Jan. 10 (UPI) — Rep. Jim Jordan, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, announced Sunday evening that he will not cooperate with the House select committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol building, lambasting the probe as biased and unconstitutional.
The committee, led by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., asked the Ohio Republican in a letter last month for information concerning his communications with Trump on the day of January, 6, 2021, when a mob of the former president’s supporters swarmed the Capitol building in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 general election results.
In a scathing letter addressed to Thompson on Sunday, Jordan rejected the investigation as one of the Democrats’ “partisan witch hunts” that “amounts to an unprecedented and inappropriate demand to examine the basis for a colleague’s decision on a particular matter pending the House of Representatives.”
“This request is so far outside the bounds of any legitimate inquiry, violates core constitutional principles and would serve to further erode legislative norms,” he said.
In the letter to Jordan dated Dec. 22, the committee said it was aware of at least one communication he had with Trump on Jan. 6 and that it also sought information concerning communications he had that day and the day prior with the then-president’s legal team.
The committee continued that it also wanted information about meetings he held concerning “strategies for overturning the results of the 2020 election” with White House officials and Trump in November, December and early January as well as to divulge any information about discussions he may have had involving potential presidential pardons for those involved in the Jan. 6 attack and its planning.
In response, Jordan said he has “no relevant information” for the committee, adding that during the siege he was performing his duties in the House chamber.
“The other topics referenced in your letter likewise related to the performance of official duties,” he said. “Your attempt to pry into the deliberative process informing a member about legislative matters before the House is an outrageous abuse of the select committee’s authority.”
UPI has contacted the select committee for comment.
A spokesperson for the panel told POLITICO that the committee would respond to Jordan in “the coming days.”
“Mr. Jordan has admitted that he spoke directly to President Trump on Jan. 6th and is thus a material witness. Mr. Jordan’s letter to the committee fails to address these facts,” the spokesperson said.
Amid its investigation, the nine-member committee has subpoenaed a number of people, including close Trump allies such as his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who the House recommended should be charged with contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the select committee to force his participation with its probe.
