Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is building on his reputation as a tenacious legislator who aggressively chases information and holds government officials to task.
Spearheaded by Jordan, the committee is looking into FBI actions that Republicans contend are misdeeds and improper conduct aimed at derailing Donald Trump’s campaigns for president.
To that end, the committee is investigating the FBI raid last summer of the former president’s estate Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in which the feds seized sensitive materials that Trump had stored there from his time in the White House.
The Justice Department’s special counsel Jack Smith is nearing completing his investigations into the documents at Mar-a-Lago, and Trump and his involvement in the Capitol protests and disruption of Jan. 6, 2021.
Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a Team Trump volunteer leadership training event held at the Grimes Community Complex in Grimes, Iowa, on June 1, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Trump’s attorneys met with Justice Department officials on June 5.
The former president is clear about where he stands and what he believes is driving the investigations.
“It’s all about ELECTION INTERFERENCE. They don’t want to run against me,” posted Trump on Truth Social on June 6. “I ran twice, I did much better the second time, getting millions and millions more votes than the first, a record for a sitting President, and am leading Biden in the polls, by a lot.
“They are the Party of Disinformation! They are using the DOJ & FBI against me to Rigg the 2024 Election. They’ll hit Hunter with something small to make their strike on me look ‘fair.’ Nothing about these Fascists is fair or honest. FIGHT!”
Explanation Sought From Garland
On June 6, Jordan sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for a breakdown and explanation of the parameters of Smith’s investigation of Mar-a-Lago and what the FBI found.Jordan also requested in the letter that Garland provides a description of Smith’s “authority and jurisdiction” within his role in the investigation.
Jordan wants further clarification of Smith’s job duties which Garland described at a press conference held on Nov. 18, 2022, when he announced Smith as special counsel.
Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers remarks at the U.S. Justice Department Building in Washington on Nov. 18, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Garland said that day that Smith was appointed to work on “two ongoing criminal investigations that have received significant public attention.”
One investigation, he said, involved “whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.”
The other investigation centered on classified documents and other presidential records, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation.
Jordan’s letter follows correspondence that he sent Garland on June 1 in which he asked the attorney general for information relating to how the FBI is being used in Smith’s investigation.
In the letter, prior to making the information request, Jordan cited wrongdoing of the FBI that Special Counsel John Durham documented in his probe into how the FBI investigated reports, later disproven, of Russia scheming with the Trump campaign in 2016 to put Trump in the White House.
“On May 12, Special Counsel John Durham released a report detailing the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) failing in opening and closing an investigation—codenamed ‘Crossfire Hurricane’—into debunked allegations of collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government,” wrote Jordan in the June 1 letter.
“The extent of the FBI’s bias and reckless disregard for the truth, which Special Counsel Durham laid out in painstaking detail, is nothing short of scandalous …
“The Special Counsel’s report details how the FBI abused its law enforcement authorities to achieve a political end—that is, hamstring the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump.”
Mar-a-Lago Raid Aftermath
Approximately 30 federal agents raided Mar-a-Lago on the morning of Aug. 8, 2022.On April 11, Garland delivered an on-camera public statement about the FBI operation.
“Federal law, long-standing department rules, and our ethical obligations prevent me from providing further details as to the basis of the search at this time,” said Garland.
“There are, however, certain points I want you to know,” he said.
“First, I personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant in this matter. Second, the department does not take such a decision lightly. Where possible, it is standard practice to seek less intrusive means as an alternative to a search, and to narrowly scope any search that is undertaken.”
A law enforcement officer stands outside Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 8, 2022. Giorgio Viera/AFP/Getty Images
Garland then addressed the widespread condemnation from Republicans who said the raid was a political vendetta.
“Third, let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked.”
An FBI warrant authorizing the raid, released to the public later that month, stated that the “government is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the improper removal and storage of classified information in unauthorized spaces, as well as the unlawful concealment or removal of government records.”
The FBI removed 27 boxes of materials and other items. Documents that the FBI took included those marked “confidential,” “secret,” and “top secret.”
Predictably, Democrats and progressives cheered the government action, while Republicans and conservatives decried and pointed to the raid as more FBI overreach and wrongful intrusion, and deep state and unwarranted collusion between the bureau and the Biden administration to persecute Trump and weaken his chances of taking up residence again in the White House.
And on the same day that Garland issued a public statement about the FBI operation at Mar-a-Lago, Trump followed with a message on Truth Social.
“My attorneys and representatives were cooperating fully, and very good relationships had been established,” posted Trump. “The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it.”
