Fani Willis Denounces Jim Jordan, Claims He’s Launched an ‘Illegal Intrusion’ Into Her Prosecution of Trump With ‘Offensive’ Judiciary Committee Probe

Willis says the ‘obvious purpose’ of Jordan’s inquiry ‘is to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations.’

AP/Brynn Anderson, file
The Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, on April 19, 2023, at Atlanta. AP/Brynn Anderson, file

The district attorney of Georgia’s Fulton County, Fani Willis, who is leading her state’s prosecution of President Trump, has sharply rebuked the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee for his “illegal intrusion” after he launched an investigation into Ms. Willis and her pursuit of the former president. She accused the committee chairman, Congressman Jim Jordan, of violating the Constitution by ignoring the “offending the principles” of federalism and the separation of powers. 

“Your letter contains inaccurate information and misleading statements,” Ms. Willis writes to Mr. Jordan. On August 24, Mr. Jordan opened an investigation into Ms. Willis’s prosecution of Mr. Trump, saying in a letter that she was overtly interfering in the 2024 presidential election.

Ms. Willis says the “obvious purpose” of Mr. Jordan’s inquiry “is to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations.”

In his August letter, Mr. Jordan requested a wide array of documents and communications from her office related to the prosecution of Mr. Trump. In a statement announcing his letter, Mr. Jordan said his committee wanted to know more about local prosecutors’ attempts to “regulate the conduct of federal officers” and whether Ms. Willis’s office coordinated with federal officials, including Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“Your indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated,” Mr. Jordan wrote to Ms. Willis.

A spokesman for the Judiciary Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In her nine-page reply letter, Ms. Willis lays out a number of justifications for her not complying with the chairman’s request for documents. His request “offends principles of state sovereignty,” she writes, stating that federal officials — whether of the executive or legislative branch — have no role in interfering with state-level prosecutions. “Given state sovereignty over state criminal law, Congress has hardly any role to play in meddling with its sound administration,” she writes.

“Your attempt to invoke Congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution,” Ms. Willis continues. 

She further claims that Mr. Jordan’s legislative and investigatory powers did not extend to executive officials such as herself when a prosecution is ongoing. “Your demand for information regarding an ongoing criminal prosecution — a core executive function — is offensive to any notion of separation of powers that recognizes the distinct roles of the executive and legislative functions of government,” Ms. Willis writes. 

Beyond the former president, Ms. Willis is prosecuting 18 co-defendants, some of whom worked in government as Mr. Trump was seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the Peach State. All of the defendants have been charged under the state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. 

One of the defendants is Mr. Trump’s final White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who organized a phone call between the then-president and Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, who was asked by Mr. Trump to “find” the requisite number of votes for Mr. Trump to win the state. 

Mr. Jordan has accused Ms. Willis of “regulating” Mr. Meadows’s conduct in his official capacity as White House chief of staff. “The indictment seeks to criminalize under Georgia law the White House Chief of Staff arranging meetings and phone calls for the President,” Mr. Jordan wrote of the prosecution. 

Ms. Willis sharply rebukes the claim that she is trying to do so. “Those who wish to avoid felony charges in Fulton County, Georgia — including violations of Georgia RICO law — should not commit felonies in Fulton County, Georgia,” she writes.


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