The House Judiciary Committee took the Acela train north on Monday—and New Yorkers didn’t particularly care for committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and his colleagues decamping to the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building.
Jordan had moved the committee hearing north in his attempt to besmirch Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who recently indicted Jordan’s pal Donald Trump. “He’s taken his soft on crime approach to the real criminals,” Jordan said.
Jordan attempted to position Bragg as instituting “pro-crime, anti-victim policies” since taking office—but of course, he’s the absolute last person who has the moral authority to do that. In a new profile of the conservative crank who that came out this weekend, Jordan’s conduct during a sexual abuse scandal at Ohio State University’s male wrestling team was resurfaced. The New York Times reported that Jordan reportedly called one of the accuser’s “aging parents” to persuade the accuser to recant their statement that Jordan had deliberately overlooked the abuse on the wrestling squad while Jordan was working as an assistant coach. Jordan has always denied this accusation, and eventually, the accuser walked it back, saying he did not know anyone specifically reporting abuse to Jordan at the time.
But if sexual abuse survivors weren’t enough to be anti-victim, maybe you’re interested in Jordan’s role in the January 6th insurrection. Protesters outside Monday’s hearings called for Jordan to be indicted with chants calling him a “traitor,” according to video tweeted by Punchbowl News reporter Mica Soellner. They also held up signs referencing Jordan’s role on the January 6th like “Jim Jordan Insurrectionist” and “Indict Jim Jordan” and “Jim Jordan Assaulted Democracy,” per Washington Post’s Shayna Jacobs and John Wagner.
In addition to being deeply hypocritical, Jordan appears to be mistaken about the crime numbers in Manhattan, Bragg’s jurisdiction. According to CNN’s fact-check on crime in New York, Manhattan reported 78 murders in 2022, compared to 503 murders reported at the height of NYC crime in 1990. New York Police reported a nearly 64 percent decline in rape and 87 percent decline in burglary from 2022 to 1990. The city is, objectively, a safer place now, when looking at NYPD stats.
Still, it’s hard to tell someone that witnessed a subway stabbing that “crime is down, actually!” Or tell a sexual assault survivor to sleep better at night because they were one of just a lot fewer than the absolute worst number the city recorded.
Neither Bragg nor New York City Mayor Eric Adams were invited to testify before the panel, despite being the people who, you know, are in charge of the lawless place known as the Big Apple. But at least Jordan got into town in time to possibly catch the final curtain call of Phantom of the Opera and rant about how crime victims aren’t supported!