In a scathing letter sent Tuesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatened to sue House Speaker Mike Johnson over his failure to swear in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva weeks after her successful election in the state.“Failing to seat Ms. Grijalva immediately or to otherwise provide a reasonable explanation as to when she will be seated will prompt legal action,” Mayes warned in the letter, which argued that Johnson’s delays were a violation of the Constitution. Mayes noted that Grijalva’s district was being deprived of representation and said that Johnson hadn’t offered a sufficient explanation for the postponement. “You and your staff have provided ever-shifting, unsatisfactory, and sometimes absurd stories as to why Ms. Grijalva has not been sworn in,” she wrote. Grijalva previously won nearly 70% of the vote in a special election for her late father Raul Grijalva’s seat in Arizona’s 7th district. That election took place on Sept. 23, yet she’s remained unseated since then. Mayes’s letter adds to growing pressure on Johnson as well as Democratic accusations that he’s dragging his feet to prevent a measure dedicated to releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files from getting a vote on the House floor. “She won her election. She’s a duly elected member of Congress. She should be sworn in,” Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) told reporters on Tuesday. “Swear her in!” dozens of Democratic members reportedly chanted while marching to Johnson’s House office on Tuesday evening in order to push the issue. Previously, Grijalva had committed to being the 218th vote on a petition from Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) that would force a vote on their Epstein measure, despite pushback from House leadership. Johnson has said, meanwhile, that he isn’t able to swear Grijalva in because the House is closed during the shutdown and only open for pro forma sessions. CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins previously noted, however, that other lawmakers were sworn in during pro forma sessions earlier this year. Mayes also cited House members who’ve won special elections recently and emphasized that they were seated shortly after their victories. “As I have said repeatedly, the House will follow customary practice by swearing in Rep-elect Grijalva when the House is in legislative session,” Johnson said in a statement in response to Mayes’s letter. During a Tuesday press briefing, Johnson also disputed the suggestion that the delays were tied to efforts to head off the Epstein bill. “Our member of Congress from Arizona was fully certified this morning,” Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) told HuffPost. “She needs to be sworn in now so that she can start supporting the people [in] her district.”Close