The Jim Jordan hearings on the "weaponization of government" are revealed to be a complete farce. Just as expected. Revealed: Jim Jordan's FBI 'whistleblowers' were paid by Trump ally and spread J6 conspiracy theories https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...and-spread-j6-conspiracy-theories/ar-AA189SLf A trio of witnesses being called as "whistleblowers" by the GOP committee investigating the "weaponization" of government were paid off by a Trump ally and spread conspiracy theories, reported The New York Times on Thursday. "The roster of witnesses, whose interviews and statements are detailed in a 316-page report compiled by Democrats that was obtained by The New York Times, suggests that Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the panel, has so far relied on people who do not meet the definition of a whistle-blower and who have engaged in partisan conduct that calls into question their credibility," said the report. "And it raises questions about whether Republicans, who have said that investigating the Biden administration is a top goal, will be able to deliver on their ambitious plans to uncover misdeeds at the highest levels." The three witnesses in question, per the report, are "George Hill, a retired F.B.I. supervisory intelligence analyst from the bureau’s Boston field office; Stephen Friend, a former special agent who worked in the Daytona Beach office; and Garret O’Boyle, a special agent from the field office in Wichita, Kan., who has been suspended." They have promoted conspiracy theories; Hill wrote on Twitter that the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was a "set up." Meanwhile, O'Boyle and Friend have admitted to receiving financial aid from Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Trump associate who has testified in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. "The Democratic report includes excerpts from depositions and evidence of conspiratorial social media posts," noted the report. "It also details the ties between Mr. Trump’s inner circle and the witnesses. For instance, Mr. Patel found Mr. Friend his next job, working as a fellow on domestic intelligence and security services with the Center for Renewing America, which is run by Russ Vought. The center is largely funded by the Conservative Partnership Institute, which is run by Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump’s former chief of staff, and former Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina."
Jim Jordan's committee hearings are a complete joke... ‘Weaponization’ subcommittee members spar over ‘Twitter Files’ https://thehill.com/homenews/3892219-weaponization-subcommittee-members-spar-over-twitter-files/
Biden Admin Asked Twitter to Remove Vaccine Misinfo — Trump Asked Twitter to Remove a Tweet Calling Him a ‘P*ssy Ass B*tch’ https://www.mediaite.com/politics/b...to-remove-chrissy-teigen-calling-him-a-pussy/
Can you believe that this guy is a senior member of the republican party. 'An embarrassment': Jim Jordan's hearings slammed by legal experts as 'far-right snipe hunt' Following two rounds of House hearings headed by Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), three legal experts pronounced sentence on the revelations so far, calling the Ohio Republican's attempt to uncover a wide-ranging conspiracy against conservatives nothing less than an "embarrassment."
An in-depth look at Jim Jordan's committee farce... Jim Jordan has found no "weaponization" of government — and no actual whistleblowers As Capitol Hill investigators who have worked for both parties, we see Jordan's far-right snipe hunt as a mockery https://www.salon.com/2023/03/14/ji...-of-government--and-no-actual-whistleblowers/ The new Republican House majority has promised historic oversight, anchored by Rep. Jim Jordan's subcommittee hunting for "whistleblowers" on the supposed "weaponization" of government. So far, Jordan's efforts have been a bust — he's failed to produce a single true whistleblower. To the three of us — veterans of prior Capitol Hill investigations who have worked for Republicans and Democrats on the Church Committee, the first Trump impeachment and the Jan. 6 select committee — Jordan's whole "weaponization" effort is an embarrassment. There is a right way to do oversight and to work with real whistleblowers, and this isn't it. In Jordan's telling, the Department of Justice and the FBI are targeting ordinary Americans solely because they hold conservative political beliefs. He claims that "dozens and dozens of whistleblowers" have come forward to expose government malfeasance. But neither weaponization nor whistleblowers were to be found last Thursday, when the subcommittee held its second hearing, focusing on the "Twitter Files." Jordan returned to one of his favorite complaints: Twitter's decision to suppress a New York Post story about Hunter Biden's laptop for 48 hours in mid-October 2020. But Twitter's employees have previously testified that the FBI did not tell them to take it down. Jordan's witnesses during the hearing — Matt Taibbi (a journalist) and Michael Shellenberger (an author) — did not offer any evidence to contradict that, and moreover are not whistleblowers. They received files from Twitter's new management highlighting what they claimed was unjust censorship. But Americans are still waiting to hear from a true government insider on this score. The prior "weaponization" subcommittee hearing on Feb. 9 was also a sprawling, disconnected dud. No whistleblowers testified there either. Where are Jordan's witnesses with inside knowledge of the government's bad acts? The Democrats serving on Jordan's subcommittee have provided an answer. Three witnesses — two former FBI special agents and a retired FBI intelligence analyst — have been interviewed behind closed doors. None of them qualifies as a government whistleblower either, and none has claimed credible knowledge of any alleged wrongdoing. Instead, they have criticized the FBI for investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. One of the witnesses, former FBI intelligence analyst George Hill, apparently raised concerns over a financial institution providing law enforcement officials with evidence that was potentially relevant to the Jan. 6 investigation. It is not clear why this would be problematic. Financial records are routinely utilized in criminal investigations, and Hill reportedly never actually used or even looked at the underlying evidence himself. Furthermore, according to Hill, the FBI apparently didn't even take any action based on this evidence. Hill has also claimed that Jan. 6 was "a set up" and part of "a larger #Democrat plan using their enforcement arm, the #FBI." This accusation, without a shred of evidence, hardly helps his credibility — or Jordan's. A second witness, former special agent Garret O'Boyle, was apparently asked by his higher-ups "to consider taking a particular investigative step with respect to a Jan. 6 matter," declined, and "suffered no professional repercussions" as a result. It is hard to see how this is scandalous. Stephen Friend, a third former FBI man, claimed that the Bureau deviated from the practices outlined in its "internal operations manual" while investigating hundreds of Jan. 6-related cases. Friend objected to the FBI using a SWAT team to arrest some of the members of a Three Percenter militia group, even though those individuals were known "to be armed and dangerous" and the group believes the U.S. government should be overthrown. Again, there is no scandal here. Jordan claims that his efforts are modeled after the ground-breaking Church Committee, led by the late Sen. Frank Church of Idaho. One of us (Michel) served as counsel on that bipartisan body. Whistleblowers have played an important role in uncovering genuine executive branch abuses, including the Ukraine scandal that led to Donald Trump's first impeachment. But Jim Jordan and his witnesses are not exposing real wrongdoing by government agencies. Instead, Jordan and the committee majority seek to justify the far right's imaginary grievances and conspiracy theories. The subpoenas issued by the subcommittee recently, calling on members of the National School Board Association and the former head of Homeland Security's Disinformation Board, exemplify Jordan's abuse of power. Jordan is attempting to show that the FBI's "special threat" tag regarding threats against school board members, along with the creation of a Disinformation Board, are examples of the government targeting conservative speech. Instead they only reveal how readily he abuses his subpoena power. Considering who Jordan and his congressional allies are, we should not be surprised. Democrats on the subcommittee warn in a minority staff report that "nearly all of the Republicans involved in" one of the subcommittee's investigations — "the witnesses, some of the Members, and certainly their outside operators — are tied together by the attacks of January 6, 2021." As documented in the Jan. 6 select committee's final report, Jordan was a "significant player" in then-President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Some of the "outside operators" assisting Jordan belong to the Center for Renewing America. One of that group's members is Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who was central to Trump's effort to corruptly abuse the DOJ's power to steal the presidency. According to Democratic members of the "weaponization" subcommittee, some of the witnesses on deck may have been actual participants in the Jan. 6 riot. Real whistleblowers play a crucial role in oversight efforts. They are heroes for doing so in light of the risks they face when they expose abuses of power. But Jordan and his colleagues risk making a mockery of whistleblower status. Their witnesses aren't legally recognized whistleblowers, and the "weaponization" subcommittee isn't genuine oversight.
Let's see the latest from Jim Jordan's investigations. Jim Jordan announces that he is investigating The Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a UN-backed coalition of advertisers who refuse to advertise on hate or disinformation sites, claiming they violate anti-trust laws, are devastating to the GOP. House GOP Targets Ad Group Over Efforts to Curb Misinformation https://judiciary.house.gov/media/i...ets-ad-group-over-efforts-curb-misinformation House Republicans are accusing an industry group of violating antitrust laws with its efforts to fight online misinformation. In a letter Wednesday, GOP House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio raised concerns that the Global Alliance for Responsible Media — created by trade association World Federation of Advertisers and backed by the World Economic Forum — was violating US antitrust laws. The group’s more than 100 members include advertisers such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever Plc, alongside tech companies such as Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube and ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok. “GARM works with its members to demonetize and eliminate disfavored content online,” Jordan wrote, noting that the group created categories such as “debated sensitive social issues” where social media companies may want to restrict advertising. “This collusive conduct reduces consumer choice and cuts off access to diverse coverage on matters of national interest.” That coordination may violate US antitrust law that bars agreements restricting trade, Jordan said. He asked the group and the World Federation of Advertisers to provide documents and information on its work to the panel by April 5. While US antitrust law bars companies from getting together to reach agreements, there are some exceptions, such as when they band together to advocate for government action like legislation or rulemaking or when they join together to develop standards. Launched in 2019, the Global Alliance for Responsible Media says it aims to create brand safety standards for social media advertising. In its 2022 annual report, the group said it had helped establish common definitions, metrics and tools to aid brands and their advertising partners in ensuring their ads don’t appear alongside content they may find problematic. Republicans including Jordan and former President Donald Trump have decried social media platforms for allegedly censoring conservatives by directly removing posts or “demonetizing” them so they cannot receive the proceeds from online advertising that normally appears alongside popular content. Read the full article here .
Let's see how the NothingBurger is going. The House GOP’s investigations are flopping https://www.vox.com/politics/23659090/house-republicans-hunter-biden-oversight-china-comer-jordan
Jordan's committee is nothing more than a circus. ‘This is a mockery and a disgrace’: House weaponization panel descends into yelling https://thehill.com/homenews/house/...se-weaponization-panel-descends-into-yelling/