The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack has requested that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appear before them to answer questions regarding his communications with former President Donald Trump.
The request is voluntary, meaning that Jordan isn’t required to appear by a subpoena. The January 6 commission wants Jordan to speak with its investigators sometime in the first two weeks of January, either at the Capitol or in his home district.
Jordan is the second member of the House of Representatives who has been asked to speak before the panel. Earlier this week, the commission asked Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) to give a voluntary deposition, but Perry rejected the invitation.
Jordan, the ranking Republican member on the House Judiciary Committee, is a staunch Trump ally who was initially chosen by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) to serve on the January 6 commission, along with fellow Trump ally Rep. Jim Baker (R-Indiana). But Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) rejected both of the lawmakers for spreading disinformation about the Capitol attack.
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Pelosi said in July.
In a letter sent to Jordan this week, commission chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) noted that Jordan was in constant communication with Trump in the months after the 2020 presidential election and on the day of the January 6 Capitol breach.
“We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th. We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail,” Thompson said, adding that the commission is also interested in communications from the day before the attack.
The commission is also seeking information about Jordan’s communications with Trump during the interim period between Election Day and January 6 — specifically discussions about overturning Trump’s election loss to President Joe Biden.
“Public reporting suggests that you may also have information about meetings with White House officials and the then-President in November and December 2020, and early-January 2021, about strategies for overturning the results of the 2020 election,” Thompson wrote.
Jordan has been inconsistent about how often he spoke with Trump on January 6, refusing to give straight answers to the question in television interviews. In July, shortly after Pelosi rejected him from serving on the commission, Jordan was asked in a Fox News interview whether he spoke with Trump on the day of the attack.
“Yes,” Jordan immediately responded. “I mean I’ve talked to the president so many, I can’t remember all the days I have talked to him, but I have certainly talked to the president.”
In the months after that interview, Jordan continued to waffle on the answer. In an interview in August, he said he spoke with Trump “more than once” on the day the Capitol was attacked. In a House Rules Committee hearing in October, however, Jordan said he only “may have talked to him.”
In November, Jordan was asked directly whether he would cooperate with the January 6 commission should they ask to speak with him.
“Depends on what it is [they want to talk about],” Jordan said. “I’m not going to answer hypothetical questions, but I just think this is a complete sham, what these guys are doing.”
