Dem Rep. Swalwell rips GOP's Jordan for hypocrisy over subpoenas: 'Quite rich'

Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell this week excoriated House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan this week for holding hearings on compliance with congressional subpoenas after he himself refused to testify before a House committee when Democrats held the majority.

The House Jan. 6 panel had subpoenaed Jordan, demanding his testimony about the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot, though Jordan never appeared. The Judiciary Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight on Thursday questioned federal officials with the Departments of Justice and Education over subpoena compliance.

"I think it’s quite rich that we are talking about subpoena compliance under a chairman of a full committee who was absolutely out of subpoena compliance in the last Congress," Swalwell said during the hearing, The Hill reported. "So, we’re going to haul witnesses in here today and claim that they did not comply with subpoenas or requests."

"And that request is so rich because it’s coming from a chairman who himself did not comply with the Jan. 6 committee’s requests," he opined.

The Jan. 6 panel produced a controversial report late last year that largely pinned the blame for the disturbance on then-President Donald Trump. Republicans derided the committee's operations as a partisan farce while Trump himself contended its dealings were merely another stage in a never-ending political witch hunt against him.

Swalwell himself was not a member of the Jan. 6 investigative panel. He previously sat on the House Intelligence Committee during the last Congress, though House Speaker Kevin McCarthy refused to allow his return to it in the current one, citing concerns over his ties to an alleged Chinese spy and potential security risk.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.