The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack gave Rep. Jim Jordan a deadline: Respond to the panel’s subpoena and sit down for a sworn deposition “no later than“ June 11.
That was two days ago. The Ohio Republican, as you probably guessed, did not answer investigators’ questions before the deadline. In fact, as Talking Points Memo reported, Jordan declared in advance his intention not to cooperate.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on Thursday doubled down on his demand that the House Jan. 6 Committee hand over its evidence on him before he (maybe) complies with its subpoena. In an 11-page letter to committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Jordan complained about the panel rejecting his demand last week and accused the committee of not answering his questions about the subpoena to his satisfaction.
The far-right congressman reiterated his theories questioning the legitimacy of the bipartisan panel’s investigation and demanding the committee “assuage my concerns” — at which point Jordan will consider cooperating in ways he deems appropriate.
To appreciate the bigger picture, consider a timeline of events:
- July 20, 2021: Jordan said, in reference to the investigation, “If they call me, I got nothing to hide.”
- October 20, 2021: Jordan again said, “I’ve said all along, I have nothing to hide.”
- Dec. 22, 2021: The Jan. 6 committee reached out to Jordan, asking him to provide voluntary testimony.
- Jan. 9, 2022: Jordan announced he’d refuse to answer the committee’s questions.
- May 12, 2022: The select committee subpoenaed Jordan.
- May 25, 2022: Jordan said he’d refuse to honor the legal summons unless the committee gave him detailed information in advance about the nature of investigators’ questions. At the same time, the GOP congressman questioned the legitimacy of the panel.
- May 31, 2022: The committee defended its existence and gave Jordan a new deadline of June 11.
- June 9, 2022: Mr. Nothing To Hide reiterated the points from his May 25 letter, hoping to justify missing another deadline.
It’s difficult to say with confidence what the Jan. 6 committee will do now, but it remains a distinct possibility that the panel will seek a contempt vote against Jordan.
In case anyone needs a refresher, it’s also worth appreciating why Jordan’s testimony is relevant. Circling back to our recent coverage, the congressman, whether he’s prepared to admit it or not, has a unique perspective that could advance the larger search for truth. As regular readers may recall, The New York Times reported several months ago, for example, that the Ohio lawmaker attended crisis meetings at Trump campaign headquarters as early as Nov. 9, just two days after Joe Biden became president-elect.
The Times also reported that the far-right congressman participated in a meeting at the White House in late December 2020, at which he plotted with Donald Trump on how best to challenge the results of the election. Soon after, on Jan. 5, Jordan forwarded a message to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, describing a scheme in which then-Vice President Mike Pence could help reject election results Republicans didn’t like. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the Republican co-chair of the bipartisan panel, insisted months ago that Jordan’s perspective is of critical significance precisely because he was “involved in a number of meetings in the lead-up to what happened on Jan. 6, involved in planning for Jan. 6, certainly for the objections that day.” He is not, in other words, just a random GOP voice. Jordan has important insights to share, if only he’d follow through on his “nothing to hide” assurances.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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