Legal experts provide ammo for Fani Willis to put Jim Jordan on the spot and call his bluff
Writing jointly for MSNBC, legal experts Norm Eisen, Fred Wertheimer and Josh Stanton gave their full approval to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to expose House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan's "political theatrics" as he attempts to interfere with her prosecution of Donald Trump.
Following the indictment of the former president and his 18 co-conspirators on racketeering charges related to the 2020 presidential election, the Ohio Republican announced he would open an investigation into her office.
In a letter, he wrote, "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. Moreover, you have requested that the trial in this matter begin on March 4, 2024, the day before Super Tuesday and eight days before the Georgia presidential primary," and gave her until Sept. 7 to hand over communications between her office and the Department of Justice.
According to Eisen, Wertheimer and Stanton, Willis should call the blustery Republican's bluff because she has the law on her side and Jordan knows it.
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"As we explained the last time Jordan attempted to intrude, Congress can't use its investigative power to engage in law enforcement. Yet once again that is precisely what Jordan is attempting to do by seeking to second-guess and superintend a pending case by a local prosecutor," they wrote. "The Constitution gives no express power to our national legislature to engage in investigations. But it has been understood since the very first Congress that the legislative body has such implied powers within Article I. The limits of those powers have been emphasized ever since — including by Trump himself."
They noted Jordan's demand for info wouldn't even pass muster if he went after the DOJ.
"If the House asked a federal prosecutor to provide detailed internal information about an open investigation or prosecution, the Justice Department would not comply, citing constitutional separation of powers," they wrote before adding "Jordan’s Georgia fishing expedition runs afoul of each of the four specific requirements set out by the court in its Mazars [ruling]."
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Adding, "Willis should call Jordan’s bluff," the concluded, "If it comes to litigation, the courts will see through Jordan’s efforts for the distracting and partisan political theatrics they are. The careful balance of power between the states and the federal government — although long debated ever since our nation’s founding and in the decades following — is now well-defined in all but the most extreme circumstances. This is not one."
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