Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) went down in flames after a tense exchange with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Thursday.
It began when members of the House Reform and Oversight Committee were discussing Ivanka Trump's use of a personal email server to conduct government business, which is not permitted. Her father made Hillary Clinton's private email server a key tenet of his 2016 campaign, leading his rally audiences in chants of "lock her up."
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) called Jordan out for describing subpoenas as "the primary tool for this committee and Congress to be able to get at necessary information to do its work" during the Obama administration.
He recalled Jordan "advocating passionately for the issuance of subpoenas to compel cooperation in the issuance of documents and witnesses."
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) sarcastically said that it wouldn't surprise him that Jordan was such "an effective champion of legislative oversight in use of subpoena power." He noted that he thinks Congress should be doing it regardless of who the president is.
Jordan said that it was different for Ivanka Trump because she didn't set up her server to conduct official business on. He said that once she learned what the rules were, she stopped using the email. It's unclear how Ivanka Trump went through the entirety of the 2016 election but didn't know that she couldn't use her private server to conduct government business.
"I would just say if my friend believes what he just said and is accurate, he has nothing to fear by issuance of the subpoenas," Connelly replied. The committee is calling for the emails to be released. Trump said that she didn't delete any of the emails, though, without a subpoena, that information couldn't be corroborated.
Jordan then tried to make it about "personal information" requested, the same as was asked of Clinton.
"This is pretty unprecedented that we are trying to protect family members now of the administration," Tlaib cut in. "These are people that have access. Our ranking member needs to understand. These are people who have access --"
Jordan then tried to cut in. He then said he'd let Tlaib finish, but then talked over her instead.
"We're talking about the daughter of the president who has access to information," Tlaib said.
Jordan interrupted again as Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) tried to stop the battle.
"It is important for my colleagues to understand we're talking about transparency, talking about oversight," Tlaib continued. "These are messages that impact the American people. That right now all I hear is this fear from the other side of information that might come about Ivanka, and we have to protect -- that's all I hear! You choose to protect family members of the current administration that have access to information. They're at the table making decisions on behalf of the American people. They don't have privacy anymore.
"They also have to be accountable to us in this chamber. Mr. Chairman, and ranking member, I understand that you want to talk about the specific processes, want to go back and forth about Hillary Clinton. You are protecting someone that is at the table."
She explained that using personal emails for government business as a White House official removed the protection of privacy in this case.
Watch the exchange below:
