Jim Jordan demands DOJ answer for arrest of journalist Steve Baker over J6 reporting

Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) issued a letter to Biden's Department of Justice on Tuesday requesting internal documents and communications related to Baker's arrest and other Jan. 6 defendants.

Jordan, who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, argued in the letter that Baker's arrest has drawn "serious concerns" about the First Amendment rights of journalists and selective prosecution. Jordan questioned why the DOJ arrested Baker but had ignored other journalists who were there that day.

Jordan wrote in the letter sent to US District Attorney Matthew Graves: "Beyond charging Mr. Baker, it appears that the Department deviated from practice and formally arrested Mr. Baker when he voluntarily surrendered, with counsel, for his initial appearance on the underlying misdemeanor charges."

"Although the Department negotiated with Mr. Baker's counsel on a date and time for the journalist to appear in court, and represented that it would not seek to detain him pretrial, it subjected him to formal arrest-that is, 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,'" wrote Jordan.

Jordan said that the FBI's treatment of Baker "smacks of harassment and selective treatment for a disfavored criminal defendant."

The Republican lawmaker contended further, "The disparate treatment of disfavored groups violates the Department's mission of equal justice under the law. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit recently admonished the Department for improperly employing a sentencing enhancement in January 6 cases that lengthened the time these defendants remained incarcerated."

Jordan requested the DOJ to produce "all documents and communications referring or relating to the arrest of Mr. Steven Baker, all documents and communications referring or relating to the investigation, prosecution, or arrest of any journalists covering the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021."

Baker, a journalist who works for Blaze Media, was arrested by the FBI in Dallas earlier this month and has been charged with four non-violent misdemeanors over his alleged involvement in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, at the US Capitol.

The charges include knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building.