In a series of bombshell stories released last week, the New York Times, CNN, and Rolling Stone expose that Jim Jordan’s ‘weaponization committee’ whistleblowers are nothing but MAGA partisans, conspiracy theorists, and Trump allies. Jim Jordan has repeatedly emphasized that dozens of FBI “whistleblowers” are coming forward to give testimony about an alleged conspiracy and used them to justify the creation of his weaponization subcommittee. But the three witnesses who have testified so far are conspiracy theorists who have spread lies about January 6th and been paid by a crony of Donald Trump’s. These new reports are just further examples of how political stunts consume Jim Jordan and MAGA Republicans. Jordan and the subcommittee’s only goal is to weaken President Biden and the Democrats, putting politics and their MAGA agenda above the American people.
CNN: Jim Jordan’s first FBI whistleblowers face scrutiny from skeptical Democrats. “For more than a year, Jordan has made whistleblower allegations a central part of his campaign to uncover what he claims is political bias inside the federal government, including drafting a 1,000-page report last year that leans heavily on claims by government employees alleging political interference by both the Justice Department and the FBI. That report and the groundswell of support among House Republicans helped lead to the creation of an entire subcommittee Jordan now leads, the “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” which is helming the whistleblower interviews. Democrats on Jordan’s weaponization subcommittee, already skeptical of its premise, are frustrated that many of the materials regarding these individuals have not been shared. While Democratic members and their staff have interviewed some of these people behind closed doors alongside their GOP counterparts, what they have learned so far has not been encouraging, Democrats told CNN.” [CNN, 3/2/23]
Rolling Stone: Inside Jim Jordan’s Disastrous Search for a ‘Deep State’ Whistleblower. “But if the whistleblowers aren’t able to produce what Jordan has promised, it will be a serious blow to Republicans’ plan to use control of the House to refocus the public away from Trump’s proximity to an insurrection and onto an alleged anti-conservative conspiracy. The whistleblower pipeline comes from a collaboration between Jordan, other MAGA lawmakers, and top officials in Trump’s orbit. Whistleblowers have received payments and legal counsel through this loose network; one whistleblower, Stephen Friend — a former FBI agent who brought concerns about the agency’s questioning of Jan. 6 protesters to Republicans — even received a job.” [Rolling Stone, 3/2/23]
New York Times: G.O.P. Witnesses, Paid by Trump Ally, Embraced Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theories. “House Republicans have spent months promising to use their majority to uncover an insidious bias against conservatives on the part of the federal government, vowing to produce a roster of brave whistle-blowers who would come forward to provide damning evidence of abuses aimed at the right. But the first three witnesses to testify privately before the new Republican-led House committee investigating the “weaponization” of the federal government have offered little firsthand knowledge of any wrongdoing or violation of the law, according to Democrats on the panel who have listened to their accounts. Instead, the trio appears to be a group of aggrieved former F.B.I. officials who have trafficked in right-wing conspiracy theories, including about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, and received financial support from a top ally of former President Donald J. Trump.” [New York Times, 3/2/23]
Washington Post: New Democratic report calls into question key GOP ‘weaponization’ claim. “We now know there was significantly more to the story. And Democrats are highlighting new details as they argue that the GOP’s claims of a “weaponized” federal government are overwrought. House Democrats took the extraordinary step Thursday of issuing a report detailing what they view as the holes in the accounts of people whom House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has labeled whistleblowers (but whom Democrats have doubted meet the definition for that label). It details the claims of the first three people interviewed by the newly Republican-controlled committee — each of them suspended or former FBI agents — and their links to allies of former president Donald Trump.” [Washington Post, 3/3/23]
Talking Points Memo: House Dem Report: It’s Official, Jim Jordan’s GOP ‘Weaponization’ Panel Is A Sham. “The lengthy report, penned by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands), comes in reaction to one of the countless stunt investigations House Republicans are conducting into the Biden administration. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) — chairman of the panel — and other Republicans have been loudly claiming for months that they have testimony from numerous whistleblowers that will somehow show government agencies, like the FBI, are targeting right-wing individuals and groups.” [Talking Points Memo, 3/3/23]
Newsweek: Jim Jordan’s Credibility Questioned Over Whistleblowers’ Testimony. “The credibility of the witnesses has raised questions about the validity of the Republican Party’s key aim in the GOP-controlled Congress to investigate apparent partisan bias in the federal government under the Biden administration. A spokesperson for Jordan accused Democrats of having “cherry-picked” excerpts of testimonies to condemn the committee’s work.” [Newsweek, 3/3/23]
Salon: Report outs Jim Jordan’s weaponization subcommittee “whistleblowers” as frauds paid by Trump ally. “Jordan formed the committee after Republicans took over the House with the aim of exposing bias against conservatives by the federal government. Jordan last month claimed that there were ‘dozens and dozens of whistleblowers, FBI agents, coming to us talking about what is going on, the political nature of the Justice Department.’ But the panel has only transcribed interviews with three purported whistleblowers who appear to not meet the definition of a whistleblower and engaged in partisan conduct that undermines their credibility, according to the 316-page Democratic report. ‘Based on interviews of the three witnesses that have been made available to us, we are able to draw a number of striking conclusions about the state of the Republican investigation,’ the report says. ‘First, the three individuals we have met are not, in fact, whistleblowers. These individuals, who put forward a wide range of conspiracy theories, did not present actual evidence of any wrongdoing at the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.’” [Salon, 3/3/23]
HuffPost: Democrats Present Damning Info On Jim Jordan’s FBI ‘Whistleblowers’. “Two of the three agents have embraced a discredited conspiracy theory that the FBI instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Two of the three recently received cash payments and other help from a Donald Trump loyalist who used to work for the Trump administration. One of them wouldn’t even explain what he’d done to get suspended by the FBI. And according to Democrats — who released the material because they claimed Republicans were leaking it first — none of the supposed whistleblowers meets the legal definition of a whistleblower. ‘These individuals, who put forward a wide range of conspiracy theories, did not present actual evidence of any wrongdoing at the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of Investigation,’ Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Stacy Plaskett (D-V.I.), the top Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee and its weaponization subcommittee, wrote in their 315-page report.” [HuffPost, 3/3/23]