At a Republican leadership press conference on Tuesday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said he would vote in favor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

“I’m going to vote to move this forward,” Johnson said, speculating that in the end the tally for the legislation could be unanimous.

Spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., the legislation to release the files on the notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, would force the attorney general to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices,” with some exceptions such as national security concerns and the privacy of victims.

Johnson’s support comes after President Donald Trump publicly backed the legislation in a social media post this past Sunday.

“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,” the president said on Truth Social.

For his part, the speaker highlighted the selective interest in Epstein by House Democrats given that the Biden administration could have released the documents in question related to the disgraced financier but chose not to.

“The Democrats had every one of the Epstein files in their possession for the four long years of the Biden administration. The Biden Department of Justice had the files the entire time, and not a single one of the people who were so loud and animated right now, they never said anything about it for all those four years. None of them held press conferences. None of them demanded the release of the documents,” Johnson said Tuesday.

Johnson echoed the president’s point that the controversy around the Epstein files was a political ploy by the Democrats.

“The truth is simple and straightforward and obvious for anyone who’s willing to look at it objectively. Clearly, this is a political exercise for Democrats and a few others, sadly. And it is as deceitful and dishonest as their pointless stunt to shut down the government,” the speaker argued.

The Epstein files vote was triggered after four GOP House members broke ranks to vote with the Democrats to force a floor vote on the bill. Johnson emphasized that there was a Democrat strategy to let the Epstein coverage consume the news while Republican accomplishments were left to wither into obscurity.

“[Democrats] weaponized the justice system over the last several years to go after him, and this is the earliest attempt, and they don’t have a platform or a principle to defend on the Democratic Party side,” the speaker continued.

Johnson went on to outline his concerns about the Epstein Files Transparency Act as currently written, saying it did not follow national security declassification norms and did not provide adequate protection for the victims of Epstein’s crimes. Johnson noted that the House Oversight Committee had already released thousands of Epstein documents. He also expressed concern that innocent people would be caught up in guilt by association in the Epstein documents, and that some of the sensitive information released could jeopardize future federal investigations by revealing confidential informants.

Nevertheless, the speaker indicated he would be voting on the legislation today and added that he hoped the Senate would address the concerns he raised.

“Democrats are trying to use the Epstein matter as a political weapon to distract from their own party’s failure,” Johnson concluded.

The post Johnson Says He Will Vote to Release Epstein Files appeared first on The Daily Signal.