The mainstream media just can’t quit their kneejerk defense of Republicans, even as the GOP-led House is incapable of passing basic aid to Israel due to their inability to elect a Speaker after they tossed Kevin McCarthy to the curb.
They now expect Democrats to help Republicans elect an insurrectionist as Speaker.
PBS News Correspondent Lisa Desjardins seemed outraged that a House Democrat referred to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as an “insurrectionist”:
Wow. House Dem #2 just called @jim_jordan an “insurrectionist”.
Twice.
Saying he fought a J6 subpoena and pointedly fueled 2020 doubts is one thing but man, saying he wanted to overthrow the government….
Asking what specific evidence and logic they have for this.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) October 13, 2023
While she followed this up with a thread of reasons provided to her by Democrats after being “ratioed” on Twitter, she concluded, “To answer some qs myself:
– I was aware of these events but my qs were about what Dems were thinking of.
– I was in the Capitol on J6 and regard it with the utmost seriousness. It remains a dangerous day.
– I am spending time compiling what we know/don’t about Jordan that day”
Starting off with a snarky opinion and demanding people justify their term to you doesn’t really seem like the best approach in inform readers. In fact, it has a little Elon stink on it, because really, how can a reporter who was in the Capitol that day not be aware of these facts?
Let’s examine what we already know. Rep. Jim Jordan “forwarded a text message to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on January 5, outlining a legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to stand in the way of the certification of the 2020 election.”
That legal theory included a draft presentation arguing that then VP Mike Pence could object to the certification of the election. Which is one way of saying Jim Jordan actively pushed the overthrow of the U.S. electoral process for the most secure election in U.S. history.
CNN’s Jake Tapper examined Jordan’s (my bold) “past public support of former President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud and ties to the January 6 riot that tried to overturn the 2020 election.”
While the “term ‘insurrection’ is not explicitly defined by federal law, courts and legal scholars generally interpret it as a violent uprising or organized resistance against the government or its regulations.”
So organized resistance against the government, like say, an attempted coup which involved trying to stop the certification process of the most secure election in history with no legal basis. Ok. And “ties” to the domestic terrorist attack on January 6th, a violent uprising. But somehow he’s not an insurrectionist. Huh.
Jim Jordan has been trying to use Congress to interfere in the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indictment of Donald Trump and just a day after Trump’s lawyers met with Special Counsel Jack Smith over the classified documents case (which has grave implications for our national security at a time when two of our allies are at war), Jim Jordan came riding on his white Don horse to save Trump again, demanding “an unredacted copy of the memorandum outlining the scope of Mr. Smith’s probes regarding President Trump and any supporting documentation related to his appointment as special counsel.”
Doing anything to impede a special investigation is actually a crime, and it appears Jordan might have violated 18 U.S. Code § 1505. But sure. Bad Democrats for not helping him commit potential crimes.
“Whoever corruptly, or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication influences, obstructs, or impedes or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States, or the due and proper exercise of the power of inquiry under which any inquiry or investigation is being had by either House, or any committee of either House or any joint committee of the Congress— Shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.”
So this is Jordan actively trying to cover up the theft of national security secrets because Dear Leader allegedly did it. This is not the behavior of someone who is putting the U.S. first; this is the behavior of someone who is putting Donald Trump first. Donald Trump incited an attack on the United States. So that’s not great.
This is what our media wants from elected Democrats– not to DEFEND democracy, the U.S. government and our national security; but to HELP Republicans keep attacking it.
Do you know who else isn’t bothered by a little insurrection? Other Republicans. In other words, for a media that supposedly prides itself on being “objective,” there’s an awful lot of parroting Republican talking points going on.
Rep. Mike Turner tells Margaret Brennan he’s unbothered by allegations Jim Jordan turned a blind eye to sexual assault and also unconcerned about Jordan’s involvement in the J6 plot pic.twitter.com/TfpAedHTtq
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 15, 2023
The Ohio Capital Journal isn’t confused. They say Jordan “betrayed America.” This is, again, what the media is scolding Democrats for not helping. They quote other Republicans like Liz Cheney to make this case.
The Ohio Capital Journal wrote commentary several days ago saying “Jim Jordan betrayed America with his actions surrounding Jan. 6. Now he wants to be House Speaker.”
Jordan was all in on the subversive plot to seize an unearned second term for the defeated president by invalidating millions of legitimate American votes. He was a pivotal player in the attempted coup to fraudulently retain presidential power by discarding certified ballots. The idea of conferring the speakership on someone in service to a con, instead of country, is abhorrent to former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who served as vice-chair on the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for January 6th than any other member of the House of Representatives,” she declared bluntly. The once high ranking member of the House Republican leadership wonders why Jordan never reported what he knew about the events leading up to Jan. 6 to Capitol Police but is crystal clear about his complicity in the scheme to overthrow democracy.
“Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election,” said Cheney. If the GOP majority in the House hands the speaker’s gavel to the Urbana Republican, whose allegiance to an authoritarian trumps all, she warned, it will send a damning message of compromised fidelity to a sacred oath. “If they were to decide that, there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected Republicans could be counted on to defend the Constitution.”
Ohio knows who Jim Jordan is. Democrats know who he is. People paying attention to the facts know who he is. What exactly is the problem with calling him what he is?
Former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh said, “I served with Jim Jordan. He & I were friends. He shouldn’t be Speaker. He’s a divider. Always has been. And for those who say Jim Jordan has changed, really? Less than 3 yrs ago, he was helping Trump try to overthrow an American election, and less than 2 yrs ago, he was defying a subpoena. He hasn’t changed.”
Sure, Walsh and Cheney can be dismissed as “Never Trumpers,” but only if people ignore that conservative Republican Never Trumpers became Never Trumpers out of adherence to the U.S. Constitution and firsthand knowledge of how damaging Trump was. Cheney knows exactly who Jim Jordan is and her opinion is worth a lot given that it’s informed by the evidence from the Select Committee on the 1/6 attack.
This is where we are. Our media demands Democrats help Republicans attack the United States, law and order, and our national security.
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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