Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has reportedly told the Jan. 6 Select Committee that he will only comply with its subpoena if the panel meets his list of demands, according to the Washington Post and CNN. Among those demands are that the panel share its evidence related to him before his potential appearance.
In a letter sent to the panel late Wednesday, Jordan accused the committee of pursuing “political vendettas” against former President Trump and his allies, citing a letter he sent to the panel on Jan. 6 that argued that its “conduct up to that point led me to believe it was not operating fairly or in good faith,” according to the Post.
Jordan demanded the committee provide him with all of the materials it would use to question him if he sits for a deposition, including documents and testimony that reference him and an explanation of the legal authority the committee has in issuing a subpoena, according to the reports.
If the committee meets his conditions, Jordan wrote, he could then “adequately further respond to [the] subpoena,” according to the Post.
“I expect that you will provide the entirety of this material without delay,” Jordan reportedly wrote.
Jordan was subpoenaed by the committee alongside four other sitting GOP members of Congress — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ) — earlier this month. The committee seeks information from the group about the insurrection, including about their communications with the then-President and his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows before, during and after Jan. 6.
Perry and Biggs have filed objections to the committee’s subpoena, according to a Thursday CNN report.
In his letter, Jordan also contested the panel’s authority to subpoena him in the first place, the reports said.
“Even before your subpoena, as I articulated to you in January, I had serious doubts about the Select Committee’s commitment to fundamental fairness and due process,” Jordan wrote, according to the Post. “Your failure to respond added to my concerns, and your unprecedented actions over the past thirteen days have exacerbated them.”
Jordan reportedly wrote that he “strongly contests the constitutionality and validity of the subpoena in several respects,” according to CNN and the Post.
Jordan has had a string of inconsistent responses whenever he is pressed on his communications with Trump on Jan. 6.
Jordan initially admitted in comments to reporters that he spoke to Trump on that fateful day. But he has responded to requests for details with meandering, defensive and contradictory claims, including frequently claiming that he could not recall the amount of times he spoke with Trump on Jan. 6.
Some of Trump’s allies subpoenaed by the committee have refused to comply, citing claims of executive privilege. The House voted Meadows and former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon be held in contempt of Congress following their defiance of the committee’s subpoenas. Bannon was indicted by the Justice Department within weeks of the committee sending the contempt referral.
