Recommending That the House Find Stephen K. Bannon in Contempt of Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Look, we have seen the worst 10 months of any administration in history. We went from a secure border to chaos. We went from safe streets to violent crime. We have seen stable prices turn into inflation and empty shelves. The respect around the world we had has now turned into the debacle that was the exit from Afghanistan. And we went from peace in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords to thousands of rockets being fired on our friend and ally, Israel; not to mention, energy independence to now the spectacle of the President of the United States begging OPEC to increase production.

But what scares me most is what this administration and Democrats are doing to freedom. Every right we enjoy under the First Amendment has been assaulted over the last year.

Your right to practice faith. There are still places today in the country where a full congregation can't meet on Sunday morning.

Your right to petition your government, your right to assemble, freedom of the press, freedom of speech--every single one has been attacked.

We just learned in the Judiciary Committee from the Attorney General that the National School Boards Association last month, September 29, sends a letter to the President of the United States asking the FBI to get involved in local school board matters. Five days later, the Attorney General issues a memo to do just that.

The first sentence of the Attorney General's memo says this: In recent months, there has been a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats at school board meetings.

We asked him a simple question: What is the evidence for a spike in threats? What is the data? What did you review?

Guess what his answer was. His only evidence, the only thing he reviewed, was the letter from the school boards association, from a political organization. Now, they are going to target parents at school board meetings.

And we have the January 6 committee issuing subpoena after subpoena. Eleven of the people they have issued subpoenas to were names on an application asking the government for permission to hold a rally. Individuals exercising their First Amendment right to assemble, asked the government for permission, the government granted them permission, and now these 20- and 30-year-olds, whose names are on that application, they are going to be deposed by these guys for simply exercising their First Amendment right.

Here is what they are asking them, we want to know who the speakers were and how were they selected. We want to know any communications these people--who put their names on a permit, got permission from the government--we want to know any Member of Congress you talked to.

Wow. Your right to petition your government, that is why they are subpoenaing these people? This is scary, where they want to go.

These questions--coordination of speakers, discussions of contents-- this sounds like what the IRS did to people 10 years ago when they were asking 501(c) groups applying for tax-exempt status, do you pray at the start of your meeting?

First, it is school boards, then it is people applying for a permit. We saw what the IRS did to people just a few years ago; not to mention what else the committee is doing; preservation letters to all of the carriers, all of the companies; preserve every call, every email, every text. Think about that. Every call someone made to--hundreds and hundreds, supposedly, according to news reports. They have done this for texts to your spouse, calls to your mom. Preserve it all. And this is just what we know about. This is just what has been reported.

And now Steve Bannon. Now Steve Bannon. Mr. Bannon is a target of the investigation, for the investigation, because--and this is the select committee's own report--``His efforts to plan political activity.''

That is the standard. If you are involved in political activity, they are going to investigate you.

We know what this is really about. This is about getting at President Trump. They tried to stop President Trump before he was even elected with the Russia investigation; tried to remove President Trump from office twice while he was in office. And now they are trying to get him after the fact, after he has left, all because this guy cut taxes, reduced regulation, gave us the greatest economy in 50 years, lowest unemployment, all because he built the wall, got us out of the Iran deal, put the embassy in Jerusalem. When President Trump was President, Americans got their Christmas presents on time. But they are coming after him.

The Reuters story said this: The FBI has found no evidence that President Trump, or people directly around him, were involved in organizing the violence.

They don't care. They don't care that the FBI has no evidence. The Senate report said no evidence of a coordinated plan. They don't care. They are going to drag these 11 people in for depositions with subpoenas, because they are so determined to get their political enemies.

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