Trump will not go after his political opponents, Jim Jordan predicts

House Judiciary chair Jim Jordan does not expect President-elect Donald Trump to prosecute his political opponents when he takes office.

"He didn't do it in his first term," Jordan told CNN "State of the Union" host Dana Bash on Sunday.

When Bash pushed back against Jordan's answer, emphasizing what Trump has said, he doubled down.

"All I know is what he didn't do. You're talking about 'lock her up,' you're talking about his opponent in 2016, Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, talk about lock her up," Jordan said, referencing a popular slogan of the 2016 Trump rallies.

"He didn't do that, he didn't go after [her] — but the Democrats went after him and everyone understands what they did."

Trump has previously promised to seek retribution against his political opponents , from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to former Rep. Liz Cheney and special counsel Jack Smith.

"I don't think any of that will happen," Jordan reiterated. "We are the party who is against political prosecution, we're the party who is against going after your opponents using law fare."

Smith's case is of particular interest as he attempts to backpedal out of the criminal cases he brought against Trump for attempting to undermine the 2020 election and his handling of secret documents. There are similar complications involving the cases brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which was already prosecuted, and Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis, which was not.

"We all know the Fani Willis case, the Alvin Bragg case and the Jack Smith cases were driven by politics," Jordan said. "The American people understood it and that is why they had this overwhelming win — one of the reasons they had this overwhelming win — for President Trump. So I'm against the retribution."

On Friday, Jordan and fellow Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Ga.) sent a letter to Smith to demand that his office preserve records of the Biden-Harris administration's prosecutions of Trump.

When asked if he would open a formal investigation into Smith or call him to testify, Jordan did not have a final answer.

"We'll have to see. I assume there's going to be some report. All we are saying is preserve everything so we, the Congress, who have a constitutional duty to do oversight, can see everything that's going on," he said.