House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan (R-OH) told his GOP colleagues he is calling for House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) to bring FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland in to testify before the panel on Friday in the wake of the FBI’s decision to execute a search warrant at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, two sources on Tuesday’s House GOP conference call told the Washington Examiner.
Conservatives have slammed the FBI’s raid of Trump’s Florida home and resort as part of its investigation into the handling of presidential documents. The National Archives confirmed it recovered 15 boxes of information from the premises in recent months, but conservatives allege that Democrats are weaponizing government agencies against political opponents for political gain.
MCCARTHY CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO GARLAND FOLLOWING FBI RAID OF MAR-A-LAGO
“Jordan said he asked Nadler to bring Wray and Garland before the committee on Friday to answer questions,” one senior GOP source said, adding that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) praised Jordan’s ability to lead the GOP’s inquiry into the matter if Republicans take back the majority. “McCarthy said we have the right guy to lead the Judiciary Committee’s oversight efforts as chairman when we take back the House in 91 days.”
The Republican official added Jordan argued that the handling of the FBI’s investigation into Trump is “a stark contrast to how Hillary Clinton was treated when she mishandled classified information on her personal servers as a sitting secretary of state” and took aim at Senate GOP leadership for their not speaking out on the issue.
“Jordan spoke, [House Intelligence Committee ranking member] Mike Turner [R-OH] spoke — there are no allegations of a national security breach which would have been the only reason probably to do this,” one GOP member told the Washington Examiner. “There’s no information flowing.”
Turner called for the House Intelligence Committee to be briefed on the matter on Tuesday morning.
The push for the administration officials to appear before the House Judiciary Committee follows McCarthy asserting that the GOP will launch an inquiry into the authorization of the raid if Republicans take back the majority.
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Democrats and a number of Trump critics have applauded the investigation, dismissing allegations of using investigative agencies for political purposes, noting that to authorize a search warrant, a judge would need to sign off and have probable cause, with some members noting that the head of the FBI, Wray, was appointed by Trump.
“All I know about that is what is in the public domain. I was surprised that it flashed on my phone last evening, so I don’t really have too much to say except that to have a visit like that, you need a warrant. To have a warrant, you need justification. And that says that no one is above the law, not even a president or a former president of the United States,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
