House Judiciary Committee subpoenas Fani Willis for alleged misuse of federal grant funds
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenas Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over alleged misuse of federal grant funds
The congressional writ comes amid reports that Willis fired a whistleblower less than two months after the employee warned the Georgia prosecutor about misconduct.
Former Fulton County DA Staffer Amanda Timpson complained in audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon that Willis campaign aide Michael Cuffee planned to use some of the $488,000 federal money their office received for the creation of a Center of Youth Empowerment and Gang Prevention on ”MacBooks,” ”swag,” and ”travel.” She said she warned Cuffee that the grants were ”very, very specific,” but he said the abuse of funds was Willis’s “vision.”
“He 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 November 2021 meeting about Cuffee’s decision to demote her.
Willis told Timpson, “I respect that is your assessment” and “I’m not saying that your assessment is wrong,” but had the whistleblower escorted “out of her office by seven armed investigators” weeks after.
BREAKING: @FreeBeacon has obtained audio of a whistleblower privately warning Fani Willis in 2021 that her top aide was trying to misuse federal funds.
Willis did not dispute the allegations.
56 days later, Willis fired the whistleblower and perp walked her out of the office. pic.twitter.com/YEkKIB2L5f
In a Feb. 2 letter accompanying the subpoena, Jordan confirmed that congressional oversight on Willis’ office’s use of taxpayer dollars “is particularly relevant in light of public whistleblower allegations that it has misused federal funding.
“These allegations raise serious concerns about whether you were appropriately supervising the expenditure of federal grant funding allocated to your office and whether you took actions to conceal your office’s unlawful use of federal funds,” he wrote.
The House Judiciary Committee sent three letters in August, September, and December 2023 to Willis demanding documents outlining how her office spent federal funds. Willis openly flouted the committee’s request and accused Jordan of trying “to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations.”
Jordan retorted by noting that Congress “has jurisdiction to conduct oversight of matters concerning DOJ grant programs and criminal justice to inform potential legislative reforms,” including grants district attorneys’ offices receive from the Department of Justice. He suggested the body may want to enact legislation to prevent such abuses in the future.
The House Judiciary Committee remains committed to uncovering Willis’ use of federal funds in her lawfare case against former President Donald Trump, but Jordan says the “recently disclosed whistleblower allegations” mean the committee is “prioritizing the production of documents concerning your office’s receipt and use of federal funds.”
The subpoena and accompanying letter also follow news that a bipartisan committee of Georgia legislators will investigate Willis’ allegedly inappropriate romantic relationship with private attorney Nathan Wade whom she contracted out as a special prosecutor on her “get Trump” case. Documents suggest Wade used $654,000 taxpayer-funded legal fees he earned on the case against the Republican frontrunner to fund “lavish vacations” for him and Willis.
About the Author: Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.
What specific actions is the House Judiciary Committee taking to investigate the alleged misuse of federal grant funds by Willis’s office
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The latest subpoena from Chairman Jim Jordan comes as no surprise, given the seriousness of the allegations against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. It is alleged that Willis’s office misused federal grant funds, prompting the House Judiciary Committee to intervene and demand answers.
The controversy began when a former DA staffer, Amanda Timpson, came forward with shocking revelations. In audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Timpson disclosed that Willis’s campaign aide, Michael Cuffee, planned to utilize a significant portion of the $488,000 federal money for personal expenses such as “MacBooks,” “swag,” and “travel.” Timpson responsibly warned Cuffee about the specific guidelines attached to the grants, but he dismissed her concerns, claiming that the misuse of funds was part of Willis’s vision.
Timpson recounts her frustrating attempts to reason with Cuffee during a November 2021 meeting: “He wanted to do things with grants that were impossible, and I kept telling him, like, ‘We can’t do that.'” However, instead of addressing the issue or admitting any wrongdoing, Willis merely responded by saying, “I respect that is your assessment” and “I’m not saying that your assessment is wrong.” Weeks later, Timpson was abruptly dismissed and escorted out of her office by armed investigators.
The shocking audio recording obtained by the Free Beacon sparked immediate concern among members of the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Jim Jordan, in a letter accompanying the recent subpoena, highlighted the importance of congressional oversight in a situation involving allegations of misused taxpayer dollars. He emphasized that it is necessary to determine whether Willis appropriately supervised the expenditure of federal grant funding and whether any attempts were made to conceal any unlawful use of funds.
The House Judiciary Committee’s involvement in this matter did not begin with this recent subpoena. In fact, they had previously sent three letters to Willis in August, September, and December 2023, requesting documents that detailed how the office had spent federal funds. Unfortunately, Willis openly defied the committee’s requests and accused Jordan of obstructing a Georgia criminal proceeding, as well as making partisan misrepresentations. Chairman Jordan promptly rebutted these claims, citing Congress’s jurisdiction to oversee matters related to DOJ grant programs and criminal justice, particularly grants received by district attorneys’ offices.
Chairman Jim Jordan’s actions to subpoena Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis underscore the seriousness of the alleged misuse of federal grant funds. The House Judiciary Committee seeks to obtain the truth and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used appropriately. This case serves as a reminder of the importance of oversight and the need for legislative reforms to prevent such abuses in the future.
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