Last month, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was among five Republican congressmen subpoenaed by the January 6 select committee. Rep. Jordan, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), also one of the five, hit back, in part with an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that I highlighted at the time. While the select committee has extended Jordan's date for which he has to appear for a deposition to June 11, the congressman continues to be steadfast in his refusal to comply with a select committee viewed as "illegitimate."
Rep. Jordan joined House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in a conference call, as did Rep. Scott (R-PA), who was also subpoenaed by the select committee, and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
Reps. Jordan and Banks had been named to the select committee by Leader McCarthy, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) vetoed such picks, something Rep. Banks said she has never been forced to answer for. Banks would have been the ranking member, but no members selected by the minority party serve on the select committee.
The call was full of consistent themes. Rep. Stefanik began the call by referring to the select committee as "illegitimate" and "a sham," as well as an "abuse of power" that Democrats are using "to attack their Republican political opponents."
All of this is going on while Americans are facing issues of inflation, high gas prices, and a shortage of baby formula. Republican members, especially those on the call, are united in their efforts that Democrats are using the select committee hearings as a distraction.
During his remarks, Rep. Jordan went into specifics as to why this select committee is such an abuse of power. "They changed the rules and then they didn't follow the rules that they changed," Jordan said about the select committee, which Stefanik had also explained was not put together according to the House rules.
Further, Jordan mentioned numerous examples of how dangerous this select committee is, included with how it is devoted to showmanship above else.
For instance, the select committee hired former ABC News President James Goldston to produce the hearings, adding credibility to Republican members' claims how much of a show Democrats are looking to make these hearings. The first public hearing will air on Thursday during primetime.
While Fox News has been criticized for announcing they will not air the hearings, Rep. Banks predicted that the network, including and especially "Tucker Carlson Tonight," which airs at the same time, will have historic ratings.
Specific members have also run into issues themselves. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the vice chair of the select committee has fundraised off of the hearings. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), has called for abolishing the Electoral College. Rep. Jordan also warned that the select committee's aim is seeking to stop former President Donald Trump from running again in 2024.
Rep. Jordan explained that the select committee represents "further weaponization of government by the left" and offered that it is "in so many ways even worse than the impeachment process [the Democrats] did in 2019," as Republicans were at least able to be part of proceedings and ask questions, as well as take part in cross-examination.
Jordan slammed how there will be no cross-examination this time around, "because they all agree and they've already reached their conclusion and now they're putting on this partisan production" as a big takeaway.
When asked about complying with the subpoena, Jordan referenced letters he sent the select committee in January and last month, the former which Townhall received an early look at.
Rep. Banks spoke of how the Capitol police were unprepared, with staff shortages supposedly due to COVID, equipment shortages, and a lack of proper training.
He shared that Republicans have conducted their own research, after speaking to Capitol police and whistle blowers, which he offered is "far more substantive that you will see on primetime."
When asked about a timeline, Banks offered they are "weeks away" from their final draft, and noted that the report will be handed to McCarthy, whom he referred to as "the future speaker" when Republicans regain the majority, so that they can truly get to work making the Capitol safer. As Banks put it, "our report will do what the sham committee should have been doing but they're not doing, because it obviously has a much different nature to it as a political witch-hunt."
Rep. Perry echoed the concerns from other members, with perhaps the strongest condemnation of all, as he referred to the select committee hearings as "a political show trial" and "something from a third-world country." He accused the select committee of "using the full power of the federal government to prevail upon your political adversaries," saying that's exactly what this is, that's all this is."
After strongly condemning the actions of January 6, Perry reiterated that "what is happening now... is an abuse of power, that's exactly what it is," as he also said it's "meant to distract from what's happening to the Leftist's agenda that America's having to deal with." Such crises in America today, Perry offered, "are all happening because the radical left-wing has taken over essentially all the policies in the federal government and of course members of Congress on the Democratic don't want to discuss that," but instead want to discuss January 6.
Polling shows that Americans look to be adopting the Republican view on the select committee hearings, as Perry suggested. As I covered yesterday, polling from NBC News shows that fewer Americans blame Trump for the events of January 6. In April, FiveThirtyEight's Jean Yi wrote that "Americans Are Moving On From Jan. 6 — Even If Congress Hasn't."
Rep. Jordan also on Tuesday wrote an op-ed in the Federalist, "The True Goal Of The J6 Committee Is To Slander And Shame Conservatives Out Of The Public Sphere," in which he slammed the real aim of the select committee.
In it he wrote:
Behind the committee’s storytelling, there’s a more sinister aim: convincing Americans that conservatives are to blame for the events of that day. In fact, Democrats have already done just that—asserting last year that President Trump was “unmistakably responsible” for the violence and even calling Republicans “traitors” for their Electoral College objections. Never mind the fact that Democrats made the very same objections to every Republican president in this century, or that Democrats spent most of 2020 condoning left-wing violent riots across the country.
The committee’s real goal, and what it hopes to achieve with its unprecedented subpoenas and its bright-light hearings, is a repudiation of conservatism and all those who hold conservative values. Democrats want to use the violence of Jan. 6 to stigmatize conservative voices and delegitimize conservative ideals. They’ve even talked—condescendingly, of course—about treating conservatives as “cult” members who need to be deprogrammed.
Jordan also wrote that the select committee's subpoenas and hearings, as well as other tactics from the Biden administration and Democrats as a whole "has at its core the same goal: delegitimize conservative views so that they don’t need to be debated or even addressed in polite society."
In his final words, Jordan writes that "Make no mistake, the violence of Jan. 6 was as wrong as wrong can be. But Americans watching the hearings should have no illusions about the Democrats’ true objectives."