Liz Cheney Suggests GOP’s Jim Jordan Needs A Criminal Defense Lawyer

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Former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming suggests Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who in this Congress leads the House Judiciary Committee and a subcommittee on the so-called “weaponization” of government, has a need for the services of a criminal defense lawyer.

“On page 228, she says Congressman Jim Jordan, who was very nearly Speaker himself, she says he may need the assistance of a criminal lawyer for sorting out the conflicting claims he made during Congressional testimony about his communications with former President Trump while the January 6 attack was underway,” Rachel Maddow summarized of a book from Cheney while on MSNBC.

What appears to be a direct quote from Cheney’s book reads as follows: “Perhaps Jordan could have benefited from the advice of a good criminal lawyer before giving his testimony.” The framework she outlined leaves open the prospect he still could use those services, since there has never been any conclusive resolution to the push for Jordan to give answers about his communications with Trump. Though the House committee investigating January 6 and surrounding circumstances sought his cooperation and subpoenaed him, the Ohioan refused to cooperate. Testimony he offered was before the House Rules Committee while debating a technically distinct measure.

He pushed back during that testimony on the idea he’d spoken with Trump while the violence at the Capitol was unfolding, though he’d previously expressed certainty that he had communicated with the then-president during that period. Establishing the communications Jordan actually had with Trump would be a critical first step in seeing what from the former president that the Ohio Republican might know and that could point to Trump’s actions and mindset around the violence. Jordan has consistently faced criticism from Democrats for having flouted the January 6 committee’s subpoena in light of his co-leadership in the current Congress of Republicans’ various investigations.