Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio is known for his vocal support of former President Donald Trump—a support that remained steadfast even as Trump's lies about the validity of the 2020 election grew increasingly delusional.
Even immediately after a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the United States Capitol to upend the January 6 joint congressional session certifying now-President Joe Biden's victory, Jordan still voted to throw out the electoral votes of Arizona and Pennsylvania, swing states Trump lost.
When Republican Senators voted to kill legislation that would have established a bipartisan commission investigating the January 6 insurrection, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California established a House Select Committee to investigate instead. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appointed five Republicans to the panel, with Jordan among them. Along with Republican Congressman Jim Banks of Indiana, Pelosi rejected Jordan's appointment to the commission.
This prompted McCarthy to pull all of his nominations from the committee.
Jordan has since fumed at Pelosi for establishing what he calls a partisan commission dedicated to obscuring security failures at the Capitol, for which he questionably blames Pelosi.
But it's looking more and more like Jordan knows more about the events of January 6 than he's letting on. The Congressman confirmed to Fox News host Bret Baier that he spoke to Trump on January 6, but demurred when asked for details on their conversation.
Later, in an interview with Taylor Popielarz of Spectrum News, Jordan was asked to elaborate on his conversation with Trump.
The Congressman, known for his confident diatribes and emphatic arguments in House Committee hearings, seemed uncharacteristically frazzled as he stammered through a rambling answer.
Watch below.
Ohio's @Jim_Jordan confirms to me:\n\n\u201cI spoke with [Trump] on Jan. 6th."\n\nBefore, during or after attack?\n\n\u201cI spoke with him that day, after? I think after. I don't know if I spoke with him in the morning or not. I just don't know...I don't know when those conversations happened.\u201dpic.twitter.com/h4fbuMYtk0— Taylor Popielarz (@Taylor Popielarz) 1627493888
When asked if he spoke with Trump on that day, Jordan frantically replied:
"Yeah, I mean I spoke with the President last week, I speak with the President all the time, I spoke with him on January 6, I mean I talk with President Trump all the time, and that's, that's, I don't think that's unusual. I would expect members of Congress to talk with the President of the United States when they're trying to get done the things they told the voters in their district to do. I'm actually kind of amazed sometimes that people keep asking me this—of course, I talk with the President all the time! I talked with him last week."
Things only got worse when Popielarz asked if Jordan had spoken with Trump before, during, or after the riots:
"I'd have to go—I, I, I spoke with him that day, after? I think after? I don't know if I spoke with him in the morning or not, I just don't know, uh, I'd have to go back and, I mean, I don't know when those conversations happened, but, um, what I know is that I spoke with him all the time. But, Taylor, the key here is, the people we need to speak to, the people we need to talk to, are the ones who can answer the question, 'Why wasn't there a better security presence that day?'"
People found Jordan's demeanor extremely suspicious.
OMG! Jim Jordan is asked follow up questions about EXACTLY WHEN, on Jan 6 he spoke to Trump, and he handled it just about how any liar trying to cover up a criminal conspiracy would handle it when pinned down.pic.twitter.com/EO32mmrprF— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1627585642
Rep. Jim Jordan says he doesn\u2019t remember when on Jan. 6 he spoke to Trump.\n\n@TaylorPopielarz presses Jordan on the issue. Was the phone call with Trump *during* the siege of the Capitol? \n\nJordan seems caught off guard here.pic.twitter.com/iSAs8M2jbq— Jan Wolfe (@Jan Wolfe) 1627584344
Busted!!!pic.twitter.com/vQLrBy1j2i— Jon Cooper \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jon Cooper \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1627591165
I\u2019ve never, EVER, heard a politician sound more scared than Gym Jordan does here trying to answer the question of whether or not he spoke to trump on 1/6pic.twitter.com/iUqjfhhBQX— Nick Hauselman (@Nick Hauselman) 1627592502
Jim Jordan\u2019s stuttering response here gives away the game. He\u2019s very very nervous and you can hear it in his voice. There\u2019s something here. #SubpoenaJimJordanpic.twitter.com/91JtG0VrDn— thomas rayosun long \ud83d\udef9 (@thomas rayosun long \ud83d\udef9) 1627586123
They're hoping the House Select Committee, from which Jordan was removed, will subpoena him to testify.
@BennieGThompson and @RepAdamSchiff This is all the more reason why Rep Jim Jordan needs to be subpoenaed to testify before the J6 Committee. Also subpoena his phone records.https://twitter.com/taylorpopielarz/status/1420438437379837955\u00a0\u2026— pppioe (@pppioe) 1627505170
I know who would know: Congressman Jordan's cellular service provider. \n\n@RepLizCheney called Jordan a potential "material witness" last week, and others on the Jan. 6 select committee have been clear -- no one is off the table as far as subpoenas.https://twitter.com/TaylorPopielarz/status/1420438437379837955\u00a0\u2026— Quinn Scanlan (@Quinn Scanlan) 1627502164
After months of weaseling, Jim Jordan *finally* comes clean w/@TaylorPopielarz.\n\nThen immediately claims he doesn't recall the details.\n\nMaybe a subpoena will jog his memory? #SubpoenaJimJordanhttps://twitter.com/TaylorPopielarz/status/1420438437379837955\u00a0\u2026— Jeff Sites for Congress (@Jeff Sites for Congress) 1627494759
The Committee hasn't announced any plans to subpoena Jordan, but it's only had one hearing so far, and there are certainly more to come.