In a letter sent on Thursday, March 14, conservative firebrand and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan threatened to hold Fulton County DA Fani Willis in contempt of Congress for her refusal to comply fully with the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena-issued demands.
As background, Rep. Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Willis on Feb. 2, 2024. In the subpoena, it demanded records pertaining to her use of federal funds. Willis refused to accept the document via email, forcing it to be delivered by hand by a United States Marshal. She has still refused to fully comply with its demands, sparking Rep. Jordan’s Thursday letter.
After describing the background of the situation, with Willis attempting to dodge the Committee’s subpoena, the letter skewered Willis for how she responded to the subpoena, saying, “The subpoena compelled the production of two specific categories of documents: (1) documents and communications referring or relating to the FCDAO’s receipt and use of federal funds and (2) documents and communications referring or relating to any allegations of the misuse of federal funds by the FCDAO. On February 23, 2024, you responded to the Committee’s subpoena with a letter in which you smeared a former employee of yours who spoke out about your misuse of federal grant funds.”
The letter next emphasized how unsatisfactory her response was, as not only were her attempts to smear the whistleblower inappropriate, but she did not include documents that she should have included. It provided, “We will not dignify your attacks on this brave whistleblower, or your continued attempts to distract from your conduct through misdirection and personal insults. The allegations in the public realm about your misuse of federal grant funding are concerning, and the Committee has an obligation to examine them. We appreciate that you have produced a narrow set of documents in response to the subpoena, but your compliance with the subpoena to date is deficient.”
Later, after noting which documents she did not include in her response but should have included, the letter to Willis explained how she could not get out of complying by telling the committee to get the documents from the DOJ. It said, “Your letter also requests that the Committee “engage” with the Justice Department to obtain responsive documents that the FCDAO should have in its possession. As a part of our oversight, the Committee has engaged with the Justice Department about its administration of federal grant programs. The Committee’s separate requests to the Justice Department do not alleviate your legal obligation to comply with the subpoena.”
Rep. Jordan also ripped apart the idea that the committee has acted in an inappropriately broad manner, saying, “In addition, in your letter, you noted a “preliminarily object[ion]” to the Committee’s subpoena on the grounds that the subpoena is “overbroad and unduly burdensome under any ordinary meaning of those terms.” To the contrary, the Committee has exercised its authority with restraint.”
Concluding, the letter threatened Willis with contempt of Congress if she does not fully comply, saying, “While you have indicated that additional documents may be forthcoming in response to the Committee’s subpoena, the Committee has yet to receive any additional responsive materials in the three weeks since your initial response. Accordingly, the Committee expects that you will produce all responsive documents to the subpoena in the categories prioritized by the Committee no later than 12:00 p.m. on March 28, 2024. If you fail to do so, the Committee will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings.”
Jordan tweeted about the matter as well, saying that the threat of contempt is a real one and that Georgia taxpayers deserve to know what their taxes are being used for. He said, “Georgians deserve to know where their federal tax dollars are going. But Fani Willis hasn’t produced the documents we subpoenaed. Contempt is on the table.”