Even before Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis criminally indicted former President Donald Trump concerning the 2020 election, some House Republicans suspected that she had coordinated her prosecutorial effort with certain elements of the federal government.
Now the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee has launched a formal inquiry into potential collusion following the discovery of a letter Willis sent to the now-defunct Democrat-dominated House Jan. 6 Select Committee seeking assistance with her investigation of the former president, according to NBC News.
That committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), already launched a separate but related inquiry into whether the Georgia DA had also coordinated her efforts with those of the Justice Department, specifically Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is similarly prosecuting Trump criminally over his attempts to challenge the disputed results of the 2020 election.
On Tuesday, Chairman Jordan sent a letter to DA Willis regarding a recently uncovered December 2021 letter she sent to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who at that time served as chair of the House Jan. 6 Select Committee.
That letter from Willis to Thompson requested special access to "records that may be relevant to our criminal investigation" of former President Trump, including "recordings and transcripts of witness interviews and depositions, electronic and print records of communications, and records of travel," and also even offered to meet personally in Washington D.C. to effectuate the handover of records in person.
Jordan wrote, "Although it is not clear what records, if any, you obtained from your coordination with the partisan January 6 Select Committee, this new information raises additional questions relevant to the Committee’s oversight of your politically motivated prosecution of a former President of the United States and several former senior federal officials."
The committee had a "troubling track record of procedural abuses and due process violations," he continued. "It only solicited evidence from a select set of relevant individuals, ignored exculpatory evidence, and did not pursue witnesses with evidence that would not advance its partisan narrative. It fabricated and publicly released doctored evidence. It cherry-picked selective information to create false and misleading public narratives."
"To the extent that your politically motivated prosecutions are now relying in any way on records obtained from the partisan January 6 Select Committee, it only reinforces concerns about your commitment to due process and whether you have fulfilled your obligations to properly disclose this material," Jordan added.
Meanwhile, as Chairman Jordan asked DA Willis to turn over all communications between her office and the Jan. 6 committee, House Administration Committee Chairman Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) sent a similar request letter to Rep. Thompson that also sought the provision of all communications between the committee and Georgia DA as well as detailed lists of any and all information and records that were provided to Willis.
The GOP congressman took great exception to the allegations of such cooperation with Willis as well as Special Counsel Smith's team, as was admitted in court filings by Smith's federal prosecutors, in light of the fact that, prior to the disbandment of the Jan. 6 Committee, Thompson is alleged to have destroyed and not properly archived much of the records obtained and produced by the committee.
In a statement, Loudermilk said, "The coordination between Fulton County, GA District Attorney Fani Willis, and Pelosi's January 6 Select Committee, should be concerning to everyone."
"This new information raises questions about Willis' and Thompson's commitment to due process, and whether House Rules were violated when the Select Committee failed to properly disclose this material," he added. "We have serious concerns about this behavior and we are seeking the truth."
As previously noted, the House Judiciary Committee launched an inquiry in August into allegations that DA Willis had coordinated her efforts to prosecute former President Trump with those of the DOJ and Special Counsel Smith.
Whether it was illegal or unethical for Willis to collude or coordinate her anti-Trump prosecutorial efforts with the Jan. 6 Committee and/or the special counsel is unknown, but what seems abundantly clear is that her efforts are undeniably partisan and politically motivated and aligned with those of congressional Democrats and the Biden administration.
