Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) orchestrated the indictments of former President Trump and eighteen co-defendants alleged to have been linked with the actions that are the subject of the accusations made against Trump. Willis’ indictments, reported to be more than ninety pages, have been viewed by some as abusive.
Particularly abusive, allegedly, is Willis’ use of the Georgia Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. As one commentator phrased the effects of the RICO laws, “in practice, it’s a prosecutor’s dream, mostly because it transforms hard cases into easier ones — if you can’t nail someone for a specific crime, you can compel them to cooperate by alleging they’d conspired with someone more obviously guilty and threatening them with the harsher sentencing that RICO laws make possible.”
Now, Willis has become the target of a congressional investigation over the Trump indictments. Characterizing Willis’ aggressive indictments and their timing, in the words of Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R): ‘Your actions raise serious concerns.” As reported, in a letter to Willis, Jordan “explicitly questioned her motivations for prosecuting Trump.” Jordan is reported to have written: “Your indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated.”
Jordan raised the following five issues implicating Willis’ motives he suggested were political: four days before the indictment was announced, Willis “launched a new campaign fundraising website that highlighted” her investigation into Trump; the infamous forewoman of the special grand jury that Willis convened who bragged about subpoenaing Trump; the allegedly accidental release of a document by a Fulton County clerk showing the forthcoming criminal charges against Trump hours before the grand jury officially voted; a judge disqualified Willis from targeting Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones (R) in her investigation; and the Fulton County officials announcing they will process Trump at the local jail like any other criminal, including forcing him to take a mug shot and post bond.
Additional specific issues of “concern” were raised by Jordan, such as “the timing of the investigation, noting that Willis wants to begin trial during the heart of primary season next spring.” Jordan said the indictment “appears to be an attempt to use state criminal law to regulate the conduct of federal officers acting in their official capacities.” That act “raises Supremacy Clause concerns.”
As reported, “Finally, Jordan told Willis there are “questions about whether and how your office coordinated with DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith during the course of this investigation.”” The top House Judiciary Committee Republican thus requested documents from Willis’ office regarding its use of federal funds, documents or communications with the DOJ (including special counsel Jack Smith’s office), and any documents and communications with any federal officials about her investigation.