Jim Jordan Announces He Won't Comply with 'Unprecedented and Inappropriate' Jan. 6 Committee, Unleashes Blistering Missive

By Abby Liebing January 10, 2022 at 11:47am

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has made it clear that he will not be cooperating with the House panel that is investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion.

In a letter on Sunday to Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the chairman of the select committee, Jordan laid out his objections to its investigation and what he called Democrats’ “partisan witch hunts.”

Jordan was responding to a letter he received from the committee in December informing him that the investigators wanted to question him about his communications with former President Donald Trump and others leading up to the Capitol incursion.

“We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th. We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail,” the committee said in its letter to Jordan.

“And we also wish to inquire about any communications you had on January 5th or 6th with those in the Willard War Room, the Trump legal team, White House personnel or others involved in organizing or planning the actions and strategies for January 6th,” it said, referencing a theory about a meeting of Trump associates at the Willard InterContinental hotel in D.C.

Jordan replied that the committee’s request “amounts to an unprecedented and inappropriate demand to examine the basis for a colleague’s decision on a particular matter pending before the House of Representatives.”

“As you well know, I have no relevant information that would assist the Select Committee in advancing any legitimate legislative purpose,” the congressman wrote.

He then said the existence of the committee itself is unfair and its members are biased.

“Democrats violated the most fundamental and longstanding safeguard for fairness in House proceedings in standing up the Select Committee,” Jordan said.

Do you agree that the Democrats are using the panel "as a partisan cudgel against their political adversaries"?

“Your attempt to pry into the deliberative process informing a Member about legislative matters before the House is an outrageous abuse of the Select Committee’s authority,” he said. “This unprecedented action serves no legitimate legislative purpose and would set a dangerous precedent for future Congresses.”

Jordan also questioned whether the panel’s actions are even lawful.

“It amounts to an unprecedented and inappropriate demand to examine the basis for a colleague’s decision on a particular matter pending before the House of Representatives,” he wrote. “This request is far outside the bounds of any legitimate inquiry, violates core Constitutional principles, and would serve to further erode legislative norms.”

The congressman said the “Democrats are using the Select Committee as a partisan cudgel against their political adversaries and not to advance any legitimate legislative purpose.”

Jordan said they should be focusing on more pressing national matters, some resulting from the policies of Democratic President Joe Biden.

“The American people deserve better than the Democrats’ incessant focus on partisan investigations,” he wrote. “Rampant inflation is hurting American families, an unmitigated crisis at the southern border threatens American communities, the Biden Administration is weaponizing counterterrorism tools against American parents, and President Biden’s weak leadership endangers American service members overseas. These real challenges affecting our constituents today are the issues on which Congress should properly be focused.”

Jordan is not alone in his outspoken pushback against the House committee and its investigations. Many others have also called out the committee for being unfair. Some have filed lawsuits arguing that the committee is seeking to violate their constitutional rights.

Last month, Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry called the committee “illegitimate” after it requested an interview and documents regarding his communications with the Trump White House.

(1/2) I stand with immense respect for our Constitution, the Rule of Law, and the Americans I represent who know that this entity is illegitimate, and not duly constituted under the rules of the US House of Representatives.

— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) December 21, 2021

(2//2) I decline this entity’s request and will continue to fight the failures of the radical Left who desperately seek distraction from their abject failures of crushing inflation, a humiliating surrender in Afghanistan, and the horrendous crisis they created at our border.

— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) December 21, 2021

That same week, Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, sued the committee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after they issued a subpoena for his phone records, The New York Times reported.

Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, also recently filed a lawsuit against the committee and Pelosi after they issued him a subpoena for his phone records, Politico reported.

Jordan touched on that in his letter.

“The conduct of the Select Committee to date reinforces the perception that it cannot be trusted to operate fairly or in good faith,” he wrote.

“The Select Committee has abused fundamental civil liberties — investigating private citizens’ political speech protected by the First Amendment, and seeking to impose gag orders on telecom and email companies to prevent them from notifying their customers that the Select Committee has demanded their data.”

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