House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) has initiated an inquiry into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for accepting over $14.6 million in grant funds from President Joe Biden’s Justice Department (DOJ) between 2020 and 2023.
The duration of the funds indicates that the DOJ provided Willis with federal funds to support the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
In a letter addressed to Nathan Wade, an associate of Willis, Jordan has requested the submission of documents and information regarding the coordination between Willis’s office and politically motivated investigations, as well as the alleged misappropriation of federal funds.
Jordan’s correspondence follows a court filing on Monday by Mike Roman, a political operative and co-defendant of Trump in the Georgia election case. Roman made four significant claims about Willis’s conduct during the prosecution of Trump:
1. Nathan Wade, Willis’s lead prosecutor in the Trump case, had an “improper” relationship with Willis.
2. Wade’s law firm used funds paid by the county to take Willis on luxury vacations by using potentially fraudulent payments.
3. Wade was appointed without the required approval by authorities and had little to no prosecutorial experience.
4. Wade met twice with President Joe Biden’s White House counsel before indicting Trump in August, calling into question if the White House coordinated prosecuting Biden’s 2024 political opponent.
In the correspondence, Jordan expressed six concerns regarding the alleged misconduct of Willis and Wade, and raised doubts about whether the $14.6 million in grant funds supported the prosecution of Trump.
“The FCDAO reportedly compensated you using a concoction of comingled funds, including monies confiscated or seized by the FCDAO and monies directed from Fulton County’s ‘general’ fund. The Committee has information that the FCDAO received approximately $14.6 million in grant funds from the Department of Justice between 2020 and 2023 and, given the enormous legal fees you have billed to the FCDAO, there are open questions about whether federal funds were used by the FCDAO to finance your prosecution. In fact, on one day—November 5, 2021—you billed taxpayers for 24 hours of legal work, attesting that you worked all day and night without break on a politically motivated prosecution.
A recent news report corroborates your coordination with partisan Democrats, explaining that you and FCDAO staff ‘quietly met’ with the partisan January 6 Committee, which allowed you to review information they had gathered. Politico reported that the partisan January 6 Committee provided Ms. Willis’s prosecution a ‘boost’ as she prepared to convene a special grand jury and even ‘helped prosecutors prepare for interviews with key witnesses.’ The same article suggests that the partisan January 6 Committee provided you access to records it withheld from other law-enforcement entities and even other Members of Congress.”
🚨 #BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan launches inquiry into Fani Willis associate Nathan Wade.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office received approximately $14.6 million in grant funds from the DOJ between 2020 and 2023
On November 5, 2021, Wade billed taxpayers for 24 hours of… pic.twitter.com/MVWKD57IZP
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) January 12, 2024