The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has opened an investigation into the Fulton County district attorney’s indictments of former president Donald Trump and his associates, saying the charges appear to be politically motivated.
In a letter to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded documents and communications pertaining to her investigation, including her office’s use of federal funds, as well as its potential coordination with Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith and any other Executive Branch officials.
“Your indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated,” the letter reads.
Willis announced the 41-count indictment against Trump and and his associates during a late-night press conference last week.
The charges in the 98-page indictment include: violating the Georgia RICO Act; Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.
In the letter to Willis, Jordan questioned Willis’s contention that the following acts contributed to the “furtherance” of the alleged conspiracy to overturn the election:
(1) the then-White House Chief of Staff asking a Member of Congress for the phone number of the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; (2) the then-President tweeting that hearings in the Georgia legislature were being aired on a news channel and commenting on those hearings; and (3) numerous acts taking place in other states not involving the conduct of the 2020 election in Georgia or the counting of the votes cast in Georgia.
The Ohio congressman also raised “serious concerns” about the circumstances surrounding the Fulton County DA’s actions, claiming that they make the prosecution of Trump look politically motivated.
These actions include Willis launching a new campaign fundraising site “that highlighted [her] investigation into President Trump” several days before her office indicted the former commander-in-chief, and the Fulton County’s superior court clerk’s premature release “a list of criminal charges against President Trump reportedly hours before the vote of the grand jury.”
Jordan also referenced the bizarre public remarks of Emily Kohrs, the forewoman of the special grand jury convened by Willis, who gushed “about her excitement at the prospect of subpoenaing President Trump and getting to swear him in” in a series of media interviews earlier this year.
The chairman said in the letter that the Georgia indictments implicate substantial federal interests because Willis appeared to “use state criminal law to regulate the conduct of federal officers acting in their official capacities,” such as Trump and Meadows.
Additionally, the lawmakers raised questions about Special Counsel Jack Smith’s involvement in the indictments and whether Willis’ office “coordinated” with Smith “during the course of [her] investigation.”
“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 letter reads. “The House Committee on the Judiciary (Committee) thus may investigate whether federal law enforcement agencies or officials were involved in your investigation or indictment.”
There are rumors swirling in Washington over the timing of the indictment.
In an interview with TPUSA’s Charlie Kirk last week, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich alleged that a “reliable source” had told him that the Friday before the indictment, someone from Washington D.C. called the Fulton County District Attorney’s office and said “you have to indict on Monday.”
Gingrich said the move was made apparently to “cover up all the mistakes” the DOJ had made with the Delaware State Attorney (now Special Counsel) David Weiss’s investigation into Hunter Biden.
🚨BREAKING EXCLUSIVE🚨
Speaker Newt Gingrich joined me this morning and shared a remarkable story. If true, someone from DC called Fani Willis and demanded she indict Trump on Monday. Why? To cover up for the Weiss "screw up."
This would explain the late night press… pic.twitter.com/wgHSbsA8Bf
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 17, 2023
Georgia State Senator Colton Moore (R) last week called for an Emergency Special Session to address many of the same questions raised by the House Republicans.
The Judiciary Committee chairman is demanding that Willis turn over the requested documents and communications by Sept. 7.