House Republicans are planning a broad investigation into the FBI and national security agencies, raising the possibility of political battles with the Biden administration over access to sensitive information, The New York Times (NYT) reports.
The House intends to vote this week on a resolution establishing a special subcommittee, led by Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), on the “weaponization of the federal government.”
Rep. Jordan is a staunch ally of Trump. Late last year, as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee when his party was still in the minority, he oversaw a 1,000-page staff report that claimed that the F.B.I. had “spied on President Trump’s campaign and ridiculed conservative Americans” and that the “rot within the F.B.I. festers in and proceeds from Washington,” according to NYT.
This panel, which would be part of the Judiciary Committee, would have the authority to scrutinize any issues related to civil liberties or to examine how federal agencies collect, analyze, and use information about Americans, including ongoing criminal investigations.
Representative Chip Roy (R-TX), a negotiator for hard-right lawmakers, described the subcommittee’s mission as going “after the weaponization of the government, the F.B.I., the intel agencies, D.H.S., all of them that have been, you know, labeling Scott Smith a domestic terrorist.”
“So we got more resources, more specificity, more power to go after this recalcitrant Biden administration,” Rep. Roy said. “That’s really important.”
Jordan, a strong ally of former President Trump, previously oversaw a staff report that accused the FBI of “spying on President Trump’s campaign and ridiculed conservative Americans” and said that “the rot within the F.B.I. festers in and proceeds from Washington.”
The resolution would grant Jordan’s panel the power to receive the same highly classified information made available to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
It appears to give him authority to subpoena the Justice Department for information about the special counsel inquiry into the events that took place at the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, along with other politically charged matters like an open tax investigation into President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, NYT notes.
In his first remarks as House Speaker, Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said, “We will hold the swamp accountable, from the withdrawal of Afghanistan, to the origins of Covid and to the weaponization of the F.B.I.“
“Let me be very clear: We will use the power of the purse and the power of the subpoena to get the job done,” he said.
Per NYT:
Included in a separate rules package scheduled to come up for a vote on Monday is a wide-ranging inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic, including the origins of the virus, so-called gain-of-function research, the production of vaccines and the conduct of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Mr. Biden’s former chief medical adviser, whom Republicans have pledged to haul before them for questioning. Republicans are also planning to form a special committee to investigate the Chinese government’s “economic, technological and security progress, and its competition with the United States.” Both the China investigation and the investigation into law enforcement are scheduled for a vote on Tuesday.
