Jim Jordan: FBI should investigate Hillary Clinton for perjury

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan accused former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday of lying under oath regarding her use of private email servers on the same day FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Oversight Committee on the issue.

In an interview with Yahoo News Guest Anchor Paul Beban, Jordan said he felt Comey didn’t adequately consider Clinton’s earlier testimony in his decision to recommend the presumptive Democratic nominee not be prosecuted for conduct related to her use of private email servers for official State Department business.

“We want to make sure what needs to be investigated is investigated,” Jordan told Beban. “She made false statements according to what she told us under oath last October in the Benghazi Select Committee hearing and what Mr. Comey determined in his investigation. I think that’s something that needs to be looked at, and then we’ll go from there.”

While Comey announced Tuesday that he would recommend Clinton not face charges, he also sharply criticized her for being “extremely careless” in allowing classified emails to be at risk of being viewed by a third party.

In the hearing, Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, asked Comey whether the FBI had also investigated whether Clinton had committed perjury last year when discussing her email server under oath before the GOP-led House Benghazi committee. Clinton said she did not send or receive emails marked classified, but Comey said three messages on her server were actually marked classified in the body of the email, with the letter C in parentheses. Comey said he wasn’t sure whether Clinton knew they were marked classified.

Comey told Chaffetz that he had not received a referral from the committee on the matter. Chaffetz laughed and quickly said he would recommend a review. Legal experts told Yahoo News on Thursday that it’s unlikely that Clinton would be prosecuted for perjury on the matter.

Jordan, a leader in the conservative House Freedom Caucus who also aggressively questioned Comey on Thursday, further said the lack of prosecution showed average Americans that there is a double standard for politicians who commit crimes.

“The American people are seeing, frankly, two standards,” Jordan said. “The perception from a lot of Americans, a lot of the folks I get the privilege of representing in the Fourth District of Ohio, are saying, ‘Wait a minute. It sure looks like there is one standard for we the people, and an entirely different one if you’re politically connected, if you’re Secretary Clinton.’”

While Jordan said he didn’t question Comey’s ultimate conclusion on Clinton’s conduct, he did note that there were differing opinions on the lack of charges against her. Comey said the decision not to recommend charges in this case was unanimous within his team.

“Lots of other prosecutors have been on shows just like this one and have said based on what they see, … they would have taken this to a grand jury,” Jordan said.

Jordan also discussed various controversies dogging presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, notably the mogul’s allegation that the Justice Department was bribed to avoid going after Clinton and his mixed praise for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

While Jordan said he didn’t completely agree with Trump on everything, he also reaffirmed his support for the presumptive nominee.

“I can’t remember the last time I agreed with everything single thing the Republican nominee did or said,” he said. “But I’m going to support our nominee because I know this election is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, and I think Donald Trump would do us much better as the president of the United States.”