House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded interviews from a series of Justice Department (DOJ) officials he accused of weaponizing the department, pushing to speak with several figures tied to President Trump’s criminal cases but failing to include special counsel Jack Smith.
The request from Jordan demands an interview with former special counsel David Weiss, who has already sat with the committee to discuss his work investigating Hunter Biden. This would be his first appearance, however, since producing a short report recapping the probe into the former president’s son.
The Ohio Republican also requested interviews with top prosecutors on Smith’s team, including J.P. Cooney and Thomas Windom.
The House Judiciary Committee routinely requests that special counsels appear before the panel once they have issued their final report, making the exclusion of Smith notable as lawmakers otherwise pursue conversations with his colleagues.
“Former Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team, including Cooney and Windom, orchestrated a partisan and politically motivated prosecution of President Donald J. Trump and his co-defendants,” Jordan wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“These actions undermined the integrity of the Justice Department and violated the core responsibility of prosecutors to do justice,” he added.
Jordan has previously targeted Cooney, asking the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility to turn over any internal files on the prosecutor.
Windom was one of the department’s most prominent faces in court, arguing on behalf of the government in Trump’s election interference trial related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Cooney was among those who worked on the president’s criminal cases who was fired by Trump’s DOJ leadership, while Jordan’s letter describes Windom as a current employee.
In his letter to Weiss, Jordan said the former special counsel did not answer many of their questions during a 2023 interview given that he had yet to release his final report.
“Contrary to your repeated representations to the Committee, your 27-page final report failed to address many of the topics you promised it would,” the lawmaker wrote. “Accordingly, we are forced to ask you to return for additional testimony in a transcribed interview about the topics you declined to address during your first appearance.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ, Weiss’s attorney and Jordan’s office, none of which immediately responded to a request for comment.
Separately Thursday, two IRS whistleblowers who complained about Weiss’s handling of Biden’s tax case were promoted within the agency.
The letter also asked to speak with several other DOJ attorneys, including those who worked on cases related to threats at abortion clinics, the prosecution of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), among others.
