Jim Jordan rejects Jan. 6 panel’s request to cooperate in investigation

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) has rejected a request from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack to voluntarily cooperate with their investigation. 

“This request is far outside the bounds of any legitimate inquiry, violates core Constitutional principles, and would serve to further erode legislative norms,” Jordan wrote to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the select committee, according a copy of the letter published by Axios. 

“As you well know, I have no relevant information that would assist the Select Committee in advancing any legitimate legislative purpose,” he added. 

The committee had asked Jordan to provide information about his communication with former President Trump on the day of the deadly insurrection.

“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 wrote in his letter seeking the sit-down with Jordan. 

“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 added in the letter. 

Jordan acknowledged speaking to Trump on Jan. 6 earlier this summer in an interview with Spectrum News.

“Yeah, I mean, I spoke with the president last week. I speak with the president all of the time. I spoke with him on Jan. 6. I mean, I talked with President Trump all the time, and that’s … I don’t think that’s unusual,” Jordan said at the time. 

His response to the House committee comes days after the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, in which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to stop with the certification of President Biden’s electoral college victory. 

The Hill has reached out Thompson’s office for comment. 

Thompson said on Jan. 2 that the panel believes it is “in a good place” to begin the process of drafting a report on the events on and around Jan. 6, 2021.