Republican members on the newly created House subcommittee on the Weaponization of the federal government have already begun investigations into government agencies.
During a closed-door meeting on Friday, all of the subcommittee’s GOP members met for the first time to start planning out subpoenas and investigations for alleged civil liberties violations into the FBI and the Justice Department.
However, after the meeting, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) told reporters that the subcommittee’s goal was to investigate “much broader” agencies than just the FBI and DOJ, adding that Twitter is one of them.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who leads the weaponization panel, suggested the possibility of subpoenas after the House Judiciary send out several letters requesting interviews with potential witnesses as part of their investigations.
The inquiries target not only the FBI and the DOJ but also the federal government's effort to go after people who stand up to woke ideology at school boards.
Jordan’s target includes a current and a former FBI employee, two people associated with the National School Boards Association, and the former head of the disbanded DHS Disinformation Governance Board.
He also reportedly told Republicans during the meeting that the subcommittee plans to follow a rule used by former Oversight Committee chair Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) to issue subpoenas without consulting Democrats in advance.
The Ohio Republican met with Twitter CEO Elon Musk last week to discuss how he plans to dive into the investigation of the “Twitter Files,” which revealed bombshell revelations regarding the Covid-19 pandemic to the coordination between the FBI and the social media platform in the lead up to the 2020 election.
Issa said that the goal of the subcommittee is to do “real” investigating work and already had several transcribed interviews in their possession regarding several hot-topic issues including Jan. 6 and the DOJ’s past handling of tensions at school board meetings
“I would imagine that we will be, like most investigation committees, disproportionately doing transcribed interviews and depositions. … It’s not about showing to the public,” Issa said, adding “it’s about the real investigation, and then making it public.”
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