During a recent House hearing, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), who retains some roles on panels in the chamber despite Kevin McCarthy blocking him from continuing his service on the House Intelligence Committee, tore into the policy and investigative priorities to which Republicans in the chamber have held.
“Their job is to litigate every one of [Trump’s] petty, petty, petty grievances,” Swalwell quipped of some of his Republican colleagues. “Perhaps the next client is Elon Musk and that’s why FTC has been called here today. But Jim Jordan’s obstruction of justice committees that he’s overseeing have less credibility today than they did when we convened just three weeks ago. It’s now 321 days since this subpoena was sent to Jim Jordan that he did not comply with. So it’s comical that we are here today under Jim Jordan’s leadership asking people why they don’t want to comply with subpoenas.”
The subpoena Swalwell referenced was from the House panel that investigated the Capitol riot, with which Jordan, now leading the Judiciary Committee, refused to comply. Also referenced by the Congressman was the GOP outrage at the Federal Trade Commission for attempting to exercise oversight of Twitter, now owned by Musk — oversight that originates well before he took control.
Swalwell also discussed the demands placed on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg from Jordan and others in the chamber for revealing materials connected to Bragg’s ongoing criminal investigation of Trump, which could result in charges.
“Also since the last hearing of this committee to obstruct justice, Chairman Jordan is now interfering in an independent criminal prosecution,” the Democrat added. “He is asking Alvin Bragg to commit a felony… to help Donald Trump… If Alvin Bragg were to turn over what Jim Jordan is asking, Alvin Bragg would be violating New York law that says you cannot turn over grand jury proceedings… The law doesn’t matter if your client is Donald Trump… You won’t hear from this committee to obstruct justice any condemnation of what Donald Trump posted. They can’t condemn him. They can’t! So, in their silence, they condone it.”
What Trump has posted are what at least could be taken as encouragements to violence, preemptively providing a tacit excuse. He spoke of death and destruction accompanying an indictment of him, should it actually drop — rhetoric that hasn’t led to any kind of widespread break with Trump among established Republican leaders. Swalwell noted how Jordan, when asked about the remarks Trump had made, spoke instead of needing his glasses in what seemed like a transparently feeble attempt to evade questioning. As Americans deal with real-world problems like an increasing death toll from gun violence, this is where Republicans are focusing.
Check out Swalwell’s comments below:
