House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan is seeking explanations from President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice regarding why it singled out Blaze investigative reporter Steve Baker for covering the Jan. 6, 2021 chaos at the U.S. Capitol. Baker, a prominent conservative journalist reporting on the aftermath of the events at the Capitol, is facing four charges related to his presence while reporting at the protests.
In a letter wrote on March 12, Jordan requested U.S. Attorney for Washington D.C. Matthew Graves to provide documents, communications, and other information pertaining to Baker’s arrest and charges, as well as “the investigation, prosecution, or arrest of any journalists covering the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
Jordan cautioned, “There are significant concerns about selective prosecution in this case and the Department’s dedication to upholding the First Amendment rights of journalists.” The Republican highlighted that “other journalists were present in the Capitol at the same time as Mr. Baker who have not been charged with crimes,” while Baker, “who has been critical of the Department’s handling of the January 6 investigations and prosecutions” was.
“According to Mr. Baker’s attorney, the Department ‘is not permitted to determine what press coverage it approves of and what press coverage offends it and take legal action based on those assessments’,” Jordan stated.
Last month, the FBI instructed Baker to surrender himself without specifying the precise charges he would be facing. Upon self-surrendering in Dallas on March 1, the FBI “fingerprinted, photographed, handcuffed, and placed Mr. Baker in the back of an FBI vehicle, transported him to the courthouse, and brought him before the magistrate judge in ‘a belly chain, box cuffs, and leg shackles.’”
“Mr. Baker’s attorney, a former federal prosecutor, pointed out that, in his extensive tenure with the Department, he never encountered ‘an initial appearance on misdemeanor charges where the defendant was directed to report first to the FBI for fingerprinting and photography before going to the courthouse,’” Jordan remarked.
Jordan not only stated that “this behavior appears to be harassment and selective treatment for a disliked criminal defendant,” but also conveyed that the DOJ’s actions inherently contradict its professed principles.
“The differing treatment of disliked groups goes against the Department’s mission of ensuring equal justice under the law,” Jordan
Jordan also mentioned that members of the Judiciary Committee submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, which is “examining whether the Department has wrongly interpreted a financial crimes statute to impose 20-year prison sentences on January 6 defendants,” focused on “clarifying how the Department’s conduct politicizes law enforcement and manipulates the administration of justice.”
“All of these issues raise concerns about the Biden Administration’s commitment to equal application of the law,” Jordan concluded.
