House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday he supports “full transparency” in the Jeffrey Epstein case, as the Trump administration faces mounting pressure, including from within the Republican Party, to release additional information about the late convicted sex offender.
“We want full transparency. We want everybody who is involved in any way with the Epstein evils — let’s call it what it was — to be brought to justice as quickly as possible. We want the full weight of the law on their heads,” Johnson told CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview Wednesday.
“It’s not a hoax. Of course not,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said in response to a term that President Trump has used to describe the case.
That said, Johnson added that he had “never seen the Epstein evidence, it was not in my lane.”
The Trump administration has faced weeks of public scrutiny over its handling of the Epstein case, following the release of a Justice Department and FBI review into the federal investigations of the disgraced financier.
The review found no evidence that Epstein possessed a damaging “client list” or attempted to blackmail influential individuals. It also concluded that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while in federal custody, awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges in New York.
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Since then, the mainstream media has essentially kept the story alive, publishing daily updates despite the fact that, during the four years of Joe Biden’s presidency, there was hardly any mention of the late financier, let alone any demand for his “client list.”
Johnson and other Republican leaders have pushed back against efforts to force a floor vote on releasing materials related to Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this week, Johnson accused Democrats of engaging in “political games” by pressing for a vote, CBS News reported.
Amid mounting controversy over the Epstein files, Johnson abruptly ended the House’s work week, sending lawmakers home early for the summer recess. The House had been scheduled to remain in session through Thursday but adjourned on Wednesday instead.
Johnson told CBS News on Wednesday, “I have the same concern and question that a lot of people do.”
Meanwhile, at Trump’s direction, the Justice Department last week requested that federal courts unseal grand jury testimony related to the criminal investigations into Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
A federal judge in Florida denied a request to release grand jury material from the early 2000s probes into Epstein, which concluded without federal charges. Separate requests to unseal records from the more recent cases against Epstein and Maxwell in New York remain pending and could take additional time to resolve.
Maxwell sat for roughly nine hours of questioning this week with the Justice Department over two days after being granted limited immunity, according to those familiar with the matter.
Sources told ABC News that Maxwell initiated the contact and meetings with the Trump DOJ. The immunity agreement allowed Maxwell to respond to questions from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche without the risk that her statements could be used against her later, the sources told the outlet.
The type of arrangement—known as proffer immunity—is often extended to individuals prosecutors are considering as potential cooperators in ongoing criminal investigations. Maxwell has already been tried, convicted, and sentenced for sex trafficking underage girls.
A second meeting with Maxwell on Friday lasted around three hours, the report stated.
Maxwell’s attorney, David Markus, told ABC News following that second meeting, “There have been no asks and no promises.”
Markus said Maxwell was questioned about “maybe 100 different people” during her interview with the deputy attorney general and that she answered every single question. He added: “She didn’t hold anything back.”
He declined to provide specifics about whom Maxwell was questioned on or whether she offered information about others who may have allegedly committed crimes against victims, as Blanche had indicated he was pursuing.
