Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan accused House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of minimizing a summer of civil unrest by refusing to acknowledge antifa.
The ranking Republican on the panel sent a letter on Tuesday pushing Nadler to hold a hearing on “left-wing violent extremists” to help Congress pursue policies that could curb violent protests that have taken place in “Democrat-run” cities across the country.
Antifa isn’t a “myth.” pic.twitter.com/1KixgY67ZM
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 8, 2020
“You have wasted the first 20 months of your chairmanship on fruitless partisan investigations in furtherance of your obsession with attacking President Trump,” the letter stated. “We urge you not to waste any more time. The jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee provides you with a unique authority to condemn the violence and disorder in Democrat-run cities.”
Jordan noted that Nadler has called antifa a “myth” and has largely avoided the topic of riots that have taken place in the months since George Floyd, a black man, died in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day. The Ohio Republican accused Nadler of dismissing the violence that has cities burned and many dead.
“As parts of these cities literally burn, prominent Democrat leaders look the other way on lawlessness and disorder. Even you, the chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee with a unique platform to denounce left-wing violence, have trivialized it as ‘imaginary’ and a ‘myth,'” the letter stated.
Jordan and his co-signers, Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, Pennsylvania Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, and Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson, urged Nadler not to ignore the “life and death” issues that have led to the riots.
