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Attorney General Kris Mayes says Johnson is acting illegally in not administering the oath of office.

Her letter Tuesday to the Republican speaker comes weeks after voters chose Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat, in a special election to fill the seat vacated by the death of her father, Rep. Raúl Grijalva.

Mayes said the election results — Adelita Grijalva defeated Republican Daniel Butierez with close to 70% of the more than 102,000 votes cast — were never in doubt.

But Mayes got a legal boost to her arguments Tuesday when Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes formally certified the election results. She said Gov. Katie Hobbs is transmitting formal certification to the U.S. House.

That means there is no longer an excuse for delay, Mayes told Johnson, reminding him that he has sworn in Republicans right after their special elections.

“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.’’

She told Johnson it must be done prior to the House coming 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,’’ Mayes 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.’’

Democrats are withholding votes needed by the Republican-controlled Senate to enact a continuing resolution to fund government, as they seek to overturn GOP cuts in funding to subsidize the premiums paid by people who get health care through the Affordable Care Act.

Mayes acknowledged that, strictly speaking, the lack of formal House meetings means Grijalva is not being precluded from voting for or against anything.

But she said 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. And that is absolutely outrageous.”

Nor was Mayes convinced by Johnson’s argument 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 Republicans earlier this year who, like Grijalva, won special elections. They got the oath of office immediately in an informal session despite the House not being in formal session.

Johnson told C-SPAN that was different. He said Congress had unexpectedly gone out of session 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 said there’s a different reason 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 about Epstein, a politically connected financier.

He 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 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 ruling 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 found.

Backers have gathered 217 House signatures — one short of a majority — on a “discharge petition’’ to force the measure to the floor. Grijalva has said she would provide the necessary 218th signature.

There is 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,’’ leaving about 813,000 residents of Congressional District 7 without a voice, she said.

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, to order Johnson to administer the oath.

“Beyond that, I don’t want to speak to our strategy or the arguments we’re going to be making,’’ Mayes said, when asked whether an appeal could further delay a final ruling.