Jim Jordan launches probe into Fani Willis while "nobody is paying attention"

Jordan probes whether Willis coordinated with special counsel Jack Smith though there is no evidence that she did

By Tatyana Tandanpolie

Staff Writer

Published August 24, 2023 1:44PM (EDT)

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee launched a congressional inquiry into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after her indictment of former President Donald Trump last week over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, CNN reports. The committee sent Willis a letter Thursday asking whether she communicated or coordinated with the Department of Justice, which has indicted Trump in two other cases, or whether she used federal funding to carry out her years-long probe of him and his associates. 

The letter, authored by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, argued that the committee has authority over the state case. Jordan accused Willis of having political motivations, pointing to her creation of a new campaign fundraising website just days before the Georgia indictment, and bemoaned her requirement that all 19 defendants have mugshots taken in processing. "You did not bring charges until two-and-a-half years later, at a time when the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is in full swing," he wrote, lamenting that she requested a 2024 trial date "the day before Super Tuesday and eight days before the Georgia presidential primary."

Jordan gave Willis a Sept. 7 deadline to turn over any documents and communication related to the committee's request. Willis has previously denied coordinating with the special counsel's office and asserted that her probe was not politically motivated. Meanwhile, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has floated the idea of opening a state-level inquiry into Willis to state officials as Republicans push numerous ideas to defend the former president. "Nobody is paying attention other than the people who are obsessed with Trump," a senior Republican lawmaker told CNN.