Loch K. Johnson, Regents Professor Emeritus of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia and a former senior aide to the chair of the Church Committee, weighs in on a new subcommittee created by Republican lawmakers to investigate the U.S. intelligence community. Originally dubbed the “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” GOP lawmakers have taken to simplifying the name in honor of the 1970’s committee led by Senator Frank Church, calling it the new “Church Committee” now led by Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Johnson, a former senior aide to Sen. Church, was one of the first to provide insight into the new committee, its motivations, and how there are obvious differences between the two in his article published last year in New Lines Magazine. As an expert on the Church committee, Johnson has been quoted in numerous publications on the subject, including in an article by Greg Sargent and Ruth Marcus, both of The Washington Post as well as The Intercept. Johnson also authored an article on the topic in early January with colleagues Frederick Baron, former associate deputy attorney general and former counsel to the Church committee and Dennis Aftergut, former federal prosecutor, currently of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy, and which was published in The Bulwark.

Hear what Dr. Johnson has to say during an MSNBC interview, starting at 7:19 here.