Mike Johnson changes course ahead of key Epstein vote

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is following in President Donald Trump's footsteps ahead of the House vote to release the Epstein files.

After months of pushing back on Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie's Epstein discharge petition, Trump changed course and encouraged House Republicans to vote in favor of the resolution Tuesday.

'We have nothing to do with Epstein.'

"As I said on Friday night aboard Air Force One to the Fake News Media, House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat 'Shutdown,'" Trump said in a Truth Social Post Sunday.

Rank-and-file Republicans followed suit and began to embrace Massie's petition publicly, and Johnson, who previously expressed misgivings about the discharge petition, later announced that he will vote for the resolution.

However, there are a few caveats.

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Johnson conceded that he would vote in favor of the resolution but maintained that there were several "dangers" regarding victim privacy, inadequate handling of child sexual abuse materials, and the lack of protections for whistleblowers.

"There's a handful of Republicans, Judiciary Committee members, and a few others who are really struggling, as I have been, about whether or not they can even vote yes today because of this," Johnson said during the presser. "Because we don't have an absolute guarantee that this will be fixed in the Senate."

Despite these "dangers," Johnson said he has a "high degree of confidence" that the Senate will implement the necessary changes, allowing him to vote yes on the resolution.

"Having now forced the vote, none of us want to go on record and in any way be accused of not being for maximum transparency," Johnson said. "So the only intellectually consistent position to have right now ... is to allow for everyone to vote their conscience and to go on record to say, 'Of course we're for maximum transparency.'"

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Massie and Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna of California co-led the discharge petition, securing 218 signatures Wednesday to force a vote on the House floor. All 214 Democrats signed on to the petition alongside four Republicans: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Massie.

Although the petition received the support of only four Republicans, the vote is expected to pass with overwhelming GOP support after Trump gave the conference the green light on Sunday.

He also confirmed Monday that he would sign the resolution once it passes Congress.

“We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do," Trump said from the Oval Office. "All of his friends were Democrats."

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