Firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) is zeroing in on the alleged politicization of the Justice Department in what is expected to be a heated first hearing on the "weaponization" of the federal government.
The new select subcommittee will meet at 12 p.m. Thursday, where it will air out a yearslong grievance against the DOJ — that the agency has pursued an agenda of silencing conservatives on topics ranging from school boards to the Hunter Biden laptop story.
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Jordan, who also chairs the overarching Judiciary Committee, will lead the hearing as it features testimony from former FBI agents and current and former lawmakers. Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI), the ranking member, will call witnesses to support the Democratic position.
The hearing is expected to get heated. Another conservative firebrand, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), was quietly tapped last week to take over Rep. Chip Roy's (R-TX) spot after he reportedly dropped the panel due to demanding positions on two other committees.
The first round of witnesses will feature ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (HI) and Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Both senators have experience with government accountability: Johnson is the top Republican on the investigations subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Grassley previously chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee. Gabbard was a Democrat during her time in Congress but left the party to become an independent last year.
The second round will feature former FBI agents Thomas Baker and Nicole Parker as well as George Washington University Law professor Jonathan Turley. Baker worked for the FBI for over 30 years and is the author of The Fall of the FBI: How a Once Great Agency Became a Threat to Democracy. Parker walked away from the bureau following over a decade of service after she said political elements encroached on its operations.
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Baker will take aim at former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who was special counsel in the investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion, as well as the FBI's targeting of ex-Trump adviser Carter Page, according to testimony obtained exclusively by the Washington Examiner.
"Americans have lost faith in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an institution they once regarded as the world’s greatest law enforcement agency," Baker said. "I spent many years with the FBI and am deeply troubled by this loss of faith. Specific lapses have come to light, many of which will be focused on by this panel. But why did they happen? What changed? The answer begins days after the 9/11 attacks with a cultural change at the bureau."
Parker will argue the FBI politicization extends all the way down to the agency's field offices.
"It’s as if there became two FBIs," she said in written testimony. "Americans see this, and it is destroying the bureau’s credibility, causing Americans to lose faith in the agency and therefore the hardworking and highly ethical agents who still do the heavy lifting and pursue noble cases. It makes it difficult for agents to do their job when the FBI loses the respect of the American people."
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This first hearing is set up to establish the committee's goals and start laying out the problems Republicans see in the federal agencies; it will not follow any specific line of inquiry.