# The Weaponization Subcommittee > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The Weaponization Subcommittee," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/weaponization-subcommittee/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, created in January 2023 and promoted as a second Church Committee. John Kiriakou says he is a thousand per cent in favour of a second Church Committee and that this is not one: it was created on a straight party-line vote, the Democrats refused to take their seats, and its remit is the FBI's treatment of conservatives rather than the crimes the original committee exposed.* - **Formal title:** Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government - **Chair:** Jim Jordan — 'the former wrestling coach at Ohio State University' - **Created:** Party-line vote, 221 to 211 - **Composition:** Nine Republicans appointed; six Democratic seats declined - **Kiriakou's verdict:** 'I am 1,000% in favor of creating a Church Committee 2. This is not a Church Committee 2.' **The Weaponization Subcommittee** — formally the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government — was created by the House of Representatives in January 2023 and presented by its supporters as a second [Church Committee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/church-committee). [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou), who wrote about it in Consortium News the day of this interview, rejects the comparison while endorsing the goal.[1] *"I am 1,000% in favor of creating a Church Committee 2. This is not a Church Committee 2."*[1] ## The objection The chair is Jim Jordan, whom Kiriakou identifies as *"a far-right congressman from Ohio, the former wrestling coach at Ohio State University,"* and the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Its declared subject is *"the FBI's targeting of conservatives"* — conservative parents speaking at school board meetings, the bureau's treatment of [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump), *"or targeting anybody deemed to be conservative."*[2][3] *"That's not what the Church Committee did."* The original was bipartisan *"with intellectual heavyweights on both sides,"* and it examined crimes committed by what Kiriakou means by the deep state: *"the CIA, the FBI, NSA, the Department of the Army, and associated intelligence organizations."*[3][4] ## Composition Speaker Kevin McCarthy appointed nine Republicans and allowed for six Democrats; the Democrats said they would not participate. The subcommittee itself was created on a straight party-line vote — *"221, all Republicans, to 211, all Democrats."*[5][6] Against that Kiriakou sets the original's membership: Frank Church, *"an intellectual giant who ran for president in 1976,"* and Senator Philip Hart of Michigan, for whom the Hart Senate office building is named.[6][7] ## Why he insists it is not partisan Pressed by his host not to make the discussion another round of Republican-bashing, Kiriakou agreed and said the opposite risk was the real one: *"my intent here is not to bash Republicans, because the Democrats are equally guilty of all of these things. This is not a partisan issue."*[8] His evidence is the [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act) count he uses elsewhere — three Americans charged for speaking to the press between 1917 and 2009, eight under [Barack Obama](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/barack-obama) alone — and the conclusion he draws from it: *"this is not a Democrats-are-good, Republicans-are-bad situation. It's that all of our elected officials are bad on this issue."*[8][9] ## See also - [Church Committee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/church-committee) - [Cointelpro](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cointelpro) - [MK-Ultra](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mk-ultra) - [Espionage Act](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/espionage-act) ## Sources 1. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 03:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=186s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 2. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 03:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=216s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 3. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 04:07. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=247s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 4. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 04:38. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=278s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 5. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 05:08. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=308s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 6. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 05:39. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=339s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 7. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 06:11. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=371s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 8. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 09:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=596s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ 9. ScheerPost (2023-01-20), at 10:27. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8DwRsee84&t=627s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2023-01-20-scheerpost-scheerpost/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/weaponization-subcommittee/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt