Reacting to the abuse by the Biden administration (and prior to that those in the Deep State during the days of former President Donald Trump — against Trump) of the machinery of the federal government to give Democrats an advantage over the Republicans, the newly elected Republican-majority House has voted to establish a new special panel to probe the “weaponization of the federal government.”
On Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy selected members for a new subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee to investigate that weaponization. McCarthy explained why he and many others have concluded such a subcommittee is needed: “The government has a responsibility to serve the American people, not go after them. Unfortunately, throughout Democrats’ one-party rule in Washington we saw a dangerous pattern of the government being used to target political opponents while they neglected their most basic responsibilities.”
Chairing the special committee will be Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who will also lead the Judiciary Committee this term. The committee will enjoy extraordinary power to investigate any agency of the federal government for perceived wrongdoing — the Justice Department and the FBI in particular. Republicans have been complaining for several months that the Biden administration’s Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation have been utilized in an aggressively partisan way.
Other Republicans selected by McCarthy to serve on the panel include Darrell Issa (Calif.); Thomas Massie (Ky.); Chris Stewart (Utah); Elise Stefanik (N.Y.); Mike Johnson (La.); Chip Roy (Texas); Kelly Armstrong (N.D.); Greg Steube (Fla.); Dan Bishop (N.C.); Kat Cammack (Fla.); and Harriett Hageman (Wyo.).
The selection of Hageman is particularly satisfying to conservative Republicans as she was the one who defeated Rep. Liz Cheney in the Republican primary — after Cheney’s intense opposition to President Trump, including her open hostility on the January 6 Committee.
Some Democrats denigrated the members chosen for the subcommittee, arguing they were hard-core “MAGA” types. But a close look at the voting records of those tapped by Speaker McCarthy reveals that the Republicans would not reasonably be considered ultraconservative. Although some on the subcommittee would be considered “conservative,” not all of the designees could be described as hard-core conservative.
The Freedom Index of The New American magazine rates members of Congress on some key votes, according to their fidelity to the Constitution. Certainly Jordan, with an 83 score on the Freedom Index, could be classified as mostly conservative. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has a score of 99 on the Index, and Chip Roy of Texas presently boasts a score of 94.
But others, such Darrell Issa of California, with a 55, and Elise Stefanik of New York, with a mere 46, would be more accurately described as middle-of-the road members of Congress.
In addition to the Republicans slated to serve on the committee, Democrats will be allowed to choose a proportional number of members. That is contrary to the way the Democrats allowed only two Republicans on the committee “investigating” the January 6 riots at the Capitol. And both Republicans were known to be strongly opposed to Trump.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise explained why the committee looking into the “weaponization of the federal government” is a Republican priority during this term of Congress. “We’re going to set up that Church committee to look at some of these federal agencies that are weaponizing government to go after families across this country based on their political views. That’s not what the government should be doing,” he said, referring to the so-called Church committee of the 1970s in which Democratic Sen. Frank Church led an investigation of intelligence abuse by the executive branch.
Democrats immediately condemned the new committee, charging that it is just a “revenge committee” designed to deliver political payback, but Scalise said it will serve “to protect every American’s constitutional rights.”
The House voted 221-211 — in a straight party-line vote — to create a committee with the authority to investigate how the federal government handles “ongoing criminal investigations” and civil-liberties issues. The panel would also get access to highly classified information typically only shared with the House Intelligence Committee.
Although Democrats predicted that Republicans could use such broad new powers to disrupt ongoing probes into the Jan. 6 attack, that committee actually ceased to exist at the conclusion of the last Congress.
“Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy claim to be investigating the weaponization of the federal government when, in fact, this new select committee is the weapon itself,” New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “It is specifically designed to inject extremist politics into our justice system and shield the MAGA movement from the legal consequences of their actions.”
Democrats still need to recommend their own members for the panel. As part of the resolution that greenlit it, Nadler automatically gets a seat due to his place on the Judiciary Committee.
As an example of the allegations of the weaponization of federal law enforcement, some Republicans pointed to an inspector general’s report that found the FBI spied on a former Trump campaign adviser. Such abuse is certainly not unique to the Biden administration in particular, or to recent years in general, as the late Victor Lasky wrote in his book by the same name, It Didn’t Start With Watergate. Apparently it did not end with the Watergate scandal, either, but has only gotten worse — much worse.
One of the problems now is how most of the major media slavishly report the news in a way designed to protect Democrats and target Republicans. Little to nothing is said about Democratic Party use of federal law enforcement in a highly partisan way.
Many political opponents of the Biden administration have been routinely targeted for criminal punishment, while members and supporters of the Biden White House are hardly bothered by federal law enforcement.
This is the type of thing that has historically happened in so-called banana republics, where political differences are criminalized and political opponents are targeted. It has certainly been the case in totalitarian systems. “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime” was the boast of Lavrentiy Beria, the head of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s secret police.
That is the attitude that this new committee can hopefully prevent from becoming commonplace in the United States.
