GOP Rep. Jim Jordan is still fuming about Michael Cohen's testimony
The House Oversight Committee gathered on Tuesday to vote on issuing subpoenas related to leaks about White House security clearances, as well as the committee's investigation into the addition of a citizenship question to the U.S. census. And Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was not pleased, to say the least, about how the committee has handled things recently.
Jordan began by expressing his displeasure that Committee Chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) interviewed Tricia Newbold, the White House staffer who leaked information about the security clearances. Cummings interviewed Newbold on March 23, a Saturday when Congress was not in session — Jordan was particularly miffed that Cummings did not alert Republican lawmakers about the interview until the day before. He also said Cummings "cherry picked" information from the questioning in a "partisan attack" on the White House.
Jordan was also displeased with the committee's attempts to subpoena former White House official Carl Kline, who administered security clearances. Kline has already voluntarily agreed to interview with the committee, so Jordan found the subpoena unwarranted. He was similarly confused by the census subpoenas, as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appeared before the committee already.
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"I've never seen anything like it," Jordan said about the committee's actions. This prompted a hearty laugh and a retort from Cummings.
It's also worth noting that, during Jordan's statement, he was able to slip in a reference about Michael Cohen's February testimony, which might be the impetus for his building frustrations. "I'll tell you what else I've never seen," he said. "I've never seen a witness come in front of this committee and lie to us seven times and us as a committee not do something about it."
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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