US Representative Jim Jordan
US Representative Jim Jordan (C), R-OH AFP

The House Judiciary Committee is slamming Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her decision to prevent her assistant prosecutor from testifying due to concerns that it would "force him to improperly divulge confidential information that is protected by privileges." The clash comes in the context of the investigation on whether former President Donald Trump sought to interfere with the presidential elections in Georgia in 2020.

Concretely, Willis says that Nathan Wade being subpoenaed could also force him to violate "State Bar of Georgia rules that govern conduct of attorneys." Consequently, she informed House Chair Jim Jordan that Wade "has been instructed not to answer any questions that seek to solicit information about his role or underlying evidence in the Office's investigation of unlawful efforts to interfere with the 2020 presidential elections in Georgia."

"What is she trying to hide?" said the House Judiciary Committee in a publication on X that includes Willis' letter. Former President Donald Trump tried to have Willis removed from the case, but a judge rejected the petition in March.

In another passage of the letter, Willis says that "attempts to solicit information from Mr. Wade about evidence in the election interference case would run afoul of this fundamental principle." Moreover, questions about his work "would implicate information that is protected by the deliberative process privilege, attorney-client privilege, and work-product privilege, among others."

The letter ends by reiterating that "Mr. Wade has been informed of his obligation to assert FCDA's privileges and to safeguard the integrity of ongoing criminal prosecutions." "As long as I am District Attorney, I will continue to do everything in my power to protect the integrity of this criminal investigation and all others in which my office leads."

Willis started her investigation on whether Trump sought to interfere in the state's elections in early 2021, soon after a recording of a Jan. 2, 2021 phone call between Trump and then-Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger emerged. During that call, Trump suggested that the state's top elections official could "find" the votes that were needed to overturn his loss in Georgia.

As for Trump, he has denied wrongdoing in Georgia. He has continued to claim falsely that his election loss in 2020 was due to widespread voting fraud.

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