ATLANTA — U.S. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan is now requesting documents from the special prosecutor helping to lead the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s 2020 election interference case against former president Donald Trump and other defendants.
Jordan, an Ohio Republican, wrote Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade on Friday seeking his “cooperation” with the committee's ongoing “oversight” efforts related to the election case.
Wade has faced mounting scrutiny since a defendant in the case filed a motion earlier this week accusing him of having an “improper, clandestine personal relationship” with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
An 11Alive report later revealed that in a separate 2020 incident, when tasked with overseeing an outside review of inmate deaths at the Cobb County Jail, Wade testified that he kept no written records of his work and “destroyed” notes.
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Jordan’s letter on Friday argued that the Georgia election case was a “politicized prosecution” and asked Wade to turn over documents related to alleged conversations between himself and national entities like the Department of Justice, the White House Counsel’s Office, and the January 6 Select Committee relating to the Fulton County election case.
“The Committee has serious concerns about the degree of improper coordination among politicized actors—including the Biden White House—to investigate and prosecute President Biden’s chief political opponent,” Jordan wrote.
Wade was also asked to turn over financial records related to his employment with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
D.A. Willis received a similar letter seeking documents over the summer. She responded to Jordan, accusing him of seeking to “obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and (advancing) outrageous partisan misrepresentations.”
Requests for comment were unreturned as of the time of publication. Wade has not responded publicly to the letter.
The message was viewed by some Atlanta legal experts with skepticism.
“I think it’s an assertion by Mr. Jordan of power that he doesn’t have,” said former Gwinnett County district attorney Danny Porter, a Republican.
Atlanta attorney Bob Rubin agreed, saying he doesn’t believe the committee has “power over a local prosecution.”
According to Porter, the House Judiciary Committee only has clear authority over local matters when the issue involves the “expenditure of federal monies.”
Jordan’s letter claimed that the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office had received “approximately $14.6 million” in federal funds between 2020 and 2023 and wrote that there were “open questions about whether federal funds were used” to pay Wade. The letter did not offer any proof that this occurred.
“I think they have to be a lot more specific than they were in that letter about what documents they want and why they are subject to federal oversight,” said Porter.
Emory University School of Law professor John Acevedo noted that while “Congress has no direct power to regulate local prosecutions or intervene directly into local criminal matters,” it has a “fairly broad scope” to investigate local matters “and has done so in the past.”
“The request for information is within Congress’ power, as is their ability to hold a hearing,” Acevedo said. “But they cannot directly stop, delay, or interfere with a local prosecution.”
He noted that “the letter is currently a request for information,” but the committee “could subpoena the information” at a later date.