On a party-line vote of 221-211, with all Democrats opposed, the House yesterday approved the formation of a Trump revenge panel, officially called the Select Committee on Weaponization of the Federal Government. The committee is to be headed by Republican Jim Jordan of Ohio, the incoming chair of the Judiciary Committee, a strong Trump ally and a leader of the attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021.
Jordan’s résumé was badly tainted already years ago when, as a coach of an Ohio wrestling team, he sat back and allowed the continual sexual abuse of many of his team members by the team doctor. Jordan was heavily involved in Trump’s push to overturn the results of the 2020 election when Trump was defeated by Joe Biden.
Jordan claims that he has already, for many months, been investigating what he claims is federal government persecution of conservative and right-wing figures. Jordan, himself, has been investigated for his role in Trump’s attempted coup following the 2020 election.
He says he will use his role as leader of the new Trump revenge committee to uncover evidence that federal agencies, including the Justice Department, are politicized in favor of the left. He has vowed to seek documents regarding investigations that are still underway. If he succeeds, the ability of the Justice Department to charge Trumpites with crimes could be seriously hampered or destroyed altogether since many of the documents he is seeking would give away information that is needed to mount successful prosecutions.
Witnesses involved could also be endangered if that were to happen. If the Justice Department refuses to go along with the demands of the Trump revenge committee Jordan’s plan is to appeal to the Supreme Court which, of course, is stacked with pro-Trump “justices.”
In a floor speech yesterday Jordan said he was interested in protecting the First Amendment and ending alleged unfair persecution of right wingers led by Trump. The committee has such broad jurisdiction that it will be able to mount numerous attacks on the Biden administration.
The vote in Congress yesterday gives Jordan and his committee the authority to collect sensitive information regarding the security of the United States. Giving Jordan, a likely criminal insurrectionist, access to what only the intelligence committees could access in the past, is a particularly worrisome part of what Congress authorized yesterday. Top secret information will be in the hands of someone who tried to overthrow the Constitution.
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said Jordan’s panel was like the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee, which demonized anyone even slightly suspected of being friendly toward communism or a host of progressive ideas or movements. “I call it the McCarthy Committee, and I’m not talking about Kevin, I’m talking about Joe,” he said. “This committee is nothing more than a deranged ploy by the MAGA extremists who have hijacked the Republican Party and now want to use taxpayer money to push their far-right conspiracy nonsense.”
Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York said the committee’s real purpose is “to inhibit the fight against right-wing domestic terrorism and to settle political scores on behalf of Donald Trump.”
The committee’s intention to demand material about open investigations from the Justice Department flies in the face of historic precedent. It is not something Congress does. The resolution will enable Jordan to issue subpoenas to the Justice Department for information about the special counsel’s inquiry into Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 elections and his handling of classified documents among many other things. Jordan could even subpoena documents related to ongoing criminal investigations of himself.
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