Jan. 6 panel seeks interview with Rep. Jordan, a close Trump ally
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Capitol attack asked Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on Wednesday to sit for an interview with its investigators, in the latest step the panel has taken to dig into the role that members of Congress played in trying to undermine the 2020 election.
The committee’s letter to Jordan, an ally of former President Donald Trump, says that investigators want to question him about his communications related to the run-up to the Capitol riot. Those include Jordan’s messages with Trump, his legal team and others involved in planning rallies Jan. 6 and congressional objections to certifying Joe Biden’s victory.
“We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on Jan. 6,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the committee’s chairman, wrote in the letter. “We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail.”
Jordan, a Republican, was deeply involved in Trump’s effort to fight the election results.
He participated in planning meetings with senior White House officials, including a gathering in November 2020 at Trump campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., and a meeting at the White House in December 2020, where Republican lawmakers discussed plans with the president’s team to use the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 to challenge the election outcome.
On Jan. 5, Jordan forwarded to Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff, a text message he had received from a lawyer and former Pentagon inspector general outlining a legal strategy to overturn the election.
“On Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as president of the Senate, should call out all the electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all — in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence,” the text read.
Jordan has acknowledged speaking with Trump on Jan. 6, though he has said he cannot remember how many times they spoke that day or when the calls occurred. The committee is particularly interested in what Trump was doing during the riot, Thompson said, noting that it had already received testimony “indicating that the president was watching television coverage of the attack from his private dining room” before his legal team resumed the effort to “delay or otherwise impede the electoral count.”
Thompson also said the committee wanted to ask Jordan about any discussions involving the possibility of presidential pardons for people involved in any aspect of Jan. 6.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the vice chairwoman of the committee, has said Jordan is a “material witness” to the events of Jan. 6.
Jordan has said he will consider cooperating with the committee depending on its requests, though he also called the panel a “sham.”
Thompson noted that Jordan told the Rules Committee in November, “I have nothing to hide.”