Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis says fury over her conduct in the Trump case has given her “thicker skin” and calls top Republican Jim Jordan a “clown” for his “illegitimate” investigations.
Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee has pressed ahead with investigations into alleged misconduct by Willis’ office as it prosecutes former President Donald Trump for possible election interference.
Earlier this year, Jordan threatened Willis with contempt of Congress to force her to give up her plans to allegedly misuse a grant worth nearly half a million dollars.
She has also been investigated for her relationship with her “lover” and fellow Trump prosecutor, Nathan Wade.
“Jim Jordan, time and time again, has attacked my office for no legitimate purpose,” Willis told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
“Anyone who knows the story of Jim Jordan knows that his only purpose is to try to interfere in a criminal investigation.”
Willis’ fighting words come the day before his re-election bid on Tuesday.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis called Jim Jordan a “clown” and insisted his investigations into her “serve no legitimate purpose.”
Jordan, R-Ohio, previously exposed that Willis’ team was planning to misuse a grant intended to create a Youth Empowerment and Gang Prevention Center to pay for new luxuries, including MacBooks and expensive trips.
A whistleblower who submitted details of the illicit scheme was later fired, Republicans claimed, as they issued a subpoena in February demanding related documents and communications about the alleged $488,000 scheme.
He ended up agreeing to the investigation, but called it “illegitimate” and called the Ohio Republican’s actions “disgusting.”
When the whistleblower, Amanda Timpson, told Willis about the alleged plot, she was immediately fired, according to the committee’s February subpoena.
After her dismissal, seven armed investigators escorted her out of the office.
A Free Beacon report from February identified Willis aide Michael Cuffe as the individual behind the alleged scheme to misuse taxpayer money.
“(Cuffe) wanted to do things with grants that were impossible, and I kept telling him, like, ‘We can’t do that,'” Timpson told Willis during a Nov. 19, 2021, meeting, according to a recording of the conversation obtained by Free Beacon.
“He told everyone… ‘We’re going to buy MacBooks, we’re going to get gifts, we’re going to use them to travel.'” I said, “You can’t do that, it’s a very, very specific grant.” “I respect that’s your assessment,” Willis responded. “And I’m not saying your assessment is wrong.”
Willis has sparked controversy while prosecuting the county’s election interference case against Trump after it was revealed she had a past relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
She escaped with just a slap on the wrist after Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dramatically ruled that she could continue Trump’s election interference case if Wade was removed from office.
Earlier this year, Jordan threatened Willis with contempt of Congress to get him to comply with his investigation into the use of federal funds.
Trump and eight of his co-defendants in Georgia state court have since urged the appeals court to overturn McAfee’s March ruling, and the appeals court has given Trump’s appeal the green light to move forward. .
The court’s decision to hear the appeal before trial could cause further delays in the case, one of four criminal proceedings Trump faces as he seeks to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and accused prosecutors of a politically motivated effort to damage his campaign.
The court’s decision to hear the case follows testimony inside McAfee’s courtroom, which featured an admission from Willis and former special prosecutor Nathan Wade that they had a sexual relationship.
Lawyers for Donald Trump and several co-defendants sought to establish that the matter began before Willis included Wade in the case and said it posed a conflict of interest. But Willis said the relationship later became romantic.
The Judiciary Committee also demanded documents related to Willis’s relationship with Wade in January, noting that he had been paid more than $650,000 – at a rate of $250 an hour – to work on the investigation and prosecution of Trump and other federal officials. according to a court file.
The committee noted that federal funds may have been used to pay Wade, giving them jurisdiction to investigate.
The committee also highlighted the ‘enormous legal fees’ Wade had billed the district attorney’s office, in one case, on November 5, 2021, charging for 24 hours of legal work in one day, claiming to have worked all day and the night at the prosecutor’s office. .