Fani Willis’ lawyer has told House Judiciary Committee chairman, Jim Jordan, to calm down and take an anger management class.
The letter also suggests that Jordan, a Republican and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, was as hypocritical as a skunk who tells a possum that his breath stinks.
Willis is prosecuting Trump on felony charges of attempting to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has repeatedly said the case is part of a political witch hunt to derail his bid for the White House next month.
Trump’s prosecution was thrown into disarray after one of his codefendants discovered that Willis had been in a relationship with Nathan Wade, the attorney she hired to prosecute the Trump case. The trial judge, Scott McAfee, sharply criticized Willis in a ruling in March and ruled that either she or Wade had to leave the case. Wade resigned from the Trump case hours later.
Jordan had demanded that Willis, the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney, appear before the committee to explain her past relationship with the man she appointed to prosecute Trump for election fraud. Newsweek sought email comment from Wade and from the offices of Willis and Jordan on Wednesday.
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In a September 21 letter, Jordan demanded that Wade also appear before the committee. The U.S. Marshals’ service was contacted when Wade could not be found for nearly a week after the demand was issued. He then agreed to respond to the committee and appeared before it on Tuesday, October 15, where committee members questioned him for several hours.
As Wade did so, his lawyer’s September 30 response to Jordan was released by the committee. In it, Roy Barnes, attorney and former Democrat governor of Georgia, told Jordan that he was representing both Willis and Wade.
“I have reviewed your letter of September 21, 2024, addressed to Nathan Wade Esq. regarding his appearance before your committee,” Barnes said.
“I find the tone of your letter to be filled with vitriol and anger. I would suggest you take some deep breaths and calm down so this matter may be discussed without emotion. An anger management course might also help,” Barnes wrote.
“I am just a country lawyer, unaware of the ways of Washington, D.C., but I must comment on your statements regarding obedience to subpoenas lawfully issued by committees of Congress,” Barnes added, while highlighting what he claimed was Jordan’s hypocrisy.
“I notice that you were issued with a subpoena of the committee of Congress, which investigated the January 6 insurrection against the government of the United States of America. You failed to appear before that committee. I therefore find your protestations regarding a normal citizen obeying subpoenaed to be somewhat hollow,” Barnes wrote.
“It reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:3: ‘Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but do not notice the log that is in your eye?’ In the South, we have a similar saying: ‘That is like a skunk telling a possum his breath stinks.’
“When you have calmed down and attended the anger management class, I will be glad to discuss this matter with you in a logical, dispassionate manner,” Barnes added.
“I wish you and the members of Congress the very best in undertaking the work of the people,” he wrote.
Barnes also had a jibe at Republicans’ lack of support for gun control.
“By the way, since we in Georgia just experienced a great tragedy—a school shooting by a young man with a machine gun—do you think you could take a short break and solve that problem?” Barnes wrote.
