House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-OH) plans to work with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to "weaponize" the House into a body that conducts "years of hyperpartisan investigations" for political messaging, warned former GOP communications official Amanda Carpenter in a new article for The Bulwark published on Tuesday.
"In one of his first acts as speaker, McCarthy called a vote to create a new panel with sprawling authority to investigate how conservatives are mistreated, and every Republican voted in favor. It will have subpoena power and the ability to obtain classified information and review ongoing criminal probes, including those related to January 6th," wrote Carpenter. "And whom has McCarthy tapped to lead this partisan initiative? Jim Jordan, the hyperpartisan Ohio congressman who also chairs the Judiciary Committee, of which this new panel is a subcommittee." Jordan is not only unqualified to lead a serious investigation, Carpenter argued, but he is also one of the people facing investigation for his role in the plot to overturn the election in the first place.
The new committee, which will have more funding than the January 6 Committee did, is going to launch its investigations based on a lengthy report Jordan himself issued, purporting to detail corruption and political dealing at the FBI.
"The report divides these grievances into two main categories: first, the umbrella claim that the FBI is 'abusing its law enforcement authorities for political reasons'; second, that the bureau is 'purging conservative employees' while 'helping to censor conservative viewpoints online,'" said the report. "It states that 'President Biden has shown no problem in labeling his political opponents as racists, fascists, and domestic terrorists,' and that, far from resisting Biden’s wanton accusations, the FBI has joined in the political oppression by falsifying cases of domestic terrorism, amping up or suppressing stories based on political considerations, and other malevolent acts intended to serve the administration’s political agenda." Among other claims, Jordan accuses the FBI of "manufacturing" the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping and assassination plot through entrapment.
Fox News originally spread much of the talking points Jordan uses, and are ready to amplify the committee's work, said Carpenter: "The weaponization subcommittee is arguably the brainchild of Fox primetime host Tucker Carlson, whose controversial documentary, 'Patriot Purge,' frames January 6th as a government-led false flag operation against Trump voters, one that signals a new, partisan direction in the domestic war on terrorism ... Sean Hannity is also on board. McCarthy gave Hannity his first television interview upon becoming speaker, and Hannity opened that conversation by lauding '222 people' — that is, all the House Republicans — for 'agree[ing] on Jim Jordan’s investigation.'"
Some analysts, including The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin, have argued that Democrats' best strategy would be to join the committee and use whichever of its powers they can to continue investigations of their own.
