By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- Saying he's acting illegally, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is threatening to sue U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson if he doesn't say by the end of the day Thursday exactly when and where Adelita Grijalva will be sworn into office.
The letter to Johnson on Tuesday comes weeks after voters chose the Tucson Democrat in a special election to fill the seat vacated by the death of her father, Raul.
Mayes said the election results -- she defeated Republican Daniel Butierez with close to 70% of the more than 102,000 votes cast -- were never in doubt. And she reminded Johnson that he has sworn in others, albeit all Republicans, right after their special elections.
But Mayes got a legal boost to her arguments Tuesday when Secretary of State Adrian Fontes formally certified the election results. She said Gov. Katie Hobbs now is transmitting formal certification to the House.
What that means, Mayes told Johnson, is there is no longer an excuse for delay.
"Ms. Grijalva no longer needs a House resolution to be sworn into office,'' the Democratic attorney general said. "With the House in possession of the certificate of election, it is now a simple ministerial duty to administer the oath of office.''
But Mayes is doing more than registering the same complaints about the delay that Grijalva herself has made as well as other Democratic members of the state's congressional delegation.
By Thursday, she told Johnson, she wants "your assurance of when and where that will take place.'' More to the point, Mayes said that "must be immediate and prior to the House comes back into regular session.''
"Should you fail to provide such assurance, we will be forced to seek judicial relief to protect Arizona and residents of its Seventh Congressional District,'' she wrote.
Johnson, in comments to reporters in Washington, dismissed the lawsuit threat.
"It's really no surprise that yet another Democrat politician from Arizona is trying a publicity stunt,'' he said.
"I have explained it a thousand times: We are going to swear in Rep. Grijalva as soon as we get back to legislative session,'' Johnson said. "My advice to all the Democrats in Arizona is to tell their two senators, (Mark) Kelly and (Ruben) Gallego, to do their job and open the government and we can move forward with our business.''
So far, however, Democrats are withholding votes needed by the Senate to enact a continuing resolution to fund government as they seek to restore cuts in funding to subsidize the premiums paid by those who get health care through the Affordable Care Act.
Mayes acknowledged that, strictly speaking, that lack of formal House meetings means she's not being precluded from voting for or against anything.
Mayes said, though, it's not that simple, as the duties of an elected representative go beyond formal debate and votes.
"Adelita Grijalva is getting requests from constituents right now, through her campaign website, who are dealing with flooding issues down in her district,'' Mayes told Capitol Media Services.
"She doesn't have keys to her office, she is unable to hire staffers, and she is unable to adequately represent her constituents,'' the attorney general continued. "And that is absolutely outrageous.''
Nor was Mayes convinced by Johnson's argument that Grijalva cannot be sworn in until the House is back in session.
She noted the speaker didn't let that get in the way of swearing in two others earlier this year who, like Grijalva, won special elections and yet got the oath of office immediately in a pro forma session.
Johnson told C-SPAN that was different. He said Congress had unexpectedly gone out of session that day and that Reps. Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, both Florida Republicans, already had arranged for their families, friends and supporters to be in Washington.
Mayes, however, has her own theory about why the House speaker is dragging his feet.
"The only apparent reason why Mike Johnson refuses to swear her in (is) he doesn't want to have the final vote on the Jeffrey Epstein files in place,'' she said.
There is a bipartisan effort in the House to force a vote on getting release of the federal investigative files of Epstein.
He had pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to state charges of solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution of a minor under 18 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He served just 13 months.
In 2019 federal agents arrested Epstein, charging him with similar federal courts. A month later he was found dead in his cell at a detention center in New York, with the medical examiner declaring it a suicide.
That ended the federal case against him. But interest remains among some House members of both parties to get access to what federal investigators have found have stalled.
Backers already have gathered 217 signatures -- one short of a majority -- on a "discharge petition'' to force the measure to the floor. Grijalva already has said she would provide the necessary 218th signature.
There has been speculation in Washington that Johnson is delaying having Grijalva sworn in to give him more time to pressure one or more Republicans who have signed the discharge petition to withdraw it.
As to her legal threat, Mayes said she has standing to sue Johnson on behalf of the state.
"We are now officially lacking one of our representatives,'' she said, leaving about 813,000 residents of CD 7 without a voice.
If Johnson balks, the question becomes how quickly Mayes can get the case in front of a judge and, eventually, get a final ruling.
"We would likely be seeking a declaratory judgment by a federal court,'' she said, ordering Johnson to administer the oath. "Our aim is to get her sworn in ASAP because her constituents in Arizona deserve that.
And what if either side appeals whatever the trial judge rules, delaying a final outcome?
"Beyond that, I don't want to speak to our strategy or the arguments we're going to be making,'' Mayes said.
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