...
By Nick Mordowanec
Staff Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A Republican Louisiana state lawmaker who personally knows Mike Johnson and lives in his congressional district has called out the House speaker for his perceived subterfuge surrounding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, referring to Johnson's leadership on the matter as "weak" and an affront to the GOP.
Why It Matters
Republican lawmakers nationwide are becoming more outspoken regarding the reticence of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other federal agencies, as well as the White House, to release files associated with Epstein, the sex offender and disgraced financier.
Read More
Epstein Survivor Who Voted for Donald Trump Rebukes White House Response5 min read
Trump Assassination Attempt Trial: What to Know About Ryan Routh Case6 min read
Sotomayor Blasts Supreme Court’s ‘Unconscionably Irreconcilable’ Decision4 min read
As President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the files as a "hoax," even after a group of Epstein's victims convened with bipartisan lawmakers at Capitol Hill on Wednesday, demanding justice and greater transparency from the Trump administration. Johnson said publicly that Trump was "an FBI informant" in the Epstein case, but walked back such remarks on Monday.
What To Know
Louisiana State Representative Danny McCormick, in a statement issued Monday, said he is wary of Johnson's "faltering leadership" in relation to the Epstein saga.
Not only does it have political implications for the party, he said, but he warned it could also ruin Johnson's political future.
"I am becoming increasingly alarmed by Speaker Mike Johnson's weak leadership, which threatens to fracture the Republican Party and jeopardize our House majority in the 2026 midterms," McCormick wrote. "His refusal to support Congressman Thomas Massie's discharge petition to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and his decision to adjourn Congress early to avoid a vote on this critical issue signal a troubling lack of courage.
"This failure to prioritize transparency and justice could alienate our base, suppress voter turnout, and allow Democrats to seize control of the House, installing their own speaker. As Johnson's constituent, I demand he reverse course and demonstrate the strength our party needs to maintain its majority."
...
McCormick spoke to Newsweek by phone on Monday, iterating that he knows Johnson on a personal level and has discussed the issue with him. McCormick occupies District 1, which is fully within Johnson's 4th Congressional District.
Asked why he felt compelled to write such a strongly aimed statement toward Johnson, McCormick said his concerns go beyond the speaker's handling of the Epstein files and their release.
"Basically, I've been concerned about Speaker Johnson's voting record ever since he's been in office," McCormick said. "And since he's been Speaker, and when he comes out using scriptures to attack Congressman Thomas Massie (of Kentucky)—who has a more conservative voting record than Speaker Johnson—that as a Christian concerned me more than anything."
McCormick supports the efforts of Massie and others in Congress, including Georgia GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, to release the files for public consumption and to dispel notions of clandestine politics at play.
Johnson's office, when asked by Newsweek about McCormick's statements, referred to remarks the speaker made last week to Punchbowl—including calling lawmakers' efforts to require the DOJ to disclose its files on Epstein and his former girlfriend and associate Ghislaine Maxwell "haphazard" and not in the interest of protecting victims.
"What the [House] Oversight Committee is doing, is request[ing] everything the discharge petition wants and more, because they also went after the Epstein Estate, which is not even encompassed in the discharge," Johnson said. "And that's a big treasure trove of info. The Treasury Departments records, I mean the bank records, all that. So this is the right way to go."
When asked why the president on down to numerous federal officials who advocated for the files' release during the presidential campaign have neglected to do since January, McCormick said he isn't sure but it provides more impetus to "rip the Band-Aid off and let the people see."
"That's what the people of Mike Johnson's district and my district want," he said. "We Republicans are the party of family, we're the ones protecting women's sports from biological males competing. Speaker Johnson is giving the high ground to the Democrats by discouraging Thomas Massie's petition."
McCormick also said that his constituents in Louisiana, who he described as extremely pro-family, have expressed concern to him about the victims and survivors.
"I watched the interview with the survivors, 13- and 14-year-old girls that were sexually abused. How do men stand by in the community and not address this atrocity? It's just amazing to me. And as a Christian it's really disappointing just to see what's happening, happened.
"I don't know what all the political posturing is in Washington nor do I care. But we've got to stand up for these survivors and just tell the truth, whatever that may be."
McCormick was also asked if he would endorse the files' release if they implicated Trump or other high-powered Republicans.
"That's another thing that's confusing," he said. "I mean that one day it's a 'hoax' and the next day the president is actually an informant for the FBI. ... Republicans need to do the right thing."
On September 4, when asked why Trump described the case as "the Democrat Epstein Hoax," Johnson said the president was referring to how Democrats were using the case to attack him.
"He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down," Johnson said in part.
On Monday, Johnson's office clarified to Newsweek that the speaker was reiterating what the victims' attorney had said over a decade ago, that Trump was the only one willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein.
What People Are Saying
Haley Robson, a registered Republican, Trump voter and Epstein victim, on CNN Monday: "Donald Trump, we are not here to point figures or be hostile. We would like to team up with Congress and the administration to not only come to a resolution for Epstein files, but we have lives to live. For years, we've been ignored and disregarded. We're not getting paid for this. We want justice.
"And for us to travel all the way to the Capitol to be disregarded and called a hoax, it's defamatory and it's extremely offensive to our trauma."
GOP Representative Massie of Kentucky wrote on X: "The people know this is not a hoax (see poll), and as the survivors said this week, calling this a hoax dehumanizes the victims."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Newsweek in an emailed statement: "As the President correctly pointed out, the Democrats knew about Epstein's victims for years and did NOTHING to help them. President Trump and the Republican Party has been calling for transparency for years—and now delivering on it with thousands of pages of documents. The real hoax is that the Democrats are now using these victims to deflect from their party's spectacular downfall. Epstein's victims deserve better than to be used by the Democrats for a political agenda. As usual, President Trump was right about everything!"
Trump wrote to Truth Social on Friday: "The now dying (after the DOJ gave thousands of pages of documents in full compliance with a very comprehensive and exacting Subpoena from Congress!) Epstein case was only brought back to life by the Radical Left Democrats because they are doing so poorly, with the lowest poll numbers in the history of the Party (16 percent), while the Republicans are doing so well, among the highest approval numbers the Party has ever had!"
Epstein accuser Marina Lacerda said during a news conference on Capitol Hill: "This is not a hoax. It's not going away."
What's Next
It remains unclear when the files will be made public or how heavily they will be redacted.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines