Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has a lot on his plate. His job as chair of the Judiciary Committee positions him atop one of the primary forums for sparring with the Biden administration. But his side hustle chairing a subcommittee focused on the “weaponization of the federal government” is giving him all kinds of grief lately.
The goal of the subcommittee is to deliver on one of the biggest promises Republicans made during last year’s elections: producing proof that conservatives are victims of a vast federal plot to suppress their freedoms. Unfortunately for Jordan, everything about this farce is designed to work against him. It’s only a matter of time before the whole thing implodes — with Jordan caught squarely in the fallout.
There’s a reason why in most actual investigations, at least some fact-finding is done first.
Let’s take a look at the several ways that Jordan and the committee are poised to fail. First, there’s how much he and other members of the pro-Trump wing have invested in the grievances and conspiracy-mongering that animates the GOP base these days. Many of these tales of federal malfeasance follow a simple formula. A legitimate investigation or policy (such as the investigations into former President Donald Trump or Justice Department concerns about threats toward teachers and school board members) is recycled and spun in conservative media into another strand in the left-wing’s web of oppression.
Jordan and his fellow Republicans have spent hours on Fox News, Newsmax, right-wing podcasts, and social media to hype these stories and connect them to a Grand Theory of Wokeness that is stifling speech and jailing innocent conservatives. Those are serious charges — and if the crimes are so obvious, and the plot has already been uncovered, producing the evidence should be simple.
But that level of certainty is backfiring for Jordan. There’s a reason why in most actual investigations, at least some fact-finding is done first. And…
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