GOP MEMBERS ARE INCREASING THEIR INVESTIGATION OF THE FBI

 

      … Rep. Jim Jordan, as expected, is making a lot of noise, as he usually does

 

Also as expected, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will discuss the bureau's focus on “domestic violent extremism,” according to a letter obtained by The Early

House Judiciary Committee Republicans are ramping up their investigation of the FBI even before they know whether they'll control the chamber in the next Congress.

Jill Sanborn, former executive assistant director of the National Security Branch at the FBI during the Biden administration.  She has offered to sit for a transcribed interview with House Republicans, led by Rep. Jim Jordan.

The attorney for Sanborn, Carter Burwell, sent a response to Jordan, but declined to detail what the letter said.  Of course, the FBI has declined to comment.

It is rare that current or even the former administration officials to cooperate with investigations conducted by the minority party, particularly one that is expected to be hostile toward them. The party in the minority has no real way to compel witnesses since it lacks the power of the subpoena.

In a brief interview, Jordan suggested Ms. Sanborn decided to cooperate in anticipation of a Republican House majority next year.

“Maybe she understands that we are going to in fact take back the majority, and knows that we're going to do our duty, our constitutional duty of oversight and we're going to do it in an aggressive way and so she's agreed to come in now,” Jordan said. (The Trump administration seriously defied the Congress' attempt at oversight at every turn.)

Jordan was a leading defender of Trump during the investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller III and also both impeachments.  Jordan continues to say that the inquiries were witch hunts and political vendettas, of course, without offering any proof.  He also stands behind Trump's false claims about the stealing of 2020 election.

But the Ohio Republican, Jordan, will hold a powerful perch if Republicans gain control of the House next year, and he is promising to investigate numerous aspects of the Biden administration.

Jordan and House and Senate Republicans have been laying the groundwork for a number of investigations, should they take control of the House in the next Congress. Jordan has focused on the Justice Department and FBI, including the search of classified documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, the investigation into Hunter Biden’s business practices, as well as, the monitoring of local school board meetings. The agencies have not cooperated with Jordan’s requests.

 Jordan told The Early he's going to investigate the Justice Department “aggressively.”  “That's what's warranted, particularly when you think about the facts now as of what we've seen from the Justice Department,” he said.

Jordan’s Focus on domestic terrorism

In January 2021, after the Jan. 6^th attack on the Capitol, the Justice Department established a new domestic terrorism unit. As was explained at the time, DOJ said it was making the move because “the number of FBI investigations of suspected domestic violent extremists (DVE), those accused of planning or committing crimes in the name of domestic political goals, had more than doubled since the spring of 2020.” 

Ms. Sanborn testified before the Senate in 2021 that the FBI “has prioritized anti-government or anti-authority violent extremism,” noting “domestic violent extremists also plotted to conduct attacks due to personalized grievances, including anger at government responses to Covid-19, immigration policies, and perceived election fraud.”

Jordan, and other Republicans say whistleblowers, have told them they were under pressure to classify cases as “domestic violent extremism” to pad the stats as part of the Biden administration's focus on domestic terrorism. Jordan alleges the whistleblowers have singled out Ms. Sanborn.

In the original letter sent to Sanborn in August seeking information, Jordan wrote that FBI whistleblower disclosures “suggest” that FBI agents are under pressure to increase the number of domestic violent extremism cases (DVE) “to satisfy their supervisors” to meet quotas set by the Biden administration.  (This has not been confirmed.)

According to Jordan, “One whistleblower explained that because agents are not finding enough DVE cases, they are encouraged and incentivized to reclassify cases as DVE cases even though there is minimal, circumstantial evidence to support the reclassification.

Jordan has notified the Judiciary Committee's chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), of the upcoming interview and invited him or his staff to attend. Nadler's office did not respond to requests for comment.

Precursor to larger investigation?

When asked if he is laying the groundwork to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland should Republicans win control of the House, Jordan said that would be up to Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, of which he is the top Republican, “in consultation with” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), who would likely become speaker if the GOP takes control of the chamber.

“We are certainly open to whatever needs to be done to remedy the situation, change what's going on over there,” Jordan said.

Jordan has volunteered that his committee members think Department of Homeland Security’s Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas “certainly warrants an inquiry into (the) impeachment question” because of the flow of migrants at the southern border. “So we'll look at that issue, too,” Jordan said.

Asked if he'd support Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the firebrand conservative whom Democrats kicked off committees for extremist positions and bigoted language, sitting on the Judiciary Committee.  Jordan said she has spoken to him about it. “She'd be a good member,” he said, but added there is limited space with  “lots of other members who would also be great on the committee.”

“We'll see how it plays out,” he said.

Jim Jordan is a real “piece of work”.

Copyright G. Ater 2022