If Congressman Jim Jordan really has ‘nothing to hide,’ he’ll talk to Jan. 6 panel

Making Jordan talk is another critical step toward getting to the bottom of the disgraceful acts that played out before the world nearly a year ago.

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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, must now face questioning about the Jan 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building.

AP photos

Two months ago, Trump sycophant Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said he had nothing to hide if he were asked about the role he might have played in the violent insurrection at the U.S. capitol last Jan. 6.

The public will soon see if that’s the case. The U.S. House select committee investigating the attempted overthrow earlier this week says it wants to interview Jordan. The panel has also requested documents related to that day.

“We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th,” said a letter to Jordan sent by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), the panel’s chairman. “We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail.”

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Jordan, if he cares about the work of the committee he is a part of — not to mention the oath he took as a member of Congress to uphold the Constitution — should unquestionably be forthcoming.

But given his loyalty to former President Donald Trump — and his shaky relationship with the truth — no one should exactly hold their breath.

‘Nothing to hide’?

Jordan is an obvious proponent of the Big Lie, making baseless public claims that voter fraud swayed the outcome of the November 2020 election in favor of President Joe Biden. He would be an important figure in the congressional probe, and only the second lawmaker asked to testify before the committee.

The congressman met with then-President Trump in November and December of 2020 and in January 2021 to discuss “strategies for overturning the results of the 2020 election,” Thompson’s letter to Jordan said.

Thompson’s letter said the committee also wants to know if any conversations involving Jordan raised the possibility of presidential pardons for those who participated or planned the attack on the Capitol — or the rallies that took place on Jan. 6 just before the siege.

And a day before the attack, Jordan sent a text to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that laid out a legal theory claiming then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

Jordan told the House Rules Committee in October that he talked to Trump on Jan. 6.

“Of course, I talked to the president,” he said. “I talked to him that day. I’ve been clear about that.”

But also told the Rules Committee this: “I don’t recall the number of times [I talked to the president], but it’s not about me. I know you want to make it about that.”

That sounds like the congressman, who said in October “I have nothing to hide” and that he would cooperate with the committee, is indeed hiding something.

For starters, what did he and Trump discuss in those Jan. 6 conversations? And how do the talks match up against the sequence of events that day?

The congressional panel, and the public, deserves those answers, and more.

But what did Jordan know

Jordan isn’t the only GOP congressman in the committee’s crosshairs. The panel has also requested information from Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) who wanted to replace Trump Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department attorney who also believed the November 2020 election was stolen.

But Perry is refusing to cooperate with the panel — and will likely get a congressional subpoena compelling him to come forth or else run the risk of jail time.

Jordan, as well, should receive a subpoena if he doesn’t cooperate.

Making Jordan talk truthfully about what he said, did and heard on Jan. 6 — and the months leading up to it — is another critical step toward getting to the bottom of the disgraceful acts that played out before the world nearly a year ago.

Along with other testimony and documents, what Jordan would be compelled to say could go a long way toward solidifying what has seemed apparent from jump: That Jan. 6 was not just the work of a mob of angry goofs, or just a “normal tourist visit,” but a bid orchestrated or abetted by the Trump administration and its lackeys to invalidate a legal presidential election.

The work of the select committee to piece together the full story is taking place in real time, step by step. Every step is worthy of the public’s full attention — and pressure to hold culprits responsible — from the bottom to the top — unless we want a repeat of Jan. 6 down the road.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com.

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