From PBS NewsHour.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday that Republicans are refusing to engage with Democrats’ "political games" around the release of information related to Jeffrey Epstein.

Johnson has effectively shut the chamber down until September to prevent votes forcing the release of the Epstein files, which allegedly contain additional information about sex crimes committed by the financier.

"What we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats’ political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ram," Johnson said.
"We’re not going to allow them to engage in that charade anymore," he added.

Johnson said President Donald Trump wants "maximum transparency," but the government must be cautious in its release of information to not harm any of Epstein’s victims. He also blamed former President Joe Biden and Democrats for not releasing information during the four years he was in office.

Republicans are trying to avoid discussing the Epstein files in further detail after Trump dismissed it as a non-issue. But Democrats and many of Trump’s diehard MAGA followers are trying to force the matter.

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