Trump Georgia election case target of House Republican probe
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks to the media after a Grand Jury brought back indictments against former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies in their attempt to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, in Atlanta, Georgia, August 14, 2023.
Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into the work of the Atlanta prosecutor who has criminally charged Donald Trump with interfering in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The House committee on Thursday sent Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis a letter asking for documents and information, including any communications her office had with Jack Smith, the federal special counsel prosecuting Trump for charges related to trying to overturn the national results of the 2020 election.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who is the panel’s chairman, asked Willis to provide the information by Sept. 7.
Trump is due to surrender at an Atlanta jail on Thursday evening to be booked in the case. Eighteen other people, including lawyers who promoted false claims about the 2020 election, also were indicted in the case.
The lion’s share of Jordan’s letter is dedicated to justifying why a congressional committee has the right to demand information about a state criminal investigation.
Traditionally, the committee’s jurisdiction is limited to oversight of federal courts and federal officials.
But Jordan claims that Willis’ case, which concerns Trump’s effort to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in Georgia’s election, falls under his committee’s purview because she is targeting actions of then-federal officials, among them Trump and his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The House Judiciary Committee earlier this year demanded similar information from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr., who is prosecuting Trump in another criminal case.
Trump is charged in New York state Supreme Court by Bragg with falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case. He is currently leading polls among all contenders for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Christina Wilkie
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