CNN is reporting that the House select committee investigating the January attack on the U.S. Capitol “6 has asked Rep. Jim Jordan, one of former President Donald Trump’s top congressional allies, to voluntarily meet with the panel as it zeroes in on Republican lawmakers who may have significant knowledge of events leading up to the US Capitol attack.”
Citing Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi (D-MS), who chairs the committee, CNN reported the panel sent a letter to Jordan wanting to learn more about his communications with Trump on January 6.
“We understand that you had at least one and possibly multiple communications with President Trump on January 6th. We would like to discuss each such communication with you in detail,” Thompson wrote in the letter.
“And we also wish to inquire about any communications you had on January 5th or 6th with those in the Willard War Room, the Trump legal team, White House personnel or others involved in organizing or planning the actions and strategies for January 6th,” the letter states, referencing in part an election-related “command center” for Trump allies at the Willard InterContinental hotel in Washington around January 6, according to the report.
Jordan, who previously warned the committee that targeting GOP lawmakers in any capacity would be met with political retribution if Republicans retake the House after next year’s midterm elections, has been identified as one of the lawmakers who sent a text message to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that the committee has in its possession.
CNN noted that the message that Jordan forwarded to Meadows on January 5 “pushes a legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to stand in the way of the certification of the 2020 election.”
A portion of that message was read by the January 6 select committee during its contempt report presentation before the full House voted to refer Meadows to the Justice Department to decide on possible criminal contempt charges.
