Jim Jordan Accuses Jan. 6 Committee of Having 'Lied to the Country'

Republican Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio has accused the January 6 House committee of having "lied to the country" after being served with a subpoena.

Jordan and four of his House GOP colleagues including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy were subpoenaed by the committee last week. When asked whether he would comply with the subpoena by Spectrum News reporter Taylor Popielarz on Tuesday, Jordan indicated that he had not yet decided while lashing out at the committee for allegedly having "doctored evidence."

"We're taking a look at the subpoena, we just got it yesterday," Jordan said while walking to his Washington, D.C., office. "And we've already found that this committee has altered evidence and lied to the country."

"So, I think anyone would have reservations about going in front of a committee that's already doctored evidence and lied to the country about it," he continued.

Jordan indicated that he was not concerned with the possibility that refusing to comply with the subpoena could "undermine" his credibility, given that he could serve as House Judiciary Committee chair should Republicans regain control of the chamber following the midterm elections.

According to Popielarz, Jordan's comment about the committee having "doctored evidence" referred to an accusation that Representative Adam Schiff, a Democratic committee member from California, misattributed and misrepresented a text message Jordan forwarded to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on January 6, 2021.

A December article published by conservative magazine The Federalist noted that the committee admitted it had "inadvertently" shortened and added a period to a text message reading "On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all."

The full message, which was sent to Meadows by Jordan on January 5, had no period and instead included an em dash and the statement "in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence." The message was also written by attorney Joseph Schmitz and merely forwarded by Jordan, despite Schiff having attributed it to "a lawmaker."

Meadows was also subpoenaed by the committee. He was held in contempt of Congress last December after refusing to comply with the subpoena. Steve Bannon, former adviser to ex-President Donald Trump, was also held in contempt for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the committee and is currently facing a related criminal charge.

Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, one of the five recently subpoenaed GOP House members, last week described the committee as "illegitimate" and suggested that he may also refuse to "dignify what they're doing" by complying with the subpoena.

"I think this is an illegitimate committee and they don't really have the authority to issue subpoenas, in my opinion," Biggs told Fox News last Thursday. "This has been a witch hunt from Day One; this is an attempt [to go] after political enemies instead of trying to get at the truth."

Newsweek has reached out to Jordan's office for comment.