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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) clapped back at Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis over her response to his panel’s investigation into her prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
Previously, Willis ripped Jordan and his committee in a letter earlier this month, claiming that he was attempting to interfere with her prosecution via records requests. But Jordan countered that her “position is wrong” regarding her opinions about congressional authority.
“Your letter contends that the Committee, by conducting oversight into apparently politicized local prosecutions, is ‘obstruct[ing] a Georgia criminal proceeding’ and ‘advanc[ing] outrageous partisan misrepresentations.’ Your position is wrong,” Jordan said in a letter that was obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Jordan said his committee could “only conclude” from Willis’ response to the committee’s records request to see if her case against Trump is motivated by politics that she is “actively and aggressively engaged in such a scheme.”
Willis, in her rebuttal to a records request, argued that her case was a state and local matter and, thus, Congress had no ground to investigate. But Jordan said that prosecuting a former president “implicates substantial federal interests.”
“If state or local prosecutors can engage in politically motivated prosecutions of senior federal officers for acts they performed while in federal office, this could have a profound impact on how federal officers choose to exercise their powers,” Jordan wrote.
He went on to argue that a special grand jury report indicated that she “contemplated an even more extensive intrusion into federal interests” after jurors recommended charges against sitting and former U.S. senators, including Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
The Examiner noted further:
Wednesday’s letter is the latest step in the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into Willis’s office and the case against Trump, which was launched on Aug. 24. A grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants on Aug. 14 for racketeering charges related to efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election, marking the fifth indictment and fourth criminal case for the former president.
Jordan and House Republicans on the committee have accused Willis of using the 41-count indictment to interfere with the 2024 presidential election, of which Trump is the GOP front-runner. The Ohio congressman’s first request for records came hours before Trump turned himself in to Fulton County officials to be arraigned and have his mug shot taken.
The committee has raised concerns about the indictment’s legitimacy, with records requests aiming at discovering whether Willis had “coordinated” with the Justice Department — particularly special counsel Jack Smith, who delivered an indictment against Trump for similar reasons to the Georgia case.
Last month, in an interview with host Charlie Kirk, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he had been told by a reliable source that federal officials in Washington, D.C., were in contact with Willis regarding the Trump case. After claiming that the story was “hearsay,” Gingrich clarified that the source nevertheless has historically been very accurate.
“I am told by a reliable source that Friday evening, somebody from Washington called the District Attorney of Atlanta and said, you have to indict on Monday. We have to cover up all of the mistakes we just made with [U.S. attorney-turned-special counsel David] Weiss,” he explained.
“And she said, apparently, ‘My jurors aren’t coming back until Tuesday,’” Gingrich continued.
“‘You didn’t hear me. You have to on Monday,’” he added, quoting the alleged Washington sources.
“‘But they’re not gonna get her before noon,’” Gingrich noted further, quoting Willis. “They said, ‘That doesn’t matter.’ She said, ‘This means that it’s gonna be eight or nine or ten o’clock.’ They said, ‘It doesn’t matter. We need the news shifting off of Weiss.”
“I’m telling you upfront, this is hearsay, but it’s from a person who has remarkably good sources,” Gingrich said.
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