House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and a subcommittee chairman on the House Administration Committee announced Tuesday that they would be investigating any “cooperation” between Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis and the former House Jan. 6 committee.
The two GOP lawmakers said the investigation will focus on communications between Willis’ office and the now-defunct Jan. 6 committee, citing what they said was a letter Willis sent to the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., seeking access to recordings and transcripts of witness interviews and other records in December 2021.
In a letter Tuesday to Willis that described her prosecution of former President Donald Trump as “politically motivated,” Jordan, R-Ohio, requested communications between her office and the congressional committee and any documents her office had obtained from the panel.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., sent a separate letter to Thompson that asked for communications, as well as detailed lists of all people interviewed or deposed by the committee and copies of any records sent to others.
“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,” Loudermilk, who oversees the House Administration subcommittee on oversight, said in a statement.
In a statement Tuesday, Thompson disputed aspects of the letter sent to him.
“I have received Mr. Loudermilk’s letter, which, like his previous correspondence, contains significant factual errors,” Thompson said. “As I have said time and again, the [Jan. 6 committee] archived its official records in accordance with House rules. Only the Committee on House Administration is in possession of these records and Mr. Loudermilk is fully aware of this.”
Willis’ office declined to comment.
The GOP-led probe is the latest effort by House Republicans to cast doubt on the work of the congressional panel that shed light on Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and the Georgia prosecutor who brought charges against him and numerous co-defendants stemming from allegations of interference with the state’s election results.
It is not the first time Jordan and Loudermilk, both Trump allies, have sought to scrutinize probes that focus on the former president.
Jordan sought information related to Willis’ prosecution of Trump after her office announced charges in August, and he has sought internal documents tied to special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Trump. The subcommittee led by Loudermilk has also been probing the Jan. 6 panel.
Willis previously rebuked Jordan’s effort to examine the Georgia election interference probe, saying there is “no justification in the Constitution for Congress to interfere with a state criminal matter.”
Willis last month requested an Aug. 5 start date for the trial, a proposal Trump and his attorneys have opposed as “election interference.” The judge overseeing the case has not yet set a trial date.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
