The House Judiciary Committee has notified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis that her cooperation is required in their probe into charges of her misuse of federal funds in the course of her Trump racketeering case.
Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) filed a subpoena to Willis on February 2, stating that she had “failed to comply voluntarily” with the committee’s demands for information connected to her office’s receipt and use of U.S. Department of Justice funding.
Jordan also accused Willis of firing an employee who sought to prevent the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office from utilizing a federal grant for items such as travel, laptops, and “swag” linked to the establishment of a Center of Youth Empowerment and Gang Prevention.
In response to Jordan’s claims, a spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney told FOX 5 that the allegations were false and that the terminated employee was from the previous administration and was fired for cause. Any potential lawsuits over the termination were dismissed as “baseless litigation.”
In the follow-up letter to Willis, the committee acknowledges receiving a “narrow set of documents” in response to the Feb. 2 subpoena, but considers compliance to date “deficient.”
The committee is demanding that Willis and her office provide all documents and communications related to the allegations of federal fund misuse, including communications with the Justice Department, communications with Fulton County District Attorney’s Office employees about federal grants, grant applications and agreements, and grant performance measurement and progress reporting documents.
House Judiciary Letter to F… by Kyle Becker
Furthermore, the letter noted that, while Willis had asked the committee to “engage” with the Justice Department to get the sought papers, her request did not relieve her of her legal responsibility to comply with the committee’s subpoena.
The committee also rejected Willis’ argument that the subpoena was “overbroad and unduly burdensome.”
Willis was given a deadline of noon on March 28 to meet the conditions. Failure to do so, the committee warned, might result in additional sanctions, including contempt of Congress charges
On Wednesday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law that allows a state panel to begin acting with the authority to censure and dismiss prosecutors, which poses a threat to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ trial of former President Donald Trump.
“This legislation will help us ensure rogue and incompetent prosecutors are held accountable if they refuse to uphold the law,” Kemp said before signing the bill, flanked by Republican legislative leaders. “As we know all too well, crime has been on the rise across the country, and is especially prevalent in cities where prosecutors are giving criminals a free pass or failing to put them behind bars due to lack of professional conduct.”
Though Kemp signed legislation establishing the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission last year, it was unable to function because the state Supreme Court declined to accept regulations limiting its operation in November. The law might see similar litigation attempts to shield Georgia prosecutors from state oversight.
