What Did Jim Jordan Know And When Did He Know It?

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

By David Kurtz

August 3, 2021 7:35 a.m.

Start your day with TPM.

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.

The Man Is A Witness

Did Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) ask Trump to intervene in the Jan. 6 riots?

“Look, I don’t get into particulars about the conversation, I speak with the president all the time,” Jordan told local TV Monday night.

Could Jordan be called as a material witness by the House select committee?

“I’ve got nothing to hide. I’ve got nothing to hide if they’re going to call us,” Jordan said in the same interview.

Everyone has … questions:

“The idea that Jordan can’t remember when he spoke with Trump on Jan. 6 is difficult to stomach.”–Aaron Blake
“You know, b****, what time you called the president, and you know what you said.”–Michael Steele

It’s not just Jan 6:

Jordan was also present at a Dec. 21 meeting when Trump discussed with congressional Republicans how to overturn the election result.
“Anyone who is a material witness to the key events leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection doesn’t really belong on the committee,” Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-MD) told PlumLine last month.

Scoop

Jeffrey Bossert Clark, the midlevel DOJ official Trump considered installing as acting attorney general to perpetuate the Big Lie, is now working for a conservative legal group that is fighting COVID-19 mandates.

Two More Police Suicides In The Wake Of Jan. 6

Officials confirmed the third and fourth suicides of officers involved in responding to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capital.

DC Metropolitan Police Officer Kyle DeFreytag was found dead on July 10.
DC Metropolitan Police Officer Gunther Hashida was found dead inside his residence on July 29, TPM confirmed.

(Hashida’s death was confirmed publicly before DeFreytag’s, even though it occurred more recently.)

Utah Representin’

A total of seven people from Utah have been arrested so far for their roles in the Jan. 6 attack.

A TPM Shoutout

Jane Mayer’s big New Yorker article on “The Big Money Behind The Big Lie” includes a nice reference to Josh Kovensky’s piece on the bonkers ItalyGate conspiracy theory.

Not The Smartest Guy In The Senate

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is increasingly cutting the figure of fringe talk radio host:

Johnson is casting baseless suspicion that the FBI knew more about the planning before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack than it has revealed.
Johnson leaps to the defense of … Alex Berenson?

This is the person a sitting U.S. senator is promoting. pic.twitter.com/vBBMaHDPzs

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) August 2, 2021

House Progressives Agitatin’

The eviction moratorium is the focal point right now of tensions between progressives in the House and the Biden White House:

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus: “The president has also told me a couple months ago that he was looking forward to meeting with the Progressive Caucus, and we’re still waiting for that to happen.”
The sit-in by Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) has been ongoing on the steps of the Capitol since Friday.

WASHINGTON, DC - [DATE]: U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (center) and Cori Bush (D-MO) (right) continue their protest for an extension of the eviction moratorium on the steps to the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on August 1, 2021 in Washington, DC. The eviction moratorium put into place during the coronavirus pandemic expired on Saturday which raised the risk that many facing hardship from the pandemic would lose their homes. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) — WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 01: U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (C) and Cori Bush (D-MO) (R) continue their protest for an extension of the eviction moratorium on the steps to the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol Building on August 1, 2021 in Washington, DC. The eviction moratorium, which ended July 31st, helped 2 million people stay in their homes who suffered financial hardships due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Those people are now at risk of losing their homes. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

White House Loudly Announces It Won’t Pressure Breyer To Retire

Of course it won’t. That’d be crazy. But it’s a sign of the overwhelming desire for Breyer to step down while Biden is President that the White House made a statement about it:

White House spokesman Andrew Bates: “The President’s view is that any considerations about potential retirements are solely and entirely up to justices themselves.”
Brian Fallon of Demand Justice: “For Democrats to sit on their hands and be content to potentially watch a slow-motion replay of the RBG situation play out just goes to show the folly of our party’s passive approach to the courts over the years.”

Cuomo In the Wringer

Investigators spent 11 hours Monday grilling New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) under oath and on camera over sexual harassment allegations.

Blago Back?

Convicted ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) – granted clemency by President Trump – is suing to overturn the ban that keeps him from running for state or local office.

Blago unconvincingly claims he’s not planning to run for office if his lawsuit succeeds.
“Now, I’m not saying that I want to run for anything. And there’s a good chance my wife Patty is going to watch this and I want to be clear, sweetheart, I’m not thinking about running for anything in particular,”Blagojevich said.

Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!