GOP House Rep. Jim Jordan & Democrat Stacey Plaskett Come To Blows During Subcommittee Hearing: 'Oh, Now We Wanna Get On With It?!'
March 10 2023, Published 8:05 a.m. ET
Republican House Rep. Jim Jordan and Democrat Stacey Plaskett shared a fiery exchange this week during a subcommittee hearing, RadarOnline.com has learned.
On Thursday, during the House Select Subcommittee’s hearing on the alleged “weaponization of the federal government,” Congressman Jordan argued the current federal government has a history of “persecuting conservatives.”
Jordan, 59, specifically cited a series of meetings the FBI had with Twitter executives just prior to the 2020 presidential election between then-President Donald Trump and then-candidate Joe Biden.
According to the GOP congressman, the FBI’s motives were “nefarious” and he suggested the FBI pushed Twitter to censor a number of accounts belonging specifically to conservative users.
“The whole debacle lasted about three hours,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said while reporting on Thursday’s contentious House meeting.
“The committee’s vice chair quickly lost patience with the chairman’s theatrics,” Hayes continued, referring to Democratic House Rep. Plaskett.
When Plaskett asked witnesses and “Twitter files” reporters Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger whether they spoke with Twitter CEO Elon Musk about the company’s meetings with the FBI in 2020, Jordan lashed out.
“Frankly, I think they’re brave individuals for being willing to come after they’ve been named in a letter from the Biden FTC!” Jordan responded when Plaskett suggested Taibbi and Shellenberger “pose a direct threat to people who oppose them.”
“No, I’m responding to your ridiculous statement you made in your opening statement!” Jordan continued after Plaskett questioned why the chairman was interrupting her during her allotted five minutes of time to speak.
“Oh, now we want to get on with it?! You can say all the things you want and I can say…” Jordan added after Plaskett said “Okay, let’s get on with it.”
Later on during the meeting, Jordan spoke out after he took issue with the fact that Congresswoman Plaskett alleged asked Taibbi and Shellenberger “for their sources” regarding the “Twitter files.”
“The ranking member of the committee in the weaponization of government is asking for your sources!” Jordan fumed. “Yes, you did!”
Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free.
“I did not ask for sources,” Plaskett fired back. “I asked if they were talking to Elon Musk. And they said that they were not talking. You are not going to say I’ve asked for sources.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government’s contentious meeting on Thursday came weeks after Musk ordered a cache of “Twitter files” to be released showing the FBI pressured the social media platform to censor particular stories ahead of the 2020 election.
One of those stories – the Hunter Biden abandoned laptop scandal – has been a focal point for House Republicans like Jordan who believe the federal government purposely prevented Twitter from reporting on it due to the potential consequences it could have had on then-candidate Biden’s election bid.