Jordan discusses Benghazi, Paul Ryan, Lois Lerner on Fox News Sunday
Below are a few highlights from Rep. Jordan's interview.
On Benghazi:
"… I think it is new to tell the American people she said something completely different in private. She was telling the truth in private, she was telling spin to the American people. I mean, who talks in language like that? Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. Contrast that with what she said to the Egyptian prime minister. We know the attack had nothing to do with the film. It was a planned attack, not a protest. That's plain language, that is being straightforward. That's being forthcoming. Why didn't she talk in those kind of terms with the American people? And here's why it's relevant, Chris. At the end of that hearing, we asked her, relative to her e-mail situation. You know, her and her legal team determine which e-mails are public and which emails are work related. And we said if the FBI finds – remember, the FBI has got her server, they are going through that – if they find deleted e-mails, will they agree, will Clinton and her team agree to allow a neutral third party like a retired federal judge to examine those deleted e-mails and determine if some of those are applicable to our investigation? Her response was, no, they wouldn't agree to that.
"… They knew the truth from the get-go and they didn't level with the American people. And I think they didn't level with the American people because Libya was supposed to be their baby. This was supposed to be the shining success story for the Clinton State Department, the Obama White House, and they couldn't have a terror attack here just 56 days before an election, so they had to stay with this muddled-up narrative about a video-inspired protest leading to an attack. They stuck with that all along so that didn't change."
On Rep. Ryan:
"… [W]e (the Members of the House Freedom Caucus) do have a commitment from Paul to work on changing the rules, and we may get even some of those changed before the vote this coming Wednesday and Thursday. So we think that's a good step. Plus, also, one of the things Paul wanted was this change to the motion to vacate the chair. We have not agreed to that. But we think, as Mr. Needham discussed in your previous segment, we think Paul has the kind of vision and is the kind of messenger our party needs to accomplish the things we told the voters we're going to accomplish. So we're excited about that. He didn't quite get the endorsement threshold we have in our group, but our members said, a super majority of our members said we think Paul Ryan's the right guy at the right time to lead our conference.
"… [W]e're going to work with him. And we think we can come together as a group and fight for the things – Paul has talked to us, when we met with – an hour with Paul. He told, we're going to have our initiative on how we're going to reform the tax code. We're going to come forward on how we're going to reform our out of control welfare system and empower people who are stuck and trapped in that system. He talked about our replacement to Obamacare. That big bold agenda and vision that we need, particularly as we head into a presidential election. Paul's the right kind of guy to do that. And we think we can unite around those big bold ideas and push those forward. And actually pass them in the House of Representatives, send them to the Senate, and talk about those ideas with the American people."
On Lois Lerner and the IRS targeting scandal:
"Yes, that is just flat out wrong, in my judgment. Here's a lady who systematically and for a sustained period of time targeted people for exercising their most fundamental rights, their First Amendment free speech rights. The president prejudged this case. Remember the facts here. The president said, there's no corruption here, not even a smidgen. The chief investigator, the chief lawyer assigned to the Justice Department to evaluate this was Barbara Bosserman, a maxed-out contributor to the president's campaign. So it shouldn't be any surprise the Justice Department said there's nothing wrong here. But the American people know that there is.
"… We got Loretta Lynch coming in front of the Judiciary Committee. … I plan on asking her some serious questions and hopefully some tough questions about how they – this investigation went and who they actually talked to. What happened in this investigation. And why they could arrive at this kind of conclusion, when I think all the facts point to someone was involved in criminal activity, and I think it was Lois Lerner."
VIDEO of Rep. Jordan on Fox News Sunday: http://video.foxnews.com/v/4577629838001/rep-jim-jordan-on-status-of-the-benghazi-investigation/?playlist_id=trending#sp=news-clips
TRANSCRIPT of Rep. Jordan on Fox News Sunday: http://www.foxnews.com/transcript/2015/10/25/dr-ben-carson-talks-surge-in-polls-fundraising-rep-jim-jordan-on-status/
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