Republicans on New Weaponization Committee Lay Groundwork for Investigations

Republicans on the newly established Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government met Friday for the very first time to start mapping out their investigative pursuits.

The closed-door meeting included all of the subcommittee’s GOP members, aside from Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who was home recovering from a serious accident, according to a source present at the meeting.

“There’s a lot for us to do. That’s really clear, and that’s just in the course of the discussion we had,” As he walked out of the meeting room, Rep. Dan Bishop (R.-NC) stated these words.

A partisan resolution created the subcommittee and gave it broad authority to investigate federal agencies like FBI and Justice Department for any alleged violations of civil liberties.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) noted to reporters after the meeting, however, that the subcommittee’s mandate was “much broader” These two agencies are superior.

“Obviously Twitter was weaponized, and that’s not DOJ only,” Issa said.

Rep. Jim Jordan, a member of the Judiciary Committee and chair of the subcommittee, met this week with Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter. He stated that he will dig into the matter. “Twitter files,” These revelations revealed that there was an intricate coordination between FBI and social media platforms in the run-up to the 2020 election.

3. Twitter’s contact with the FBI was constant and pervasive, as if it were a subsidiary.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 16, 2022

Jordan has also been vocal about his intentions to investigate the several whistleblower complaints he has vetted over the past year, including complaints related to DOJ’s past handling of tensions at school board meetings, its approach to January 6 investigations, and other concerns about department bias.

While it is unclear if those probes will take place through the Judiciary Committee or the new subcommittee, Issa said after the Republicans’ meeting Friday that they had already scheduled “several” Interviews transcribed

“I would imagine that we will be, like most investigation committees, disproportionately doing transcribed interviews and depositions. … It’s not about showing to the public,” Issa stressed the importance of the word “showing.” “It’s about real investigation, and then making it public,” Issa said.

Darrell Issa, Rep., speaks during a hearing held at the U.S. Capitol May 17, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

According to a, Jordan said this to Republicans during Friday’s meeting. Report CNN reports that the subcommittee would also adopt a rule by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D–MD), which allows for subpoenas to be issued without consulting Democrats. This indicates that the GOP plans to interview and depose its subjects aggressively.

With 12 GOP members already elected, and nine Democrats appointed, the subcommittee has 21 members. Minority Leader Hakeem J. Jeffries (D-NY), will likely choose members of the subcommittee in coming days.

Although Democrats appear to be ready to join the subcommittee they voted unanimously against it.

Jeffries has dismantled the panel. “insurrection protection,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D.NY), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, has been elected to the position Contended It could also be used to demonize law enforcement “protect Donald Trump,” The unprecedented FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago’s Mar-a-Lago house last year was a surprise.