In a scorching exchange, the Georgia district attorney at the center of former President Donald Trump’s latest indictment fired back at House Republicans’ probe into her office, accusing them of a brazen attempt to obstruct justice.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis delivered a fiery rebuke on Thursday, sending a searing letter to House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan. This response came in the wake of Jordan’s decision to launch an investigation into the Georgia office, mere hours before Trump faced charges related to his alleged interference in the 2020 election.
Willis’s blistering nine-page missive painted Jordan’s actions as “offensive,” accusing him of being “misinformed” and suggesting he lacked a “basic understanding of the law” and the ethical responsibilities of attorneys, particularly prosecutors.
Jordan’s request for information pertained to Willis’s use of federal funding and conversations her office had with the Justice Department and special counsel Jack Smith, who had brought charges against Trump. In her letter, Willis unequivocally declared that Jordan’s “obvious purpose is to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations.”
She emphatically stated, “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. … There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution.”
The response from Jordan and the House Judiciary Committee was not immediately available.
This heated exchange unfolded following Willis’s indictment of Trump and 18 of his allies on racketeering charges related to their alleged efforts to undermine President Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia during the 2020 election. Trump had recently pleaded not guilty to these charges, marking the fourth set of charges he has faced in the past year.
Jordan’s request for information mirrors similar tactics employed by Republicans against Trump’s other prosecutors, Jack Smith and New York district attorney Alvin Bragg. While these efforts have limited avenues to challenge Trump’s charges, the battle continues within the halls of Congress.
Willis did provide some details on federal funds received by her office, addressing one of Jordan’s requests. However, her letter primarily focused on sharply criticizing the House GOP’s inquiry, including its request for non-public information about an ongoing investigation. She urged Jordan to “deal with some basic realities.”
“The basic premise of your letter is wrong,” Willis asserted. “The criminal defendant about which you express concern was fully aware of the existence of the criminal investigation being conducted by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office at the time he announced his candidacy for President. I have no doubt that many Americans are the subject of criminal investigations and prosecutions at any given moment.”
“An announcement of a candidacy for elected office,” she continued, “whether President of the United States, Congress, or state or local office, is not and cannot be a bar to criminal investigation or prosecution. Any notion to the contrary is offensive to our democracy and to the fundamental principle that all people are equal before the law.”
