Tag: jim jordan
Jim Jordan

House Republican Threat To Hunter Biden Reveals Hypocrisy

Republicans provided another textbook example of massive hypocrisy on Wednesday with a letter ordering Hunter Biden to appear for a hearing on December 13. The letter to Hunter’s attorney says that he has no choice. He must appear for a closed-door deposition on that date or face contempt of Congress charges.

Hunter has offered to appear in a public hearing on any date, but Republicans have refused the offer. They want the session closed so that they can selectively dribble out fragments of this testimony they believe fit the narrative they have been building to impeach President Joe Biden. Rep. James Comer (R-KY) has been constructing his case against the president using increasingly ridiculous claims. This week included assertions that Hunter paying back his father for the downpayment on a truck allegedly showed that Joe Biden had received bribes from China.

But the biggest red flag of hypocrisy in the latest letter may be one of the signatures at the bottom. In addition to Comer, the letter was also signed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). The same Jim Jordan who infamously refused to appear in response to a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee.

Jordan, who was heavily involved in the planning and execution of the attempted overturning of votes on January 6, first insisted that he had “nothing to hide” about those events. But when the select committee investigating January 6 asked Jordan to testify, he refused. That eventually led to Jordan being the subject of a congressional subpoena.

How did Jordan respond to his subpoena? With a list of demands before he would agree to talk. Jordan accused the House Select Committee of “not operating in good faith,” and of being unfair. He insisted that investigating the January 6 insurrection was not a “legitimate task of Congress” because it did not “advance a legitimate legislative purpose.” Because of this, he claimed that both the committee and the subpoenas were unconstitutional. Jordan never appeared before the House Select Committee.

Jordan insists that investigating an insurrection that included an armed mob crashing through the doors of the Capitol is not part of Congress’ business. However, he apparently believes that checking out small personal loans between a father and son demands the attention of two House committees.

By the test that Jordan himself laid out: Exactly what legislative purpose does questioning Hunter Biden about his truck payments satisfy?

As Laura Clawson reported on Wednesday, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) has made it explicitly clear why Republicans want Hunter Biden to come in. They want to launch an impeachment of Joe Biden, evidence or no evidence, so they can provide Donald Trump with “a little bit of ammo to fire back” going into the 2024 election.

This isn’t about any legitimate concerns over anything that either Hunter Biden or Joe Biden did. It’s about House Republicans trying to prove their loyalty to Trump and provide him with something to sneer over at the next rally.

Hunter Biden’s attorney has made it explicitly clear that Hunter Biden wants to testify publicly because Comer’s committee has demonstrated time and again that “it uses closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort, the facts and misinform the American public—a hearing would ensure transparency and truth in these proceedings."

Both Comer and Jordan are aware that any hope they would really find something in these hearings to justify further action died over the summer when star witness Devon Archer blew a hole through false claims. They’ve found nothing, because there is nothing, even if Jordan keeps repeating false stories from Rudy Giuliani that were debunked four years ago.

Comer’s “investigation” is a farce. Jordan’s support is the height of hypocrisy. Together they are the Wonder Twins of the Republican House, shaping their committees into a footstool for Trump. Now they’ll get to pound their chests about why the evidence they say should be made public can’t be heard by the public.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Hunter Biden Prosecutor Says Nobody Interfered With His Investigation

Hunter Biden Prosecutor Says Nobody Interfered With His Investigation

David Weiss, who was tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland as special counsel to oversee the Department of Justice's investigation into Hunter Biden, recently testified under oath that his investigation has not been obstructed in any way by the Biden administration.

The House Judiciary Committee — chaired by Trump acolyte Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) — recently brought in Weiss for questioning in relation to the ongoing Hunter Biden investigation, which Republicans argue is being hamstrung by the White House. But the Washington Post reported Wednesday that Weiss' testimony silenced those rumors.

"I am, and have been, the decision-maker on this case," Weiss said. "At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking member on the committee, called Weiss' testimony a "waste of time."

"[Weiss] was very clear that no one told him what to prosecute and what not to prosecute. He made all those decisions himself, and he said that before," Nadler said. "And I mean, [Republicans] tried to get him to say anything, but they just go over and over and over again the same thing."

House Republicans disagreed with that sentiment, insisting that Weiss' testimony wasn't credible and that questions still lingered about political pressure from the White House on the DOJ's investigation into the president's son.

"The important thing is that he has no answers for why he would offer a misdemeanor plea bargain with no jail time to someone who committed felonies and exclude all unknown or yet-to-be-investigated crimes," Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said. "It’s that lack of explanation that leads us to all the other questions of whether he was influenced by others or in consultation with others."

Hunter Biden is set to go to trial in 2024 on charges relating to gun possession and filing false statements after a plea agreement fell apart earlier this year. Weiss was appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 to be US Attorney for the US District Court in the District of Delaware. President Biden has kept him in that position.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Liz Cheney

New Book: 'Dismissive' McCarthy Blew Off Cheney's January 6 Warning

When Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) approached then-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) during the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building, Cheney — according to the Carol Leonnig/Philip Rucker book I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Yearangrily snapped at him, "Get away from me! You f****** did this."

Cheney and then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) went on to serve alongside Democrats on the January 6 Select Committee. Both of them forcefully pushed back against Trump's false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, and according to Kinzinger, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) wanted Cheney to keep quiet about Trump in the days leading up the January 6 insurrection.

Kinzinger, according to the Guardian, discusses tensions between Cheney and McCarthy in his forthcoming book, Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country, due out October 31.

The Guardian's Martin Pengelly, noting that the publication has obtained a copy of Kinzinger's book, explains, "When Liz Cheney warned fellow Republicans five days before January 6 of a 'dark day' to come if they 'indulged in the fantasy' that they could overturn Donald Trump's defeat by Joe Biden, the then-House GOP leader, Kevin McCarthy, swiftly slapped her down…. Five days after Cheney delivered her warning on a Republican conference call, Trump supporters attacked Congress in an attempt to block certification of Biden's win."

In his book, Kinzinger writes, "After Liz spoke, McCarthy immediately told everyone who was listening, 'I just want to be clear: Liz doesn't speak for the conference. She speaks for herself.'"

Kinzinger slams McCarthy's statement as "unnecessary and disrespectful" in his book, adding, "It infuriated me."

According to Kinzinger, McCarthy's "rude and dismissive tone….. was typical of (his) style, which was notably juvenile."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Mike Johnson

Fox News Ignores Johnson's Repetition Of Lies That Cost Them $787 Million

Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) has been deemed a “chief architect” and "intellectual architect" of the push to overturn the 2020 election, and his efforts included repeating lies that Dominion voting machines “rigged” the election for President Joe Biden. Those same lies cost Fox News $787 million, yet on Wednesday, Fox’s evening lineup failed to mention his history.

In November 2020 Johnson stated “there is a lot of merit” to the “allegations about these — these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion.” He continued, “It was set up for the Biden team to win.”

Johnson also served as Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) “silent but pivotal partner” in “the congressional effort to fight the results of the 2020 election.” He recruited colleagues to support a lawsuit trying to overturn the results, and he drafted a memo of talking points to use on the House floor on January 6, then voting against certification.

Johnson's claims in the interview mirror claims made on Fox News and cited in the Dominion lawsuit.

The hosts of Fox News’ highest-rated cable show, The Five, completely ignored the news, failing to mention the new speaker, despite airing their grievances over the fiasco.

On Fox News’ flagship show Special Report with Bret Baier, senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram noted only that Democrats are “already tying Johnson to former President Trump and his vote against certifying the 2020 election,” omitting the central role Johnson played and his penchant for election conspiracy theories.

Later in the show, anchor Bret Baier failed to mention Johnson’s spread of Dominion conspiracies, instead baselessly suggesting that Johnson’s election denial was equivalent to House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) questioning of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. Guest panelist and Fox contributor Mollie Hemingway dismissed some of Johnson’s extremism as the representative simply caring “deeply about the Department of Justice and how it's been weaponized to go against conservatives.”

On The Ingraham Angle, Laura Ingraham also failed to report on the new speaker and his election lies, with the only mention of Johnson coming from guest Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who praised the speaker for wanting to pass an Israeli aid package without additional Ukrainian funding.

On his prime-time show, Jesse Watters briefly mentioned Johnson, admitting that while he’s “never heard of” him, but suggesting promising qualities include that he is a “border hawk who thought the last election was fishy and he just voted against more Ukraine funding.”

After his failed attempt to puppeteer the speaker election, host Sean Hannity opened his show by praising Johnson for having a “strong conservative record” including “protecting your children from woke predators.”

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, appearing on Hannity, later agreed that Johnson was a “very solid person” who combines “a solid conservative set of principles with a very moderate and reasonable approach to people.”



Beyond his election denial, Johnson has a history of draconian anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion positions.

Hannity’s praise concluded the coverage of Johnson for the night following breaking news of a mass shooting in Maine.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.