House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is furious.
Not at Donald Trump—who, as President, incited a violent attack on Congress. Its purpose: To stop the counting of Electoral College votes which would determine the winner of the 2020 Presidential election.
And Trump knew who that winner would be: Former Vice President Joe Biden.
No, Jordan (R-Ohio) isn’t furious at Trump for committing treason against the United States.
Jim Jordan
He’s furious that Trump is being prosecuted for trying to coerce Georgia public officials to “find” Electoral College votes which did not exist.
Specifically, Trump is charged with 13 felony counts:
- 1 count of violating the Georgia RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act (conspiring to overturn the vote count of the 2020 Presidential election);
- 3 counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer;
- 1 count of conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer;
- 2 counts of conspiracy to commit forgery;
- 2 counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings;
- 1 count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents;
- 1 count of filing false documents;
- 2 counts of making false statements and writings.
Donald Trump
This makes Trump the only former President to face criminal trial as—officially—a racketeer.
And it makes Jim Jordan—who defended Trump’s rampant criminality throughout his four years as President—determined to act as his savior.
Thus, on August 24, he sent a letter to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has brought the charges against Trump and 18 other defendants.
It opened:
“On August 14, 2023, you brought a 41-count indictment against 19 defendants—including a former President of the United States and current declared candidate for that office, his attorneys, a former White House Chief of Staff, and a former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official—related to the 2020 election for President of the United States.
“Among other things, you have alleged that these 19 individuals, 30 unindicted co-conspirators, and others were part of a ‘criminal enterprise.’ And you have identified a number of acts that you claim were committed in furtherance of this purported criminal enterprise, including:
“(1) the then-White House Chief of Staff asking a Member of Congress for the phone number of the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives;
“(2) the then-President tweeting that hearings in the Georgia legislature were being aired on a news channel and commenting on those hearings; and
“(3) numerous acts taking place in other states not involving the conduct of the 2020 election in Georgia or the counting of the votes cast in Georgia.
“Your indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated.
“Turning first to the question of motivation, it is noteworthy that just four days before this indictment, you launched a new campaign fundraising website that highlighted your investigation into President Trump….
“Last week, the Fulton County Superior Court’s Clerk publicly released a list of criminal charges against President Trump reportedly hours before the vote of the grand jury….
“And unlike officials in other jurisdictions, Fulton County officials ‘have suggested [they] will process [the former President] as [a] typical criminal defendant[], requiring mug shots and possibly even cash bond.'”
In short: Fulton County officials intended to treat Trump the same way that any other indicted criminal would be treated.
Jordan then demanded:
1. All documents and communications referring or relating to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s receipt and use of federal funds;
2. All documents and communications between or among the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and DOJ and its components, including but not limited to the Office of Special Counsel Jack Smith, referring or relating to your office’s investigation of President Donald Trump or any of the other eighteen individuals against whom charges were brought in the indictment discussed above; and
3. All documents and communications between the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and any federal Executive Branch officials regarding your office’s investigation of President Donald Trump or any of the other eighteen individuals against whom charges were brought in the indictment discussed above.”
In the past, Republicans—including Jordan—have held sacred the separation of powers between Federal and state governments.
- In 1962, a Democratic President—John F. Kennedy—sent deputy U.S. marshals to ensure the safety of James Meredith, the first black student ever admitted to the all-white University of Mississippi. Republicans howled in outrage at this “violation” of “states’ rights.”
- In 1964, another Democratic President—Lyndon B. Johnson—signed the Civil Rights Act into law. Republicans were outraged at its demands that blacks be treated as equal citizens.
- And when Johnson ordered FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to “go after the Ku Klux Klan the way you do after the Communists,” Republicans again attacked him for “interfering” with “sovereign” states.
But now a local Georgia prosecutor has dared hold accountable a former Republican President for trying to disenfranchise the voting rights of 2,473,633 Georgia citizens.
So, for Jordan, the voting rights of those citizens must naturally take a back seat to the “right” of a losing Republican President to illegally remain in office as “President-for-Life.”