Jim Jordan reveals he spoke to Trump on day of Capitol riot but won’t say what they talked about

Representative Jim Jordan, a staunch ally to Donald Trump, has admitted he spoke to the former president on the day of the US Capitol riot – but he refused to say what the pair spoke about.

The congressman from Ohio admitted to the conversation when appearing on Fox News on Tuesday.

Host Brett Baier pressed Mr Jordan multiple times on whether he spoke to the president on 6 January during the deadly riots.

“I talked to the president. I never talk about what we talk about. I just don’t think that’s appropriate, just like I don’t talk about what happens in Republican conferences. So I talked to the president numerous times. I continue to talk to the president,” Mr Jordan first responded.

“No, no. I mean on January 6th, congressman?” Baier further pressed.

To this, Mr Jordan said: “Yes. I mean I’ve talked the president so many – I can’t remember all the days I have talked to him, but I have certainly talked to the president.”

The representative was then asked if he could speak at all to what Mr Trump was “thinking about that day,” and Mr Jordan avoided the question by instead criticising the Democrats.

“Bret, the people we need to come testify are the people who can testify to the fundamental questions. Why didn’t the United States Capitol – the people’s house – have an appropriate security posture on that day and what have we done? Those are the people we need to hear from. That’s the information and testimony we need to get. That’s what we should focus on,” he responded.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi commissioned a House committee to investigate what took place on 6 January at the US Capitol. Initially, the goal was for the committee to be bipartisan, but Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy refused to appoint any Republicans after Mr Jordan and Representative Jim Banks were denied spots.

There were two Republican representatives on the committee, though, after they were appointed by the House speaker: Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

Speaking about the House committee’s investigation on Tuesday, Ms Cheney said Mr Jordan could be subpoenaed to testify.

“I think that Congressman Jordan may well be a material witness,” she said on ABC’s Good Morning America. “He’s somebody who was involved in a number of meetings in the lead-up to what happened on January 6th, involved in planning for January 6th, certainly for the objections that day as he said publicly, so he may well be a material witness.”

“We will on this committee follow the facts wherever they go and get to the bottom of it and ... we’ll do it in a nonpartisan way which is absolutely crucial for the future of the nation,” she added.

Mr Jordan has not yet been subpoenaed by the committee, and if he is it remains unknown if he would agree to testify.