GOP hopes 'idiot' Jim Jordan will smear Lt. Col. Vindman in order to save Trump: report

In a scathing column for the Daily Beast, longtime political columnist Margaret Carlson said the Republican Party is hoping and praying that embattled Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) will somehow successfully smear and disrupt the testimony of key impeachment witness Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman in an effort to derail the impeachment of Donald Trump.

This, as Carlson notes, despite the fact that many in the Republican Party loathe Jordan, who was once called an "idiot" by former Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH).

Getting right to the point, Carlson dryly let her readers know what she thinks of Jordan versus Vindman, calling only one a "patriot."

"As open impeachment hearings begin Wednesday, don’t lose sight of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a patriot, and Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican."

According to the columnist, Jordan's temporary shift to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence was purely engineered so he can act as an "attack dog" for the GOP and Donald Trump, which stands in stark contrast to the Vindman's service to the U.S.

"As Jordan is on the rise, newly elevated to the Intelligence Committee for his well-earned reputation as a partisan attack dog, Vindman, the Ukraine expert who actually sat in on the call in which Trump tried to bribe that country’s president into doing his dirty political work in exchange for the release of $400 million in military aid, is in trouble and likely to be relieved of his duties at the NSC as a thank-you for his service," she wrote. 

"Trump already announced his intention to attack Vindman as a partisan hack after the wounded combat veteran with a Purple Heart voluntarily came for his deposition two weeks ago dressed in full uniform and was escorted inside by Capitol Police acting as an honor guard. In his opening statement, Vindman testified that he reported his concerns about the call up the chain of command until he ran into a political appointee who told him never to speak of it again and stashed the full transcript in an inaccessible top secret server," she explained. "That’s where Jordan comes in."

"If you can’t fight on the facts, you attack the character of witnesses—which he proved himself a champ at during the Benghazi hearings. Jordan’s uniform is shirtsleeves, to signify working-man cred and that he’ll take the fight outside if you don’t shut up and let him talk," she continued before explaining that -- outside of Jordan's headline-grabbing antics -- many Republicans have little use for him.

"Jordan is the kind of person even his erstwhile allies don’t like. In a Politico article in 2017, the retired former Speaker of the House, John Boehner, said that Jordan 'is an idiot. I can’t tell you what makes him tick,' adding for good measure that he’s also 'an asshole' as he decried what was happening to his party. In 2018, Jordan campaigned to be House Minority Leader, but lost his bid to California Republican Kevin McCarthy 159–43, the 43 mostly from other firebrands in the Freedom Caucus. That was better than his showing in the speaker’s race in the 114th Congress, when he got two votes," Carlson elaborated.

With that, she noted Jordan's own legal issues, pointing out, "His promotion comes just as a new lawsuit revives charges that when he was the assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1987 to 1995, he ignored pleas from his wrestlers to do something about the team physician, Dr. Richard Strauss. Strauss was to OSU wrestlers as Dr. Larry Nassar was to the University of Michigan gymnasts, using his position to abuse 177 students according to the university’s investigation released last spring."

"Now Jordan finds himself working alongside another man of questionable character, summoned to impeach witnesses of unimpeachable character. Vindman is one of the parade of career military and civil servants including acting Ambassador William Taylor, George Kent, Fiona Hill and Laura Cooper who will testify that Trump’s so called 'perfect' call diminished our national security and enhanced Russia’s," she charged.

"Jordan and his team intend to treat Vindman as if the servant and patriot is a fixer and crook like Michael Cohen, trying to stay out of jail by ratting on the boss. They want to put the motive of the witnesses on trial, instead of the actions of Trump, she continued, before tersely concluding, "May the better team win."

You can read more here (subscription required).