Jim Jordan's Defense of Trump a 'Gross Abuse of Power,' Kirschner Says

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Political and legal analyst Glenn Kirschner has been railing against Ohio Republican Jim Jordan's efforts to defend Donald Trump during an investigation for the payment of hush money to former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

"First, Jordan abuses his authority by interfering in federal investigations of Trump. Now, Jordan goes to the mat again, interfering in a STATE investigating to help Trump avoid accountability," tweeted Kirschner on Monday.

"Thank you @RepTedLieu for calling out this gross abuse of power," he added, quoting a previous tweet by California Democrat Ted Lieu saying that it was illegal for Jordan to interfere with an ongoing investigation.

Jim Jordan
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan presides over a hearing of the Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Glenn... Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Jordan, the House Judiciary Chair, had previously written on Twitter that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg "owes our committee answer" on whether his office used federal funds to investigate Trump and whether he communicated with the Department of Justice about its investigation of the former president.

Trump could be indicted for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws with a $130,000 hush money payout made by Cohen under his direction ahead of the 2016 election. Though Trump has denied any wrongdoing, prosecutors for Bragg have indicated that a criminal indictment in relation to the case could be imminent. The former president announced on Truth Social that he would be arrested on Tuesday, though he failed to provide any evidence for it.

Jordan said that at the center of the investigation against the former president for the hush money paid to Daniels by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was a "book-keeping error."

Jordan told CNN on Monday that he doesn't think Trump broke the law at all: "President Trump announces he's running for president and shazam! Some bookkeeping error from seven years ago, [this] misdemeanor is now what they're going after," he said.

Newsweek reached out to Jordan's office via email for comment.

Jordan and two other GOP committee chairs are seeking testimony from Bragg on his office's probe into Trump. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed to launch an investigation into whether federal funds were used for the probe.

Kirschner called the "McCarthy & Jordan attempt to shut down NY DA Alvin Bragg's criminal investigation of Donald Trump" a "dramatic and transparent abuse of power."

Kirschner, who served for 30 years as a U.S. Army prosecutor and a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., is now best known as a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He's also active on YouTube, where he creates his own content and also makes frequent appearances in videos hosted by other legal experts and commentators.

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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more