s signature

 https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5602658-discharge-petition-epstein-files-grijalva

A discharge petition for a bill to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein got enough signatures Wednesday to force action on the matter, teeing up a long-sought vote on the House floor relating to the convicted sex offender.

Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) became the 218th and final signature on the discharge petition shortly after she was sworn in Wednesday. She joined all other Democrats and four Republicans: Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Nancy Mace (S.C.).

Later on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that he would bring the Epstein bill for a vote in the House next week — a move that amounts to ripping the band-aid off a vote that neither Johnson nor President Trump wanted.

Without cooperation from GOP leadership, the earliest a vote would have happened under the discharge petition process was early December, due to waiting periods under the process.

But it still faces an uphill climb to become law, as it would have to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate before making it to the desk of the president, who took to Truth Social saying that only “very bad, or stupid” Republicans would fall into an Epstein “trap.”

“There should be no deflections [sic] to Epstein or anything else,” Trump said.