Jim Jordan May Try to Change the Law to Help Trump

Representative Jim Jordan is looking into legislative reforms that could help the defendants named in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' RICO indictment from being prosecuted.

Jordan, one of former President Donald Trump's loyalist allies in Congress, penned a letter to Willis on Thursday, telling her that the House Oversight Committee that he chairs is currently looking into "whether any legislative reforms are appropriate or necessary" as a response to her investigation into Trump and his allies.

"Such reforms could include changes to the federal officer removal statute, immunities for federal officials, the permissible use of federal funds, the authorities of special counsels, and the delineation of prosecutorial authority between federal and local officials," Jordan wrote.

Willis indicted Trump and 18 of his associates earlier this month after a years-long investigation into their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, accusing the defendants of violating the state's racketeering laws.

Asked about what legislative reforms House Republicans were eyeing, a spokesperson for the Oversight Committee referred Newsweek to the No More Political Prosecutions Act introduced by Representative Russell Fry in April, which seeks to amend the portion of the U.S. Code that governs the federal judicial system so that presidents and vice presidents of both current and former administrations have the ability to move their own civil or criminal cases to a federal court.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and former Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer—three of the defendants named in Willis' indictment—have filed to move their cases out of Fulton County and into federal court. There has been speculation that Trump could soon follow suit.

Moving a case into federal court does not necessarily mean that defendants would have a better chance of acquittal, but it does mean their trials would not be televised—federal courts do not allow cameras in the courtroom—and it would reassign the case to a different judge who could be more sympathetic to the defendant. It would also result in a different jury pool, which may or may not be filled with fewer Democrats than one in Fulton County.

It had also been seen as a tactic that sought to delay arrest, but Willis has been strict with her August 25 deadline, telling Meadows on Tuesday that her Friday deadline was already "a tremendous courtesy."

"I am not granting any extensions. I gave 2 weeks for people to surrender
themselves to the court," Willis told Meadows' lawyers in an email. "Your client is no different than any other criminal defendant in this jurisdiction."

John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna who has been critical of Trump in the past, told Newsweek that while Jordan may be looking for ways to help Trump through congressional action, "There is no chance that both houses of Congress will pass legislation affecting the Georgia investigation.

"The mention of 'legislative reform' is just a rationalization for investigating the district attorney. This move contradicts the Republican Party's devotion to federalism and the Tenth Amendment," Pitney said. "It's all about Trump protection, not serious legislation."

In Jordan's Thursday letter, the Ohio Republican said, "Federal courts have held that '[c]ongressional committees have constitutional authority to conduct investigations and issue subpoenas because each House has the power to secure needed information in order to legislate.'"

The congressman also asked Willis to provide his team with all documents related to her office's use of federal funds, all communications between the district attorney's office and the Justice Department and all communications between the district attorney's office and any federal official at the executive level.