Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) slammed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) at a Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Thursday about “compliance with committee oversight,” pointing out that the chairman of the Judiciary Committee previously failed to comply with a congressional subpoena.
“I think it’s quite rich that we are talking about subpoena compliance under a chairman of a full committee who was absolutely out of subpoena compliance in the last Congress,” Swalwell said.
“So, we’re going to haul witnesses in here today and claim that they did not comply with subpoenas or requests,” he continued. “And that request is so rich because it’s coming from a chairman who himself did not comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s requests.”
Jordan was subpoenaed by the former House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol after the panel learned that the Ohio Republican spoke with former President Trump on the morning of the attack.
However, Jordan rebuffed the committee’s requests, claiming that they did not serve “any legitimate legislative purpose.” The Jan. 6 panel ultimately filed ethics complaints in December against Jordan and other lawmakers who refused to comply with its subpoenas.
Swalwell’s comments came as the Judiciary Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight questioned officials from the Department of Justice and Department of Education over their subpoena compliance on Thursday.