Jim Jordan to Bill Barr: 'Spying. That One Word. That Is Why They Are After You'; Barr: Defunding Police 'Extremely Dangerous' (July 28, 2020)

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio opened the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing with Attorney General William Barr with one word. “Spying. That one word. That is why they are after you, Mr. Attorney General,” Jordan, the committee’s top Republican, said on July 28, 2020, according to the official hearing record [1].

“Fifteen months ago, April 10th, 2019, in a Senate hearing, you said this sentence: ‘I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal.’ ‘Spying on a political campaign is a big deal.’ It sure is, and since that day you had the courage to State the truth, they attacked you,” Jordan said [1].

The video above shows Jordan and Chairman Jerrold Nadler questioning Barr on July 28, 2020. Quotes are from the official hearing records published by GovInfo [1][2].

”Do You Know What They Call That?”

Jordan walked through the Russia investigation. “The FBI sent a young lady, who used the name Azra Turk, to meet Papadopoulos in September of 2016. It said it sent someone pretending to be someone else to meet a person associated with the Trump Campaign. Do you know what they call that? Do you know what they call that? Spying,” he said [1].

“They took it to the FISA Court and didn’t tell the Court that the Clintons paid for it,” Jordan said of the dossier. “There were 15 more lies that they told the Court, 17 in total. They are outlined by the inspector general, each and every one of them, in his 400-page report.” [1]

“Peter Strzok, August 2015, asked, ‘Is Trump going to win?’ What is his response? Remember this is Peter Strzok. This is the guy who ran the investigation. ‘No. No, he is not. We will stop it,’” Jordan said [1].

Jordan said the target after the election was Trump’s incoming national security adviser. “So, they decide to go after Michael Flynn, a three-star general, served our country for over 3 decades,” he said [1].

”The American People Get in Their Way”

“Guess what happens in November? Guess what happens in November? November 8th, 2016. The American people get in their way, 63 million of them to be exact,” Jordan said [1].

“So, Attorney General Barr, I want to thank you for having the courage to call it what it was: Spying,” he said [1].

Then Jordan played a video. “Well, I hope that Mr. Jordan will never complain about the length of my opening statement,” Nadler said afterward [1]. Jordan later told Barr of the footage: “It is really hard to watch to see that happening in our great country.” [1]

“Extremely Dangerous”

Later, Jordan asked Barr about calls to cut police budgets. “Is defunding the police a rational policy?” he asked [1].

“No. I think, if anything, I’m more concerned that the police be adequately funded today and get more resources,” Barr said [1].

“Is it dangerous? Dangerous to defund the police?” Jordan asked. “Extremely dangerous,” Barr answered [1].

Jordan then turned to Seattle. “Are you familiar with the letter that Chief of Police of Seattle Carmen Best sent to business owners and residents in that city?” he asked Barr [1].

“She says this in her letter. ‘Seattle police will have an adjusted deployment.’ That is a nice way of saying, you are on your own. We can’t help you,” Jordan said [1].

”An Assault on the Government of the United States”

In his opening statement, Barr described the riots that followed George Floyd’s death. “In the wake of George Floyd’s death, violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests to wreak senseless havoc and destruction on innocent victims. The current situation in Portland is a telling example,” he said [1].

“The rioters have come equipped for a fight, armed with powerful slingshots, tasers, sledgehammers, saws, knives, rifles, and explosive devices,” Barr said [1].

“What unfolds nightly around the courthouse cannot reasonably be called protest. It is, by any objective measure, an assault on the government of the United States,” he said [1].

By the Numbers

17: what Jordan called lies told to the FISA Court, outlined by the inspector general [1].
400: pages in the inspector general’s report, per Jordan [1].
63 million: Americans who voted for Trump in 2016, per Jordan [1].
18,000: law enforcement agencies in the U.S., per Barr [1].

What Happened Next

Durham backed up the critics. At a House Judiciary hearing on June 21, 2023, Special Counsel John Durham was asked about his finding that “the DOJ and FBI failed to uphold their important mission of strict fidelity to the law.” [2]

“I have had any number of FBI agents who I’ve worked with over the years—some of them are retired, some are still in place—who have come to me and apologized for the manner in which that investigation was undertaken,” Durham testified [2].

Asked by Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana whether “any evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia” had ever been uncovered, Durham said: “There’s information, obviously, in the report that was prepared by Director Mueller and whatnot, but as to collusion or conspiracy I’m not aware of any.” [2]

For Durham under fire from a Democrat at that hearing, see HYGO News’ page on June 21, 2023. For Attorney General Merrick Garland at the same committee in 2023, see the page on Sept. 20, 2023.