Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) slammed his Democratic colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday for voting to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress.
“Bill Barr is following the law, and what’s his reward? Democrats are going to hold him in contempt,” Jordan began his remarks. “I don’t think today’s actually about getting information. I don’t think it’s about getting the unredacted Mueller report. I don’t think last week’s hearing was actually about having staff question the attorney general. I think it’s, as my colleague said earlier—I think it’s all about trying to destroy Bill Barr because Democrats are nervous he’s going to get to the bottom of everything.”
As The Minnesota Sun reported, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to hold Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to hand over Mueller’s full, unredacted report. Twenty-four Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the motion.
Jordan suggested before the vote that Democrats are nervous Barr will discover “how and why this investigation started in the first place.”
Jordan noted that during his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee Barr said there was “a failure of leadership at the upper echelons of the FBI.”
Bill Barr is following the law. What's his reward? Democrats are going to hold him in contempt. pic.twitter.com/slK3cXf3k2
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) May 8, 2019
“We all know that’s the case. Director Comey’s been fired. Deputy Director McCabe fired—lied three times under oath, according to the inspector general. FBI Counsel Jim Baker demoted and left—currently under investigation by the Justice Department. Lisa Page demoted and left. Peter Strzok, deputy head of counterintelligence, demoted and fired,” Jordan elaborated.
“There was certainly a failure of leadership at the upper echelons of the FBI,” he added.
Jordan then reminded his Democratic colleagues that Barr confirmed “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign in 2016.
“They did it. They did it twice, and who knows how much more,” Jordan said of the surveillance on the Trump campaign. “And what I know is Bill Barr has said he’s going to get to the bottom of it, and think about the term he used again. This is important—political surveillance. Think about that term.”
“This is what Bill Barr wants to investigate,” Jordan concluded.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA-09) joined Jordan in pushing back against Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, saying in a statement that Chairman Jerry Nadler “knows full subpoena compliance requires Attorney General Barr to break the law.”
“Yet, instead of passing legislation allowing the attorney general to provide Congress grand jury material, Democrats move to hold him in contempt,” Collins said. “They know the Justice Department is working to negotiate even as they pursue contempt charges, making their move today illogical and disingenuous.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
