House Republicans launch probe into whether or not Jan. 6 committee colluded with Atlanta prosecutor
Republicans launched an inquiry into whether or not the now-defunct January 6 Select Committee handed paperwork and supplies to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to assist construct a legal case towards former President Donald Trump.
Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Barry Loudermilk known as on Ms. Willis and Rep. Bennie Thompson to show over paperwork associated to any investigative coordination between the Georgia prosecutor’s workplace and the committee.
Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had beforehand introduced in August that his panel launched an inquiry into whether or not Ms. Willis coordinated with federal officers along with her indictment of Mr. Trump.
According to the most recent letter, she has refused to reply.
“Recently, the Committee became aware of cooperation between your office and the partisan January 6 Select Committee. We are in possession of a letter, dated December 17, 2021, and enclosed herein, from you to Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Chairman of the partisan January 6 Select Committee, requesting access to congressional ‘records that may be relevant to our criminal investigation,’” Mr. Jordan wrote.
“Specifically, you asked Rep. Thompson for access to ‘record [sic] includ[ing] but … not limited to recordings and transcripts of witness interviews and depositions, electronic and print records of communications, and records of travel.’”
The letter additionally notes that Ms. Willis additionally supplied that she and her workers had been desperate to journey to Washington to “meet with investigators in person” and obtain these data at “any time” between Jan. 31, 2022, and Feb. 25, 2022.
“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,” Mr. Jordan wrote.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, appointed all of the members of the Jan. 6 panel and rejected then-Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Republican decisions, as an alternative choosing Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Both Republicans had been identified for being stridently anti-Trump and neither is presently in Congress.
Another letter written by Mr. Loudermilk, Georgia Republican, was despatched Tuesday to Mr. Thompson, indicating that the House Administration subcommittee on oversight discovered the identical Dec. 17, 2021, letter within the Jan. 6 committee archives.
“According to public reporting, the Select Committee shared records with Ms. Willis. The Select Committee provided ‘Fulton County prosecutors … key evidence about what former President Trump and his top advisers knew’ with respect to Georgia’s 2020 election results,” wrote Mr. Loudermilk, chairman of the subcommittee.
He continued, “However, there are no records of any additional communication between the Select Committee and Ms. Willis and her office. Therefore, we have no records showing what the Select Committee actually provided her office.”
Mr. Loudermilk famous that this was regarding to him as a result of Mr. Thompson wrote in a earlier letter to him that he didn’t protect any video recordings of depositions or transcribed interviews.
“By failing to preserve these videos, you deny the American public the right to review the footage and make their own conclusions about witnesses’ truthfulness. Clearly Ms. Willis agrees that video recordings of witness interviews and depositions are important records,” he mentioned.
Mr. Thompson informed The Washington Times that the Jan. 6 committee adopted the legislation on the preservation of paperwork.
“We did it consistent with what the law required. And that was it. I’m not aware of destruction of any documents,” he mentioned. “I’m not aware of staff being instructed to destroy any documents.”
According to Mr. Loudermilk’s letter to Mr. Thompson, federal prosecutors working for Special Counsel Jack Smith mentioned in courtroom, on Aug. 11, 2023, that they had been utilizing unreleased transcripts offered by the Select Committee of their prosecution Mr. Trump.
“It is unclear if the Special Counsel’s team received these transcripts from the Select Committee or directly from the Biden Administration. However, because you intentionally chose not to archive and preserve these transcripts, my Subcommittee, and the House of Representatives, does not even know the names of these witnesses or what they said in interviews with the Select Committee,” Mr. Loudermilk wrote.
