U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson called on the Justice Department to make public all files related to convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein and said he would welcome testimony from Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell before Congress. The Republican leader also urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to explain her earlier claim that an Epstein “client list” was on her desk, saying, “I’m for transparency. We should put everything out there and let the people decide.” Johnson’s remarks, delivered in a 15 July podcast interview, represent a rare public break with President Donald Trump, who has asked supporters to move on from the case and defended Bondi’s handling of it. Last week the Justice Department closed its Epstein inquiry, concluded the financier died by suicide in 2019 and said it had found no evidence of a blackmail client list, angering some Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators. The speaker’s comments sharpen growing pressure on the department from within the GOP. Senator Josh Hawley and Representative Thomas Massie have separately demanded full disclosure, and Massie is preparing a discharge petition that could force a House vote to compel the release of the documents. Johnson suggested Congress could also issue subpoenas if the Justice Department resists. The push for greater transparency keeps the politically fraught Epstein case alive six years after his death and complicates Republican unity heading into the 2026 mid-term campaign. It also raises the prospect of a high-profile hearing featuring Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year federal sentence for trafficking underage girls for Epstein.