Rep. Ted Lieu told Fulton County DA Fani Willis to ignore House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan’s attempt to investigate her.
Your reminder that Jim Jordan ignored a congressional subpoena. I assume DA Willis will follow his example and ignore him.
Also, his “investigation” is stupid. DOJ and FBI agents work with local law enforcement all the time. Totally irrelevant if they did that here, or not. https://t.co/KuhqkqeGrW
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) August 24, 2023
Rep. Lieu was correct. Jordan has no oversight authority over the Fulton County District Attorney’s office. Jordan has no ability to enforce any requests for information.
This is the level of absurdity in Jim Jordan’s letter to Fani Willis:
The indictment appears to be an attempt to use state criminal law to regulate the conduct of federal officers acting in their official capacities. In Count 22, for example, the indictment seeks to criminalize under Georgia law internal deliberations within DOJ, including a meeting where a former DOJ official requested formal authorization from his superiors to take an official act. And in Count 1, the indictment seeks to criminalize under Georgia law the White House Chief of Staff arranging meetings and phone calls for the President. There are also aspects of the indictment that give rise to questions about whether your office is seeking to criminalize under Georgia law certain speech of federal officers, including the President, that is protected by the First Amendment. Especially given the potential for states to target certain federal officials, such indictments implicate core federal interests.
Jim Jordan is essentially claiming that trying to overturn the results of a state election is free speech, and when Mark Meadows participated in the plot, he was acting in his official capacity as White House Chief of Staff. Coup co-conspirator is not an official job duty of the White House Chief of Staff, and any immunity protections do not cover criminal acts.
Rep. Jordan (R-OH) was trying to find a federal connection to the Willis investigation so that he could claim legitimate oversight authority, but there is not one.
Jordan’s investigation is a political stunt intended to muddy the waters and potentially contaminate a jury poll. What Jordan is doing is illegal, and if he has no federal oversight authority, the Ohio congressman is committing a crime.