WASHINGTON — Republican House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan expects Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to appear in front of his committee when the House returns in September, even though their appearance will allow Democrats to grill the pair about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his close links to Donald Trump.
“‘They're going to get asked all kinds of questions,” Jordan said.
Jordan, from Ohio, wants to ask Bondi and Patel about documents released on Wednesday by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, as part of attempts to portray President Barack Obama and other top officials acting to undermine Trump after his victory in the 2016 election.
The newly released documents concern investigations of Russian election interference on Trump’s behalf and were drafted by House Republicans in 2017, when Trump was first in office.
Gabbard’s gambit was widely seen as an attempt to shift the spotlight from the swirling Epstein scandal.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson brought forward the August recess, as a way to block bipartisan calls for the release of files on Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019.
At the Capitol on Wednesday, Raw Story asked Jordan: “Had you been in talks with ODNI about [the document release], or did you just learn of this today?”
Jordan said: “No, no, no … I did not know Tulsi was going to release this and what she did on Friday.”
Then, Gabbard released a report on investigations of how Russia interfered in the 2016 election in support of Trump, and their handling by Obama, former FBI Director James Comey, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and other top officials.
That prompted Trump to call for the arrest of Obama, which would be an act without precedent, and Obama to issue a rebuke in turn.
Jordan said: “We knew, based on the intelligence committee chairman … that he thought something was coming, that product they had worked on years ago, which is released today.
“We're going to see, I do know we're going to have Attorney General Bondi and Director Patel in front of our committee real soon.”
Raw Story asked: “On Epstein or on this?”
“On everything,” Jordan replied. “They're coming in for their normal visit. So they're going to get asked all kinds of questions.”
Raw Story said: “You know, Dems are going to want to just focus on Epstein.”
Jordan said: “Democrats, they ask whatever question they want, and Republicans ask whatever question they want. That's what happens when they come in.
“We’ve been working on getting Pam and Kash … in front of the committee weeks ago.”
‘I don’t think it’s gonna work’
Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Intelligence Subcommittee, branded the Republican moves as “ridiculous.”
“Well, again, it's their MO, which is they know they're hiding stuff on the Epstein files, and they're afraid of it, so they want to change the story,” Bera said.
“I don't think it's gonna work.”
Raw Story asked: “How good have [the GOP] become at normalizing the use of government to spread misinformation?”
Bera said: “That's important, right? Because you want people to pressure the federal government when they give you information … that's the sad part of what this place is becoming.”
Bera also had harsh words for Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. Before leaving Congress, she drifted right and eventually entered Trump’s cabinet.
“Tulsi and I came into Congress together,” Bera said. “To see what she's become, it’s just ridiculous … at this juncture, there’s no backbone or spine.”
