After Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis indicted Donald Trump and a striking number of his associates last month, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan did what he always does: The Ohio Republican launched an investigation into the investigation.
In fact, the far-right GOP congressman wrote to Willis, directing the local prosecutor to hand over a series of documents and related information by Sept. 7, which is today.
It seemed quite possible that the Georgia district attorney might shrug her shoulders and put Jordan’s letter in the circular file, but as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, Willis instead acknowledged the chairman’s deadline with a letter of her own.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis Thursday blasted a congressman who has pledged to investigate her handling of an indictment of former President Donald Trump and others. … Willis fired back, saying Jordan’s Aug. 24 letter included “inaccurate information and misleading statements.” She accused Jordan of improperly interfering with a state criminal case and attempting to punish her for personal political gain.
“Its obvious purpose is to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous misrepresentations,” Willis wrote, referring to Jordan’s letter from two weeks ago. “As I make clear below, there is no justification in the Constitution for Congress to interfere with a state criminal matter, as you attempt to do.”
The Fulton County prosecutor went on to tell the Judiciary Committee chairman, “Your letter makes clear that you lack a basic understanding of the law, its practice and the ethical obligations of attorneys generally and prosecutors specifically.”
Ouch.
To briefly circle back to our coverage from two weeks ago, after Jordan sought information from Willis, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California, also a member of the House Judiciary Committee, described the gambit as “stupid,” and it’s worth understanding why.
At the heart of the Republican’s newest investigation is a conspiracy theory of sorts: Jordan and his allies apparently believe there are powerful federal officials who are secretly pulling the strings, helping orchestrate prosecutions across multiple jurisdictions. By way of evidence, the far-right chairman has pointed to … nothing in particular.
But Jordan nevertheless keeps launching investigations, sending letters, making demands, and setting deadlines, hoping that someday, he might uncover imagined proof that almost certainly doesn’t exist. The trouble is, the prosecutors he’s tried to pressure know they can ignore him. As Jordan really ought to have learned after his foray into a separate case in Manhattan, the House Judiciary Committee doesn’t have jurisdiction to insert itself into criminal prosecutions at the state and local level. Or put another way, if Jordan is eagerly awaiting a lengthy and substantive response from Willis’ office, he’s going to be disappointed. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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