In anticipation of Republicans taking back the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Jim Jordan fired the first shot across the bows of the Department of Justice and FBI by signaling what the House Judiciary Committee would investigate under his control.
As the ranking Republican committee member, should the current minority party control the chamber after the November elections, Jordan would be first in line to serve as chairman.
Jordan sent official letters on House Judiciary Committee letterhead to both Attorney General Merrick Garland, who heads the DOJ, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, outlining several topics that he and fellow Republicans have taken issue with over the preceding year.
Jordan highlighted many currently unresolved issues among Republicans in his letter to Garland, such as the “targeting of journalists with Project Veritas, the shuttering of the department’s China Initiative, [and] the department’s one-sided enforcement of the FACE ACT.”
Jordan also underscored “the department’s unprecedented raid on President Trump’s residence.”
“The American people deserve transparency and accountability from our most senior law enforcement official in the executive branch,” Jordan wrote. “Committee Republicans intend to continue to examine these matters, including into the 118th Congress, if necessary. We reiterate our requests.”
The Ohio Republican included a four-page appendix to his letter requesting—and in many instances re-requesting—documents associated with the topics he highlighted in his letter.
Writing to FBI Director Wray, Jordan wasted no time defining his issues with the agency, opening his letter, “We are investigating allegations of politicization and bias at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Similar to his letter to Garland, Jordan then outlined numerous issues that Republicans have raised with the federal law enforcement agency but have not received a satisfactory response.
Jordan pointed to requests for information and resolution on various “whistleblower disclosures alleging the FBI’s improper use of law enforcement resources for political purposes and the FBI’s ‘purging’ of employees with disfavored viewpoints,” as his primary sources of frustration.
“The FBI is not immune from transparency or above accountability for its actions,” Jordan rebuked Wray in his letter. “Committee Republicans intend to continue to examine the politicization and bias at the FBI … We reiterate our requests.”
The letter to Wray also contained a multi-page appendix of requested documents about various investigations and inquiries of interest to Republican legislators.
Jordan’s preliminary efforts are not without teeth, as Republicans are favored to retake the House of Representatives. With that power, they would reorganize the power structures of the chamber, including committees and their chairpersons.
FiveThirtyEight currently predicts that Republicans have an 80% chance to hold between 214 and 248 seats. 220 is the target for securing a majority barring vacancies or other issues.
