During a hearing on Tuesday of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) called out panel chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for his lack of compliance when issued a subpoena amid the prior Congressional investigation into the violence of January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol and the circumstances leading up to it.
Swalwell was contrasting the Republican with how President Joe Biden handled himself during the period under scrutiny in the hearing: an investigation into the discovery of classified documents at locations associated with him. Biden was cooperative, sitting for an interview with the investigation’s Robert Hur, then Special Counsel.
“The Chairman also has not sat for an interview in his own subpoena, but Joe Biden has,” Swalwell said, gesturing evidently towards Jordan, who was leading the Judiciary Committee’s proceedings.
Hur declined to pursue any criminal charges, though he produced what many deemed a politically slanted final report.
Hur was nominated earlier for the federal Justice Department by then-President Donald Trump, and Swalwell asked the now ex-member of the department whether he’d refuse a potentially future selection for official duties by Trump if he wins the election later this year. Hur was the U.S. Attorney for Maryland during the latter parts of Trump’s presidential term and was later selected by Attorney General Merrick Garland — the Biden nominee currently leading the U.S. Justice Department — to handle this investigation. Hur declined to provide a specific answer to Swalwell, who framed the possibility of refusing a future selection by Trump if in office as helpful to Hur’s credibility.
Democrats also used the hearing to question Donald Trump’s mental state, which is an area where Republicans have targeted Biden. Judiciary Dems aired a montage of Trump struggling through recent public commentary of his and sometimes even becoming unintelligible. Trump claimed afterwards — without any apparent evidence whatsoever — that Democrats used footage created by artificial intelligence.
