Where Things Stand: Jordan Sets The Stage For Yet Another Investigate The Investigators Stunt

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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 11: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaks at a news conference with fellow House Republicans after passing H.R.2 - the Secure the Border Act of 2023 at the Capitol, May 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. ... WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 11: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) speaks at a news conference with fellow House Republicans after passing H.R.2 - the Secure the Border Act of 2023 at the Capitol, May 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. The Republican-led bill increases spending for security at the southern border through the hiring of additional Border Patrol agents, upgrading existing technology and resuming construction of the southern border wall. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS

June 6, 2023 6:17 p.m.

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After Donald Trump sounded the alarm on Truth Social in March that he was about to get indicted in Manhattan and alleged that DA Alvin Bragg was coordinating with the DOJ, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and his other House Republican foot soldiers entered Trump’s armageddon screed into the official record. In a letter sent days before Trump was even indicted, Jordan breathed life into Trump’s Truth Social conspiracy theory by requesting that Bragg turn over whatever supposed communications his office might have had with the DOJ about the investigation.

It was the first act of many by Jordan to use his chairmanship to go to bat for an indicted Trump, while also giving himself the platform to publicly poke holes in Bragg’s investigation, irrespective of whether said hole-poking ultimately goes anywhere.

And he’s doing it again. Just as it appears an indictment may be looming in a second investigation into Donald Trump, Jordan is using his oversight authority to insert himself ahead of an indictment and give himself, Trump and other Republicans a narrative to follow if/when charges drop.

NBC News reported this afternoon that Jordan sent Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter requesting “an unredacted copy of the memorandum outlining the scope of Mr. Smith’s probes regarding President Trump and any supporting documentation related to his appointment as special counsel.”

It’s the start of what will likely become a full-fledged investigate-the-investigators inquiry; a tactic that he and other House Republicans have been using for years now to muck up public perceptions of investigations into their political allies. It was the basis of what eventually became the John Durham probe. And as my colleague Josh Kovensky unpacks here, it’s the same tactic Rep. James Comer (R-KY) is currently using as he readies a vote on whether to hold FBI Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress.

Josh’s piece is worth the read.