House Republicans have informed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that she may be subject to contempt of Congress proceedings for purportedly failing to comply with a subpoena demanding the release of records concerning her office’s utilization of federal funds in connection with her prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), has issued a warning of potential contempt of Congress action against Ms. Willis. In a letter dated March 14, the Republican lawmaker accused the Fulton County DA of insufficient compliance with the subpoena issued on February 2 and of tarnishing the reputation of a “brave whistleblower” who spoke out about her alleged misuse of federal fund grants.
The origin of the subpoena can be linked to a report from the Washington Free Beacon. The report alleged that a whistleblower, a former employee in Ms. Willis’s office, was demoted after raising concerns to Ms. Willis about the purported misuse of federal grant funds. These funds, intended for gang activity prevention, were allegedly used for trips and laptops instead.
“Instead of using these federal grant funds for the intended purpose of helping at-risk youths, your office sought to use the grant funds to ‘get Macbooks … swag … [and] use it for travel,’” Mr. Jordan wrote in a Feb. 2 letter to Ms. Willis. “Moreover, the whistleblower’s direct supervisor stated that these planned expenditures ‘were part of [your] vision.’”
In his letter, Mr. Jordan stated that last summer, the committee requested documents from Ms. Willis concerning her use of federal funds. However, he noted that she had “failed to comply voluntarily with any of our requests,” even after the committee sent her two letters.
As a result, Mr. Jordan issued a subpoena to Ms. Willis on February 2, asking her to provide certain specified records and documents related to the use of federal funds or any allegations of their misappropriation. However, in his letter dated March 14, Mr. Jordan stated that Ms. Willis only partially complied with that subpoena.
“We appreciate that you have produced a narrow set of documents in response to the subpoena, but your compliance with the subpoena to date is deficient,” Mr. Jordan wrote in the letter.
“If you fail to do so, the Committee will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings,” he added, while giving Ms. Willis until March 28 to produce the requested documents.
Ms. Willis’s office did not reply to a request for comment. However, in a letter dated February 23 addressed to Mr. Jordan, she described his subpoena “overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
Mr. Jordan additionally mentioned that in her response letter dated February 23, Ms. Willis had “smeared” the whistleblower, although he did not provide further details.
He simply stated, “we will not dignify your attacks on this brave whistleblower, or your continued attempts to distract from your conduct through misdirection and personal insults.”
In addition to the potential contempt of Congress proceedings, Ms. Willis is under investigation for potential campaign finance violations and could face disqualification due to allegations of a conflict of interest stemming from her romantic involvement with her lead prosecutor in the case against President Trump.
Ms. Willis heads the case against President Trump and over a dozen co-defendants, which the former president has denounced as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee is expected to make a ruling this week regarding whether Ms. Willis should be removed from the high-profile case.
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