Jim Jordan gives up

| 12:01 pm EST November 30, 2018
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After pro-Trump Republican Congressman Jim Jordan lost his bid several days ago to become House Minority Leader, he was more than eager to accept the role of House Judiciary Committee ranking member as a consolation prize. Then yesterday, immediately after Michael Cohen incriminated Donald Trump in the Trump-Russia scandal, Jordan suddenly announced he was no longer seeking the role. So what happened?

When the impeachment process against Donald Trump inevitably gets underway, by rule it’ll begin in the House Judiciary Committee. Based on the partisan nature of these things, incoming Democratic Chairman Jerry Nadler will lead the initial charge for articles of impeachment. The GOP ranking member on the committee will, by default, be Trump’s main initial defender. That was going to be Jim Jordan, who has spent a lot of time and effort corruptly trying to get Trump off the hook in his Russia scandal. Now it’ll conveniently be someone who isn’t as far up Trump’s backside.

Jim Jordan has told the media that he withdrew his name after the House GOP leadership informed him that it would be going in a different direction for the House Judiciary Committee ranking member position. If this is just a cover for Jordan bailing on the gig, it would mean Jordan has concluded that Donald Trump no longer has any chance of surviving, and he doesn’t want to stick his neck out any further for Trump’s sake. If Jordan is telling the truth, it would mean that the GOP has decided it doesn’t want a corrupt Trump lackey in the role, because it doesn’t want the party dragged down with Trump.

Some will point to the fact that Jim Jordan has his own severe problems, including his disgusting role in covering up the sexual abuse scandal at Ohio State, and that there are a lot of reasons for the GOP to not want him in such a prominent role. But until the minute Michael Cohen opened his mouth this morning, all indications were that Jordan was likely to land the gig. The timing here can’t be ignored. This is all about Trump’s rapidly diminishing prospects for surviving this.