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LOOK IN THE MIRROR: Jim Jordan fights for power to investigate “Weaponization of the Federal Government”

LOOK IN THE MIRROR: Jim Jordan fights for power to investigate “Weaponization of the Federal Government”

LOOK IN THE MIRROR: Jim Jordan fights for power to investigate "Weaponization of the Federal Government"

Soon-to-be chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has proposed a subcommittee to investigate the agencies tasked with investigating the federal government. Members of the subcommittee would operate under the Judiciary Committee, with Rep. Jordan having sole subpoena power.

Rep. Jordan’s original proposal of the not-so-subtly named Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government was filed on January 2nd and limited the scope of the subcommittee probes to the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the Justice Department.

But an amended version, filed — ironically, it seems — late in the afternoon on January 6th, adds the power to probe ongoing investigations and gives committee members access to information shared with the House Intelligence Committee.

“With regard to the full scope of investigative authority under subsection (b) (1), the select subcommittee shall be authorized to receive information available to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.”

“The select subcommittee is authorized and directed to conduct a full and complete investigation,” the proposal states. This includes how the executive branch gathers information in its criminal probes, “including the extent, if any, to which illegal or improper, unconstitutional, or unethical activities were engaged in by the Executive Branch or private sector against citizens of the United States.”

This change came just hours before Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) finally achieved his long-held dream of becoming Speaker of the House, in what some speculate may have been the final hours of working out a deal with his detractors.

Since the January 6th Capitol riot, the Department of Justice has arrested over 900 participants in the violent insurrection – leading to jail sentences for many.

The criminal investigation has led to the subpoenas of many of those in Trump’s inner circle – including active members of Congress.

MAGA supporters and Trump allies, including Rep. Jordan, have accused the agency of persecuting American citizens for political purposes.

Though the evidence contradicts their baseless claims, with Republicans in the House majority, the real weaponization of investigative power is set to begin as Republicans return to control of the process that they abused so mercilessly against Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration in the endless Benghazi investigations.

Special counsel Jack Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the DOJ’s criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump.

The veteran federal prosecutor recently returned to the United States as dual probes heat up into whether Trump illegally took and insecurely stored top-secret documents when leaving the White House in January 2021 and into the ex-President’s role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results.

With the proposed select subcommittee’s broad investigative authority under Jordan, it’s unlikely that Jordan and his “Freedom Caucus” cohorts will make Smith’s work smooth.

Luckily, the former Hague prosecutor is ultimately unlikely to be deterred.

Original reporting by Kyle Cheney at POLITICO.

Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick

Ty Ross
News journalist for Occupy Democrats.

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