The House Select Committee inquiring the 6th January Capitol riot has asked Ohio’s Rep. Jim Jordan, the longtime Congressional ally of the former US President Donald Trump, to sit for an interview with the Select Panel as it zeroes in on GOP legislators who might have significant knowledge of events leading up to the United States Capitol insurrection.

The panel’s letter to Mr. Jordan says that interrogators want to ask him about his communications associated with the run-up to the Capitol attack. Those include Rep. Jordan’s messages with Donald Trump, his legal team, and others involved in preparing rallies on 6th January and Congressional objections to certifying Mr. Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s success in the 2020 Presidential election.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat and the panel’s chairman, wrote in the letter to Mr. Jordan that they comprehend that Jordan had at least one and probably multiple communications with President Trump on 6th January. Moreover, they’d like to discuss each such communication with Jim Jordan in detail.

The Committee says in its letter that it has documents on file that show former President was watching TV coverage of the Jan.6 Capitol riot from his private dining room next to the Oval Office and that Mr. Trump, through his legal team, was endeavoring to delay or impede the electoral tally even after the mob had dispersed.

Representative Jim Jordan, a GOP, was closely involved in Trump’s attempt to battle the election outcomes. He participated in planning meetings with senior White House officials, including a crowd in Nov. 2020 at Donald Trump drive headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and a meeting last December at the White House, where GOP legislators discussed plans with the President’s team to use the joint Congressional session on 6th January to challenge the 2020 election results.

Jim Jordan Forwarded Text Message to Mark Meadows

On 5th January, Rep. Jim Jordan forwarded a text message to Trump’s chief of staff, Mr. Mark Meadows; he’d received from former Pentagon inspector general and a lawyer outlining a lawful strategy to tilt the election.

The Committee has requested that Rep Jim Jordan provide information for the committee’s investigation.

Chair @BennieGThompson noted that Jordan was apparently in communication with the former President on 1/6 & he was reportedly involved in efforts to challenge election results. pic.twitter.com/XHO1r9if7t

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) December 22, 2021

Previously, a spokesperson for Jim Jordan confirmed to CNN that he forwarded a text to Trump’s chief of staff, Mr. Mark Meadows on 5th January that was sent to him by Joseph Schmitz, former Pentagon inspector general. Schmitz’s text message included a draft presentation arguing that Vice President Mike Pence had the constitutional authority to object to the 2020 election results’ certification from certain states.

The interview requests to both Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Rep. Jim Jordan mark a significant step in the inquiry and could lead to the panel issuing subpoenas to legislators who refuse to cooperate willingly, which would dramatically escalate political strains. When Rep. Scott Perry declined to speak with the panel on Dec. 21, the committee condemned his actions but stopped short of saying it would issue a subpoena.

While many people who have been subpoenaed have rejected to appear, and some have selected to file lawsuits to attempt to block efforts to require them to appear, panel members say they’ve already received evidence from witnesses about the measures leading up to the Capitol attack. The Select Panel has interviewed over 300 individuals.