Althouse: "A divided House voted on Tuesday to launch a wide-ranging investigation into federal law enforcement and national security agencies..."

January 10, 2023

"A divided House voted on Tuesday to launch a wide-ranging investigation into federal law enforcement and national security agencies..."

"... as Republicans promised to use their new power in Congress to scrutinize what they said was a concerted effort by the government to silence and punish conservatives at all levels, from protesters at school board meetings to former President Donald J. Trump. On a party-line vote of 221-211 with all Democrats opposed, the House approved the formation of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which is to be chaired by Representative Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio, the incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a staunch ally of Mr. Trump.... In a floor speech, Mr. Jordan... said his interest was merely in 'protecting the First Amendment' at a time when he said the right was being unfairly targeted.... 'We don’t want to go after anyone,' he said. 'We just want it to stop.'"

The NYT reports.

47 comments:

Original Mike said...: Not a single democrat objects to the collusion between government law enforcement agencies and the social media companies? Shameful.; 1/10/23, 7:21 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: Outside of immigration, the deep-state/watcher problem is the most dangerous challenge we face.; 1/10/23, 7:21 PM
Mark said...: Another Red Scare to freak out those who drank their conspiracy kool aid.

I bet the altbillies here drink it down like Fentanyl.; 1/10/23, 7:27 PM
Shoeless Joe said...: "A Divided House"

Memo to the utterly corrupt morons who run the NY Times: Every Congressional vote that isn't unanimous is by definition "divided". When Democrats get their way with a party line vote it's a triumph of Democracy. When the GOP wins under identical circumstances not so much.; 1/10/23, 7:34 PM
retail lawyer said...: So is the Dem position that it didn't happen, or that it did happen but it was for a good cause? My survey of Dem friends reports that it did happen, but it not only was done for a good cause, but the perps were heroes! Because Hitler.; 1/10/23, 7:42 PM
Owen said...: Good luck Mr. Jordan. I hope you smile and speak mildly and then put these people into bone-crushing holds. Make them feel inescapable pain and fear, and the cold despair of watching their net worth melt away under a stack of legal bills.

It's the only way they will learn. And because there are myriads of others who need to learn, make sure the whole business is quite open and well-reported.; 1/10/23, 7:56 PM
Iman said...: It won’t stop if the wrong-doers don’t face consequences. These shitheels must be held accountable.; 1/10/23, 7:59 PM
Steven said...: In a floor speech, Mr. Jordan... said his interest was merely in 'protecting the First Amendment' at a time when he said the right was being unfairly targeted.... 'We don’t want to go after anyone,' he said. 'We just want it to stop.'"

This is why it will not stop. If there are never any repercussions for these violations and the perpetrators benefit from the illicit actions, why would they stop? Government officials who violate our rights need to be fired and stripped of pensions and security clearances. All government agencies, employees, and officials should be prohibited from dealing with these ex-officials so that they cannot be employed as lobbyists, reporters, or commentators. We must go after them ruthlessly. Let them find new employment that is not sucking money directly or indirectly from the public treasury.

Res publica deleta est.; 1/10/23, 7:59 PM
Fredrick said...: "'We don’t want to go after anyone,' he said. 'We just want it to stop.'""

I really hope he is not so stupid as to expect that will happen without people getting fired and losing their renumeration earned during their years of illegal conduct.; 1/10/23, 8:01 PM
Dave Begley said...: And the NYT will either ignore the story or spin it.

How do those NYT people look themselves in the mirror each morning?; 1/10/23, 8:01 PM
Dave Begley said...: It really is crazy when the NYT - which is in the speech business - is opposed to Free Speech.; 1/10/23, 8:02 PM
Creola Soul said...: About time. The FBI is way out of control and need to be investigated. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.; 1/10/23, 8:04 PM
Michael K said...: Blogger Mark said...

Another Red Scare to freak out those who drank their conspiracy kool aid.

I bet the altbillies here drink it down like Fentanyl.

Lefty Mark is all in on government control and fentayl. Good work, lefty Mark.; 1/10/23, 8:14 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: The FBI needs to be purged of it's corrupt hacks.; 1/10/23, 8:19 PM
Original Mike said...: "So is the Dem position that it didn't happen, or that it did happen but it was for a good cause? "

What say you, Mark?; 1/10/23, 8:20 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Today I read a very informative series of tweets, written by a journalist named Tayler Hansen, about his personal observations in the January 6 riot.

Here is a taste:

-----

I arrived outside the Capitol at 12:50PM, within 3 minutes, the initial barrier which had under 7 officers standing post was overwhelmed.

The second barrier went down within the same minute, this time it was Ray Epps who visibly spoke to Ryan Samsel and others right before.

-----

For a while, all was calm and peaceful. Then a concussion grenade was thrown deep into what was a peaceful crowd. This caused an eruption within the crowd.

The crowd surged due to those in the back not understanding what was happening, pushing others forward consistently.

-----

For over an hour, a continuous barrage of concussion grenades, tear gas, pepper spray, and other crowd munitions were deployed on the crowd.

This affected thousands of people, most of whom had no idea what was going on and hadn’t been violent at all.

-----

After an Officer pushed Derrick Vargo off of the inaugural stairs, breaking his legs, the Officer taunted the crowd below who were visibly upset. This caused a crowd to surge up the staircase which eventually arrived at the Western doors of the Capitol.

-----

The Committee refused to talk to me even though I offered testimony and video.

@AdamKinzinger and others did not seriously “investigate” what took place. Instead, he donated to Michael Byrds GoFundMe.

My prayers are with those affected by violence on todays anniversary.; 1/10/23, 8:32 PM
Mason G said...: "On a party-line vote of 221-211 with all Democrats opposed..."

If they haven't done anything wrong, they've got nothing to be afraid of, right?; 1/10/23, 8:37 PM
Quaestor said...: "How do those NYT people look [at] themselves in the mirror each morning?"

Not a problem for the soulless undead.; 1/10/23, 8:44 PM
Quaestor said...: "I bet the altbillies here drink it down like Fentanyl."

So what do you drink down, Mark? Sperm?; 1/10/23, 8:46 PM
rcocean said...: So, according to the NYT's the Republicans are "pouncing" again. This time against the FBI/Intelligence agencies who they CLAIM are doing so and so.

In the NYT's world, the Democrats address PROBLEMS. The Republicans just attack things they CLAIM are problems. NYT's never writes: "The Democrats setup a special committee to address the J6 protests that they CLAIM were bad"

And again, when the Republicans control something, the NYT's always make it clear in the headline or the lead paragraph that they are doing it against the D's will. And also the actual institution is "Split" or "Divided".

When the Democrats passed something it was just "House passes X" and when the SCOTUS ruled 5-4 the liberal way its just "SCOTUS RULES XYZ". When its R's pass something its "Divided House passes X" or if conservatives win its: "In split 5-4 decision SCOTUS Rules XYZ"; 1/10/23, 8:53 PM
rcocean said...: The D's don't care about abuse of power, they only care when they are on recieving end. People need to wake up and understand how dangerous they are. TRump would be rotting in prison right now, if they could manage it. And it will be the same with DeSantis, if they think he's a big enough threat.

Of course, the Dumbo Moderate Republicans always think the D's are their friends, and if they just make sure the D's understand they can WORK TOGETHER, and hate those Goddamn Rightwing extremists and Trump supporters, well they're safe.

BTW, LT Byrd who murdered ashli babbitt, was whisked off for six months after the murder to a private suite located at Andrews AFB. Then he came back and got his medal.; 1/10/23, 9:02 PM
Dude1394 said...: As long as he didn't mean that he doesn't want to go after anyone, then ok. If he did, then he has lost already.

Because that is not how to fight the democrats. We are at war with them.; 1/10/23, 9:10 PM
gspencer said...: "Not a single democrat objects to the collusion between government law enforcement agencies and the social media companies?"

And you thought they meant it when they took their constitutional oaths.; 1/10/23, 9:13 PM
Drago said...: Naturally, the petulant Dan Crenshaw refused to vote for either the rules package or any of the specific committees.

Earnest Prole and his ilk no doubt approves as they too opposed the actions that were necessary to create this rules package.

So now it is quite clear that the supposed "dumpster fire"/"clown show"/"insert other moronic assertions here" tactics delivered the foundation necessary to begin the real work.

No thanks to all the usual suspects.

No we will see if the republicans have any real gumption...which remains in doubt until proven otherwise.; 1/10/23, 9:31 PM
traditionalguy said...: Secret Police are tools of Dictatorships. The Feds have slowly and secretly become a semi-Gestapo since the Bush family turned the CIA loose. No one dares oppose them or expose them. They all remember JFK’s last days and the power displayed by 9/11. But that damn Trump truth teller became a major glitch.; 1/10/23, 10:04 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: Retail lawyer, I had a chat with a friend about the election in Arizona, where the official certifier of the election was also the Democrat candidate for office. I stated that was an egregious conflict of interest. My friend said it was ok, even good, because the Republican candidate was a bad person.; 1/10/23, 10:18 PM
Gk1 said...: Well I'm sure the FBI has nothing to hide and is beyond reproach if the previous Russiagate debacle is any indication of how partisan they have become. They pretty much act like they are untouchable for some reason.; 1/10/23, 10:32 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Lefty Mark would have been a brown-shirt 80 years ago.; 1/10/23, 10:50 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: On one of my own blogs, I have been publishing a series of articles titled "My Conspiracy Theory About the Prague-Meeting Hoax". So far, I have published three such articles, the first of which is here.

According to Christopher Steele's Dossier, Michael Cohen -- who was employed as the Vice President of The Trump Organization and also as one of Trump's personal lawyers -- traveled to Prague in late August or early September 2016 in order to meet secretly with some Russian officials to discuss some issues of the imaginary election-collusion of Trump and the Russian Government.

Later, in 2018, this Dossier story received some confirmation when an unknown US Government official leaked to two experienced investigative journalists that an East European intelligence agency had detected 1) Cohen's phone pinging off a cell tower in the area and 2) a Russian language communication discussing Cohen's presence in the area.

This Government official leaked this same story to those journalists twice, but then apparently backed off from that story on a third occasion.

Ultimately, the Mueller Report stated authoritatively that Cohen had not actually visited Prague.

=======

The first Dossier reports had indicated that the key intermediary in the imaginary collusion was Carter Page. Later Dossier reports indicated that the key intermediary had become Paul Manafort, who worked as Trump's campaign manager until mid-August 2016, when he was compelled to resign.

The final four Dossier reports indicated that the key intermediary had become Michael Cohen. The first three of those Cohen-implicating reports were dated October 18, 19 and 20, 2016 -- about three weeks before Election Day.

======

My conspiracy theory was that the Prague-meeting story -- the Dossier reports and also the confirming detections of the cell-phone pings and the Russian-language communication -- was prepared as an October Surprise in case a Trump election victory became likely.

As it turned out, Clinton and her cabal remained confident that she would win the election, and so the Prague-meeting story was not revealed in an October Surprise. Rather, the story did not begin to be revealed to the public until early January 2017 --during the interval between the election and the inauguration.

=======

I speculate further that the Prague-meeting October Surprise was concocted by a cabal of former US Intelligence officials who were trying to defeat Trump in the election and were willing and able to use their Intelligence expertise to accomplish dirty tricks against Trump.; 1/10/23, 11:30 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: ...the House approved the formation of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government

All we are saying is give the insurrectionists a chance.; 1/10/23, 11:53 PM
Jaq said...: You know why they are called "insurrectionists" and not demonstrators or rioters? Because calling the riot an "insurrection" brings into play the emergency powers of the Federal Govt, which are unlimited, and criminalizes opposition. No other reason. There have been plenty of larger riots by the left, bombs have been thrown into Federal Courthouses, etc, but they have almost always ended up with the charges dropped, and hugely destructive riots have been called "mostly peaceful."; 1/11/23, 5:16 AM
wendybar said...: Yancey Ward said...
Lefty Mark would have been a brown-shirt 80 years ago.

1/10/23, 10:50 PM

He's a modern day brown shirt.; 1/11/23, 6:13 AM
Original Mike said...: Not surprising Mark won't step up and answer whether he believes it didn't happen or that it was good that it happened.; 1/11/23, 10:39 AM
Brylinski said...: In the Althouse Marketplace of Ideas, Lefty Mark has nothing to offer.; 1/11/23, 10:52 AM
mikee said...: I, for one, look forward to not hearing, seeing, reading or being told anything about these hearings by any establishment media sources. This will save me a lot of time and angst.; 1/11/23, 11:54 AM
Mark said...: Yeah, Mike. Why wouldn't I want to follow the rude requests of people calling me a brown shirt or worse?

After 10+ years I am well aware of the many trolls who comment here and cause me to not expect a reasonable discussion.

You already are attributing ideas to me that I have never stated. You can have my answers when you actually speak up about the mindless personal attacks, but we all know you won't.; 1/11/23, 11:55 AM
Original Mike said...: "Yeah, Mike. Why wouldn't I want to follow the rude requests of people calling me a brown shirt or worse?"

I was not rude. You post here, so presumably you want your opinion known. You stated:

"Another Red Scare to freak out those who drank their conspiracy kool aid.
I bet the altbillies here drink it down like Fentanyl."

One can assume you don't believe the House should be investigating the interactions between the FBI and Twitter, Facebook, et al., but it is not clear on what basis you hold that opinion; it didn't happen or it was proper that it happened? You're really not willing to state your reason?

"You already are attributing ideas to me that I have never stated."

Please elaborate. I sincerely don't see where I did that.

As to the personal attacks, for what it's worth I don't support them. But I have to say, it appears to me you give as good as you get.; 1/11/23, 12:36 PM
hombre said...: The abusive practices of federal enforcement agencies are not limited to First Amendment abuses, but it doesn't appear that Republicans have noticed.; 1/11/23, 1:25 PM
hombre said...: Mark @11:55: After reviewing the posts here, it is clear that you don't know the meaning of "troll", " conspiracy theory", or "reasonable discussion."

Why would we Altbillies take you seriously?; 1/11/23, 1:36 PM
Iman said...: Lefty Mark is but a brown stain…; 1/11/23, 1:37 PM
Iman said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/11/23, 1:39 PM
hombre said...: Re Mark: Anybody else notice than when lefties are asked to explain a lefty position they accuse the questioner of bullying rather than answer?

I wonder why? LOL!; 1/11/23, 2:02 PM
n.n said...: IRS, FBI, DOJ, just a few of the agencies exceeding their authority granted under The Constitution, the People, our Posterity, and a republican form of government established to serve.; 1/11/23, 2:39 PM
Jim at said...: Another Red Scare to freak out those who drank their conspiracy kool aid.

It's not a conspiracy if it's true, dumas.; 1/11/23, 3:37 PM
Jim at said...: "Another Red Scare to freak out those who drank their conspiracy kool aid.
I bet the altbillies here drink it down like Fentanyl."

If you want a reasonable discussion - without the mindless personal attacks - you could start by cleaning up your own act.

But we all know you won't.; 1/11/23, 3:50 PM
Original Mike said...: Pending further review if he does respond, I think it's fair to conclude that Mark is good with the government censoring the speech of its citizens, because with the evidence presented in the Twitter Files it's impossible to conclude it didn't happen. 'Brown shirt' may be a little over the top, Mark, but an authoritarian government trampling the civil rights of its citizens makes it an apt comparison.

I know you don't like the people who were on the short end of this affair, but you may want to reflect upon the bigger picture. If they can do it to them, they can do it to you too. Perhaps that's why the founders sought to prohibit this abuse of power in the Constitution.; 1/11/23, 5:06 PM
Jim at said...: If they can do it to them, they can do it to you too.

And that's precisely what the left doesn't understand. Or they don't WANT to understand ... because they think their cause is righteous and true, and as long as it's those icky 'others' on the receiving end, they have nothing to worry about.

Now that I think about it? That's fine by me.
Instant Karma is a song. Real life takes longer.; 1/11/23, 11:41 PM