Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is continuing to beat the drum regarding the truth of what Donald Trump is credibly accused of doing, meaning the allegedly extensive and willful retention of government documents in which he engaged. He’s now facing dozens of felony criminal charges in federal court brought by Jack Smith.
It’s important to note, though, that Smith did not bring these charges simply of his own accord, which undermines any argument of politics. A jury had to approve the indictment before it became official. As for Swalwell, he said: “Trump stole military secrets and shared them with anyone who would listen. *If you are saying anything other than this you are complicating a simple crime.” The context for the Congressman’s remarks targets them at, among other individuals, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Jordan has already engaged in extensive attempts at helping to cover for Trump as he faces this scrutiny, and Swalwell is also a leading Democrat on Jordan’s top committee in this Congress, meaning the House Judiciary panel, which Jim leads.
Jordan’s team of Republicans has been hard at work promoting a familiar and extensively debunked laundry list of conservative conspiracy theories, from the idea there is any systematic conspiracy to silence right-wing voices on social media to the notion that federal resources have been weaponized, as they call it, against political opponents of those in charge. Jordan himself leads the subcommittee looking into that so-called weaponization, though they haven’t held a hearing in weeks, and the clock may run out on their “work” if Democrats take back the House in next year’s elections.
Among other examples, Jordan has also been involved in trying to target the Manhattan prosecution team that brought the state criminal case against Trump relating to the hush money given to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The Judiciary Committee eventually heard from former prosecution team member Mark Pomerantz, though it wasn’t very productive, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) wanted to hold Pomerantz in contempt after he resisted providing substantial answers to the Republicans.
Trump stole military secrets and shared them with anyone who would listen.
*If you are saying anything other than this you are complicating a simple crime.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 27, 2023
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
