Jan. 6 panel warns Jordan over refusal to participate with Capitol riot probe

The House select committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot warned Rep. Jim Jordan over his refusal to participate in the panel’s Jan. 6 probe.

A spokesman for the committee accused the Ohio Republican of retreating from his initial stated intent of working with the panel, after he sent a letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson, committee chairman, signaling his refusal to cooperate.

“Mr. Jordan has previously said that he would cooperate with the committee’s investigation, but it now appears that the Trump team has persuaded him to try to hide the facts and circumstances of January 6th. The Select Committee will respond to this letter in more detail in the coming days and will consider appropriate next steps,” the spokesman said in a statement to The Washington Times.

The response comes as Mr. Jordan issued a scathing reply to the committee’s request for a meeting with him in their attempts to find out what role Republican members of Congress may have played in the Capitol riot.

The lawmaker called the committee’s request “far outside the bounds of any legitimate inquiry” and that he felt the panel was purposely targeting Republicans for partisan motives.

It’s unclear whether the committee will take punitive measures against Mr. Jordan, who was originally selected by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to be on the panel.

Mr. Jordan’s membership, however, was rejected by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over his objection to certifying the 2020 election results that declared President Biden the victor.

The current committee is made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.