'Jim Jordan Is a Traitor' Over Mark Meadows Texts, Says Fellow Congressman

Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego has called Republican Representative Jim Jordan a "traitor to the Constitution." This comes after Jordan's office confirmed he sent a text to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about rejecting Electoral College votes on January 6.

Gallego, who represents Arizona's 7th congressional district, told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Wednesday that "a slow-moving coup" was still taking place.

Jordan's office admitted that a text released this week by the House Select Committee investigating January 6 had been sent by him but also said it was a forwarded message that the committee had truncated.

The message released by the committee was originally attributed to an unnamed lawmaker and read: "On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all."

Gallego told MSNBC: "Look, Jim Jordan is a traitor. He's a traitor to the Constitution of the United States. He has been a traitor to the Constitution of the United States for quite a while, and now we actually have it in text."

"But we shouldn't be surprised and why is anybody surprised?" he said, saying Jordan had lied on the floor of the House of Representatives about the 2020 election.

"My biggest issue isn't Jim Jordan. My issue is the fact that there's a lot of people out there that are not taking this seriously," Gallego went on. "The fact that there is a slow-moving coup that is happening right now all over this country that are led by the Jim Jordans and other people."

Gallego said the "coup" involved winning elected office, including seats in state houses, in order to overturn the results of future elections.

"The coup is ongoing," Gallego said. "The traitors are still there and they're gonna continue to try to destroy our Constitution every opportunity they have."

Jordan's office said on Wednesday that the Republican, who represents Ohio's 4th district, had sent the message but the Select Committee had only released a shortened version.

The full message read: "On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all — in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence. 'No legislative act,' wrote Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 78, 'contrary to the Constitution, can be valid.' The court in Hubbard v. Lowe reinforced this truth: 'That an unconstitutional statute is not a law at all is a proposition no longer open to discussion.' 226 F. 135, 137 (SDNY 1915), appeal dismissed, 242 U.S. 654 (1916). Following this rationale, an unconstitutionally appointed elector, like an unconstitutionally enacted statute, is no elector at all."

Pence's role on January 6 was largely ceremonial and he did not move to reject Electoral College votes.

Jordan was reportedly sent that piece of legal theory by conservative lawyer Joseph Schmitz and forwarded it to Meadows. The Republican's office said the shortened version released by the Select Committee had misinterpreted the message's meaning with an "inadvertently" placed period.

A spokesman for the Select Committee told NBC News: "The Select Committee is responsible for and regrets the error."

Newsweek has asked Jim Jordan's office for comment.