'How they supposed to feed their family?' Jim Jordan defends suspended FBI agent’s ties to Trump World

United States Representative and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) scoffed at a reporter's question on Thursday morning about suspended Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Garret O'Boyle, whom The New York Times revealed in March has financial connections to an ally of former President Donald Trump.

O'Boyle is one of several so-called "whistleblowers" scheduled to testify at Thursday's Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing.

"We're talking a lot about in the point of this press conference, the point of the hearing is to talk about how the FBI is politicized, but do you think it's appropriate for some of these whistleblowers, including two who will get your hearing today, to be paid by one of the former president's closest advisors?" the correspondent asked Jordan. "Kash Patel, who actively..." she continued until Jordan abruptly cut her off.

"They got a family. How they supposed to feed their family?" Jordan snapped. "Four hundred and fifty days the FBI has kept these, uh, has kept Mr. O'Boyle in, in limbo where he can't work without pay. He's got four kids. He was selected to come to this special unit they were forming here in Virginia.

"He moves his family and the day he gets here, the day he gets here, they say, 'Hey, we're suspending your clearance.' And they won't let him get access to his furniture, his clothes, and he's got a two-week-old newborn child. I mean, you gotta be kidding me. Of course, they're gonna, they're gonna do whatever they can to feed their family and I don't fault them for that."