(New York) In shirtsleeves most of the time, the raised chin and the nervous physique of a man who still trains six days a week, Jim Jordan gives the impression of wanting to do battle at any time.
Aged 58 and first elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, the Republican from Ohio no doubt cultivates this image on purpose. After all, hand-to-hand combat is practically in his DNA.
Because, long before entering politics, this son of an agricultural region of Buckeye State made himself known as a wrestling champion. He won no less than four state titles in high school, suffering just one loss in 151 fights, and two national titles in college, one of which was against a future Olympic gold medalist.
Unfailing ally of Donald Trump and regular guest of Fox News, Jim Jordan is today the strong man of the House, no offense to Kevin McCarthy, who will be discussed later.
If Republicans do eventually begin impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden or another member of his administration, which some of his colleagues are already calling for, Jim Jordan will lead the charge as chairman of the important House Judiciary Committee.
In fact, he already launched his first investigation last Friday, just days after being confirmed in his new position. This will not only relate to the “mismanagement” of documents classified as confidential by the Democratic president, but also to the investigation by the Ministry of Justice into this affair which embarrasses the White House.
“The department’s actions here appear to deviate from how it has acted in similar circumstances,” Jim Jordan wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Translation: unlike Donald Trump, Joe Biden did not have to suffer the affront of a search of his home by the FBI.
On Twitter, Jim Jordan simplified things even further after the announcement of the discovery of a second set of confidential documents in the garage of Joe Biden’s residence in Wilmington: “Where is the raid? »
PHOTO EVELYN HOCKSTEIN, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Jim Jordan
The question exemplifies both Jim Jordan’s manner and purpose. First, a reminder: the FBI executed a judge-approved search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, not a “raid.”
Then, this search stemmed from Donald Trump’s refusal to return all the confidential documents that the National Archives and the Department of Justice had been asking for several months.
In contrast, Joe Biden is cooperating with the Department of Justice after discovering and returning confidential documents that were not asked of him.
But Jim Jordan has never done in nuance.
And his first investigation fits perfectly into one of his most cherished projects, which saw the light of day last week. In a strictly partisan vote, the House adopted a resolution creating a “special commission on the instrumentalization [weaponization en anglais] from federal agencies.
Chaired by Jim Jordan, this commission will therefore investigate how “the executive branch collects information on American citizens, including in ongoing criminal investigations”.
Jim Jordan and other Republicans have compared this commission to the one the Senate created in 1975 to investigate true and troubling abuses by the CIA, NSA and FBI, among other federal agencies.
For the record: 82 out of 86 senators had voted in favor of the resolution creating what would come to be known as the Church Commission.
The new House Select Committee is not going down the same bipartisan path. Democrats have said his primary goal was to undermine or obstruct Justice Department and FBI criminal investigations targeting Donald Trump and his allies, some of whom sit in the House.
Historians have expressed fear of a repeat of the commission headed in the 1950s by Senator Joseph McCarthy. The latter, a great conspirator before the Eternal, had launched a sensational investigation by alleging falsely that hundreds of Communists had infiltrated the State Department and other federal agencies.
Jim Jordan rejects the criticisms in block. In particular, he mentioned last week “the dozens of whistleblowers” who allegedly contacted the Republican staff of the House Judiciary Committee to testify to the politicization of federal agencies.
One thing is certain, the creation of the special commission is one of the major concessions that allowed Kevin McCarthy to secure the support of Jim Jordan and several other members of the Freedom Caucus, this group of approximately 40 ultra-conservative representatives.
PHOTO ALEX BRANDON, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Jim Jordan talks with Matt Gaetz, also a member of the Freedom Caucus, on the sidelines of the long ballot to elect the speaker of the House of Representatives, which spanned several days.
In 2015, Jim Jordan was one of the co-founders of the Freedom Caucus along with his colleague and friend from North Carolina, Mark Meadows, who would become the last White House chief of staff under Donald Trump.
Eight years ago, Jordan, Meadows and their new group forced the resignation of then-Republican House Speaker John Boehner and helped torpedo the candidacy of one of his potential successors, Kevin McCarthy.
Eight years later, Kevin McCarthy owes a great deal of credit to Jim Jordan for being elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. In return, Jordan now has all the freedom he craved to fight his battles.