Jim Jordan Backtracks On Cooperating With Jan. 6 Panel

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, announced in a letter posted Sunday on Twitter that he will not be cooperating with the subcommittee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Jordan initially said he would cooperate with the committee. He joins a group of Donald Trump allies who have spread "the big lie" about the 2020 presidential election and have also refused to testify to the subcommittee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“The American people are tired of Democrats’ nonstop investigations and partisan witch hunts,” Jordan’s letter read, although the Jan. 6 subcommittee is bipartisan.

Jordan said that he had nothing to add regarding the investigation and that “it is telling” that the committee has only asked Republicans to testify. He also pointed out the committee denied the Republican picks of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to sit on the committee, though those members had made questionable comments after Jan. 6 and about the 2020 presidential election.

Jordan also claimed that the committee doctored evidence against him and others, including misrepresenting where they were and what they were doing leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, as well as citing text messages Jordan alleged he never sent.

“If the Select Committee can so readily violate American civil liberties and mislead Americans about the information it possesses . . . I have no confidence that the Select Committee will fairly or accurately represent any information I could provide,” Jordan’s letter read.

Jordan also suggested that Congress’ focus would better be spent elsewhere, including inflation, what he calls “an unmitigated crisis at the southern border,” “weaponizing of counterterrorism tools against American parents,” and “President Biden’s weak leadership.”

The Jan. 6 subcommittee investigating the insurrection has insisted that it will not take the news lightly, but will craft a proper response to Jordan’s letter soon.

“Mr. Jordan has previously said that he would cooperate with the committee’s investigation, but it now appears that the Trump team has persuaded him to try to hide the facts and circumstances of January 6th,” a spokesperson for the committee said in a statement to CQ Roll Call. “The Select Committee will respond to this letter in more detail in the coming days and will consider appropriate next steps.”