Michigan House Speaker strips Dem of committees after Epstein press conference

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) stripped Democratic lawmaker Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) of her committee assignments after she called for an investigation into notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to a Michigan boarding school.

Tsernoglou revealed the news in a video posted to her social media accounts on Wednesday. Despite being reprimanded, Tsernoglou reiterated her support for Epstein’s victims and accused Hall of trying to silence her.

“Speaker Hall has a history of silencing the voices of strong women. I won’t be silenced. I won’t stop speaking out for survivors. And I will always choose transparency and accountability over pedophiles.”

Michigan state Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D) says House Speaker Matt Hall (R) stripped all of her committee assignments after she urged Republicans to pass a resolution to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to the Interlochen boarding school.

“Speaker Hall has a history of… pic.twitter.com/wqBJkTkOrs

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) May 21, 2026

Hall’s decision came one day after Tsernoglou held a press conference urging the Republican majority in the Michigan House of Representatives to pass a pair of resolutions related to Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

• HR 258: A resolution calling on Congress to investigate all of the individuals implicated in the Epstein files and compel them to testify under oath.
• HR 284: A resolution to create a select committee to examine the Interlochen Center for the Arts and its relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

An NPR investigation published in February 2026 found that Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell used the Interlochen Arts Academy, a Michigan school, to recruit some of their sex trafficking victims. Justice Department records and former administrators of the school interviewed by NPR show that Epstein attended the school as a teenager, and later became one of its benefactors in the 1990s.

Hall told Lansing NBC affiliate WILX that he removed Tsernoglou’s committee assignments because of disrespectful behavior she allegedly displayed during committee meetings.

“I don’t care about her press conference. I wasn’t even aware of her press conference. This is solely based on the decision, based on the body of work that I saw in the committee,” Hall said.

State Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township) told The Detroit News that a House Oversight Subcommittee hearing held on May 14 factored into Tsernoglou’s removal.

“Clearly, a display of complete unprofessional behavior in committee, disrespect for the chair, I mean, blatant disrespect for the chair,” DeBoyer said. “This has been an ongoing pattern. And so a decision was made. If she’s not going to come with intent to do what the purpose of oversight is, and it’s really going to be political gotcha stuff, it doesn’t serve a purpose for the people of the state of Michigan.”

During the hearing, Tsernoglou and Rep. Jason Woolford (R-Howell), the committee’s chairman, got into a verbal dispute 34 minutes into the hearing. Lawmakers were hearing testimony from Jim Palmer, a representative of Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Unemployment Insurance agency.

After Palmer gave a presentation about his agencies efforts to recover COVID-19 era unemployment assistance, Tsernoglou asked Woolford a question about legislation he would support to address the issue. Woolford said she was out of order and acting unprofessionally. Tsneroglou said he was being disrespectful.

In a statement posted to the Michigan House Democrats website, Tsernoglou accused Hall of a cover-up, stating she “decided to stand with the victims and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein” and that she will continue to use her voice, espeically for those, “who have been victimized by individuals in positions of power.”

Hall did not immediately respond to a Heartland Signal request to comment on Tsernoglou’s accusations, or whether he believes Epstein’s ties to Interlochen should be investigated.