Would-be GOP speaker says it’s OK to lie to Congress

When not denigrating law enforcement on Fox News, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) may be planning a run for House speaker.

Jordan has reportedly reached out to colleagues about trying to fill the position now that Paul Ryan is retiring.

But Jordan’s aspirations for a leadership role make his odd pronouncements about honesty all the more troubling.

Most recently, he suggested lying to the FBI when not under oath isn’t that big of a deal. And he claimed that he couldn’t think of a single time when Trump told a lie.

Appearing on Fox News Tuesday morning, Jordan continued his endless smear campaign against the FBI, as special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation pushes forward. Specifically, he seemed upset that Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was indicted for lying to the FBI — which Flynn managed to do his first week on the job at the White House in 2017.

“Mike Flynn, while not under oath, makes a false statement to the FBI and gets indicted,” Jordan lamented.

It’s unclear what Jordan expected, since it’s always a crime to lie to federal investigators, whether under oath or not.

Dismissing that as no big deal is a troubling stance for someone who hopes to be the GOP’s next House Speaker to take. But it fits in with Jordan’s pattern of relentlessly attacking the FBI and raising doubts about the bureau’s integrity.

Suggesting Trump has never told a lie as president is also a remarkable position to take. But Jordan did that, too.

On CNN Monday night, Anderson Cooper repeatedly asked Jordan if he had ever heard Trump tell a lie. “I don’t know of it,” said Jordan. “Nothing comes to mind.”

In fact, Trump has told on average five falsehoods every day of his presidency. To date, that tallies more than 2,300 lies.

But Jordan couldn’t think of a single one.

One reason Trump has so many documented lies is that he repeats the same ones over and over after they’ve been labeled falsehoods.

“Sixty-one times, he has touted that he secured business investments and job announcements that had been previously announced and could easily be found with a Google search,” the Washington Post noted in January.

Despite Ryan’s plan to remain Speaker through the end of the year, the race could become quite contentious. White House aides are already urging Trump to stay out of the jockeying that’s unfolding.

And if someone like Jordan, who dismisses honesty as an important trait in a leader, ends up in the running, the race will be a mess with or without Trump’s involvement.