The U.S. House Judiciary Committee is probing Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis regarding her motivations for prosecuting former President Donald Trump.
The investigation was announced Thursday by Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who wrote to Willis claiming her “indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding [her] actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated.”
Jordan referenced Willis’ prior fund-raising efforts while arguing her case against the former president in the letter, Fox News reported.
“It is noteworthy that just four days before this indictment, you launched a new campaign fundraising website that highlighted your investigation into President Trump,” Jordan wrote. “Additionally, the forewoman of the special grand jury you convened to investigate President Trump earlier this year bragged during an unusual media tour about her excitement at the prospect of subpoenaing President Trump and getting to swear him in.”
House Republicans are using news reports that claim Willis used many of the same witnesses and resources as Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith to defend their decision to oversee Georgia state indictments.
“News outlets have reported that your office and Mr. Smith ‘interviewed many of the same witnesses and reviewed much of the same evidence’ in reaching your decision to indict President Trump,” the committee letter reads. “The House Committee on the Judiciary thus may investigate whether federal law enforcement agencies or officials were involved in your investigation or indictment.”
The committee is requesting that the district attorney’s office provide it with all records of its interactions with federal funds, correspondence with the DOJ or any of its divisions, and any records of collaboration with members of the executive branch.
The district attorney’s office must deliver all requested documents by September 7 at 10:00 a.m.
Trump revealed that Georgia officials “insisted” he have a mugshot taken Thursday night during processing at the Fulton County Jail.
Trump, the current 2024 Republican front-runner, told Fox News in an interview that doing so was “not a comfortable feeling—especially when you’ve done nothing wrong.”
Trump turned himself in Thursday night at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, after being charged in District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state, Fox News reported.
Trump told FOX that officials in Georgia “insisted” on a mugshot.
“They insisted on a mugshot and I agreed to do that,” he said. “This is the only time I’ve ever taken a mugshot. It is not a comfortable feeling — especially when you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“This is all about election interference,” Trump said. “It all comes through Washington and the DOJ and Crooked Joe Biden — nothing like this has ever happened in our country before.”
Trump said the United States is “doing horribly, but now, it is doing worse because we have become a Third World country.”
Trump’s bail was set at $200,000 and he was quickly processed and released Thursday evening.
His formal arraignment, where he will likely plead not guilty, is expected to take place in early September.
Trump was charged with one count of violating the Georgia RICO Act as well as six counts of criminal conspiracy, three counts of criminal solicitation, one count of filing false documents, and two counts of making false statements.
Trump, his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, his former attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, Jeff Clark, and John Eastman, among others, were all charged as part of the Fulton County investigation.
Willis requested on Thursday that the trial date for Trump and his 18 co-defendants in the case be set for October 23. The action was taken in response to the defendant Kenneth Chesebro’s motion for a speedy trial.
Due to the fact that Chesebro was the only defendant to request a speedy trial, the judge only approved the October 23 trial date for him.
Meanwhile, Trump hired white-collar defense lawyer Steven Sadow, who is based in Atlanta, to represent him in the Fulton County case.
Trump sent out a dire statement to supporters amid his historic booking at Georgia’s “notoriously violent” Fulton County Jail, where his historic mugshot was taken.
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