After Donald Trump commuted the sentence of convicted felon George Santos, House Speaker Mike Johnson is defending Trump’s decision and even said that he would welcome Santos back to the House with open arms if he were re-elected. At the same time, Johnson refuses to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who was elected nearly one month ago.  

Johnson still hasn’t brought members back from vacation, and continues to use that as an excuse to avoid swearing in Grijalva. Johnson claims that he is merely following precedent by not swearing her in, but earlier this year, two Republicans were sworn in less than 24 hours after their elections. 

Grijalva promised to be the tie-breaker vote to release the Epstein Files and finally bring justice to the victims of Epstein’s heinous crimes and transparency to the American people. It’s past time for Johnson to actually do his job and swear in Grijalva. 

In response, DNC Deputy Rapid Response Director Jaelin O’Halloran released the following statement: 

“Mike Johnson keeps kicking the can down the road on swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva — meanwhile, he apparently has no shame in welcoming back convicted felon George Santos. The irony is astounding. As Johnson welcomes back a convicted criminal who lied and defrauded his constituents, he’s refusing to swear in a duly elected representative who would be the tie-breaking vote to release the Epstein Files and hold criminal sex offenders accountable. Voters have had enough of the ridiculous excuses from Donald Trump and Republicans — Grijalva should be sworn in immediately.”

Earlier this year, Santos was convicted of wire fraud and identity theft and sentenced to seven years in prison, after being expelled from Congress for lying to his constituents. His clemency order absolves him of his entire sentence, including eliminating the more than $370,000 he was expected to pay in restitution. Trump’s commutation of Santos is just the latest instance of Trump abusing the justice system to help his loyalists.