Saturday, December 14, 2024

Fani Willis rebuffs GOP lawmaker’s request for documents, says Trump election case is ‘ongoing’

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Fani Willis rebuffs GOP lawmaker’s request for documents, says Trump election case is ‘ongoing’


Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday rebuffed the latest request from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan seeking information related to her Georgia election interference investigation into President-elect Donald Trump, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

Willis, who indicted Trump and 18 others in 2023, referred to the investigation as “ongoing” and rejected claims that the investigation was political.

“This case was not brought for political reasons,” Willis wrote in the letter to the Republican congressman. “It also will not be dismissed for political reasons.”

Willis also wrote in her letter that the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege, and that the request would “expose legal theories and analysis, prosecutorial recommendations, and key evidence in an ongoing prosecution.”

Trump, in a filing last week, asked an appeals court to have the case dismissed because sitting presidents are immune from criminal prosecution.

The Georgia racketeering case has been stalled for months on appeal over a disqualification effort against Willis — but the letter is the latest back-and-forth between Willis and Jordan, who earlier this year threatened to hold Willis in contempt if she didn’t comply with a request in a separate congressional probe.

Willis’ letter on Thursday was in response to a letter from Jordan last week in which he reiterated his longstanding request that she turn over documents, this time writing he “expects [Willis’] voluntary compliance with these requests” by Dec. 9.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing on the Georgia election interference case, March, 1, 2024, in Atlanta.

Alex Slitz/AP, FILE

Jordan, in his request, said the House Judiciary Committee “continues to conduct oversight of politically motivated prosecutions,” and was seeking any documents and communications between the Fulton County DA’s office and the Justice Department, the office of special counsel Jack Smith, and House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

The letter from Jordan also referenced a recent ruling in which a judge in Georgia ordered Willis to turn over any records from Smith or the House Jan. 6 committee following a lawsuit from a conservative legal group seeking documents related to her probe.

Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last year to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Four defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.

The DA’s office has declined to comment on the future of the case following Trump’s reelection as president.

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