Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis might have dodged one subpoena earlier this week when her special counsel and alleged lover Nathan Wade settled part of his divorce case out of court, but that hasn't stopped another subpoena from coming her way.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has subpoenaed Willis to turn in documents related to her investigation and upcoming prosecution of Donald Trump and 18 other defendants. The committee seeks to find out whether Willis' office used federal funds in that investigation.
🚨 #BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan subpoenas Fani Willis. pic.twitter.com/nujrmQRYWu
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) February 2, 2024
"In a letter Friday, Jordan says Willis has failed to comply with two earlier requests for documents related to her office’s use of federal grant money," reports NBC News. "The subpoena calls on the district attorney’s office to provide documents and communications 'referring or relating to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s receipt and use of federal funds' and 'referring or relating to any allegations of the misuse of federal funds.'”
This renewed call for Willis to turn documents over to the House comes after reports that the DA allegedly fired a whistleblower who was trying to prevent the prosecutor's office from misusing federal funds. Willis has rebuffed the committee in the past, claiming that there's “no justification in the Constitution for Congress to interfere with a state criminal matter.”
Related: The House Judiciary Committee Has Fani Willis in Its Sights
Jordan's letter reads in part:
According to reporting about the whistleblower’s allegations, 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.” Moreover, the whistleblower’s direct supervisor stated that these planned expenditures “were part of [your] vision.” The whistleblower has stated that she warned you that the use of the federal grant funds in this manner was “impossible” because the terms of the grant were “very, very specific.” The whistleblower was in charge of “vetting, selecting, and securing [the FCDAO’s] grant partnerships” and was “the only contact” DOJ had with FCDAO. Less than two months after receiving this warning, you “abruptly terminated [the whistleblower] and had her escorted out of her office by seven armed investigators.” These allegations raise serious concerns about whether you were appropriately supervising the expenditure of federal grant funding allocated to your office and whether you took actions to conceal your office’s unlawful use of federal funds.
"In our prior letters, we requested several categories of material relevant for our oversight," the letter continues. "However, in response to the recently disclosed whistleblower allegations and as an accommodation, we are prioritizing the production of documents concerning your office’s receipt and use of federal funds." Jordan concludes by referencing the attached subpoena for the documents.
Willis campaigned in 2020 as an anti-corruption candidate, claiming that she would restore trust to the DA's office after her predecessor, Paul Howard, dealt with ethics and sexual misconduct accusations. What recent weeks have revealed is that she has become exactly what she campaigned against. Stay tuned to see if she cooperates with the committee and what the documents will reveal.
Read Jordan's letter below:
House Judiciary Committee Letter to Fani Willis by PJ Media on Scribd
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