On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said that his committee is looking into allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in special counsel Jack Smith’s papers case against former President Donald Trump and two of his associates.
According to a letter delivered to Smith on Thursday, media sources allege that Jay Bratt, a senior prosecutor involved in the special counsel’s investigation, employed “abusive” tactics. Jordan was particularly concerned about Bratt’s alleged use of a judgeship application to unlawfully coerce a lawyer representing Trump’s associate and co-defendant Walter Nauta. The chairman further mentioned that Bratt later filed a motion citing conflicts of interest involving the same lawyer, Stanley Woodward.
“The Department’s mission is to ensure impartial justice by upholding the rule of law, requiring all Department employees — including Mr. Bratt — to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct,” Jordan wrote. “Mr. Bratt’s attempt to bully Mr. Nauta in cooperating, first by extorting his attorney and then by alleging a conflict of interest that precludes his attorney from the case, seriously calls into question your team and your ability to remain impartial and uphold the Department’s mission.”
The chairman sought different documents and data pertaining to Woodward, his representation of Nauta and others, as well as his application to fill a vacancy on the District of Columbia Superior Court. The deadline was set for 5 p.m. on September 21.
When questioned about the letter, Smith’s team declined to comment, according to Peter Carr, a special counsel spokesperson.
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton responded to the letter by writing on X, “Prosecutorial misconduct at the heart of the Biden DOJ abuse of Trump.” Mike Davis, the founder of the Article III Project and former chief counsel for nominations to then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), congratulated Jordan, stating, “End [President Joe] Biden’s lawfare and blatant election interference.”
Prosecutorial misconduct at the heart of the Biden DOJ abuse of Trump. https://t.co/VQNgURb6XB
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) September 7, 2023
National security attorney Bradley Moss took a different point of view. “There is a real and serious need for congressional committees to conduct oversight of DOJ,” Moss said. “This is not that. It’s a blatant political stunt designed only to protect the former president. The tactics allegedly employed are the type ‘law and order’ conservatives normally love.”
Jordan’s current letter follows a request last month for the Biden administration to give information about Bratt’s meetings with White House officials in the weeks preceding Trump’s indictment. The chairman set a September 12 deadline for this topic.
Trump and Nauta have been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and conspiring to conceal sensitive documents from federal officials. They have pled not guilty, as has Carlos De Oliveira, a property manager at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, who was added to the indictment as a co-defendant in a supplemental indictment.
According to CNN, Woodward revealed in a court filing that his former client, Mar-a-Lago IT technician Yuscil Taveras, volunteered to testify in the case in exchange for avoiding being charged. According to the newspaper, Woodward claimed in the filing that he “played no role” in the cooperation and requested that Taveras not testify in any future trials.
Trump is also facing allegations in three other cases, including a 2020 election case brought by Smith. He has largely rejected any wrongdoing and claims to be the victim of a “witch hunt” as he prepares to compete for re-election to the presidency in 2024. The trial in Smith’s documents lawsuit is expected to begin in Florida on May 20.
I appreciate House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and believe he does a good job, but endless probes with no consequences are what makes Conservatives bored and dissatisfied with our Republican elected officials.
I hate to admit it, but the Left has it right. They are willing to target their opponents, whether they are J6 protestors, Donald Trump, or others, and ensure that they receive some type of punishment.
On the contrary, we have a lot of things against Hunter Biden, and thus far, all he’s received is a sweetheart plea offer that luckily failed.
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