Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis put Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) on full blast with a letter she sent him Wednesday addressing his insistence that she needs to appear before Congress and explain why she has brought criminal charges against former president Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants for attempting to overturn 2020 election results in the Peach State.
Jordan has repeatedly claimed that the House Judiciary Committee he chairs “has the constitutional authority to conduct oversight” of Willis and her prosecutions, even though he has failed to make clear what federal law gives him such power.
In her letter, Willis accused Jordan of being “ignorant” and referencing a recent Fox News appearance in which he bragged he’s “trying to stop this stuff” taking place in Georgia.
A charitable explanation of your correspondence is that you are ignorant of the United States and Georgia Constitutions and codes. A more troubling explanation is that you are abusing your authority as Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary to attempt to obstruct and interfere with a Georgia criminal prosecution. See O.C.G.A. § 16-10-24. Indeed, you confessed to this motivation on Mark Levin’s September 10, 2023, show: when discussing one of my office’s active prosecutions. you boasted, “We’re trying to get all the answers, but we’re trying to stop this stuff as well” (emphasis added). While you may enjoy immunity under the United States Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, that does not make your behavior any less offensive to the rule of law.
Willis also let Jordan know that she isn’t about to let him interfere with her prosecution of Trump and the others who are accused of violating Georgia’s law against racketeering.
As the person chosen by the citizens of Fulton County to be their District Attorney, I serve them, and my team and I are exceptionally busy. We have already written a letter—which I have attached again for your reference–explaining why the legal positions you advance are meritless. Nothing you’ve said in your latest letter changes that fact. As I have explained, your requests implicate significant. well recognized confidentiality interests related to an ongoing criminal matter, as well as serious constitutional concerns regarding federalism and separation of powers.
Jordan and others in the GOP are desperate to derail the multiple criminal investigations of Trump and his co-conspirators. But they can’t, and that terrifies them because they know Trump’s crimes reflect badly on them, too.
Thank goodness for strong, unwavering people like Fani Willis.
