House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has launched an investigation into allegations that a member of special counsel Jack Smith’s team “improperly pressured” an attorney representing a defendant indicted by a federal grand jury in an effort to get his client to cooperate with the government.
Jordan (R-Ohio), in a letter sent to Smith on Thursday, demanded documents related to the “abusive tactics” prosecutor Jay Bratt allegedly used against attorney Stanley Woodward, who is representing former President Donald Trump’s co-defendant Walt Nauta in the DOJ case classified document.
“Last year, Jay Bratt — one of your senior prosecutors and a top aide — allegedly improperly pressured Stanley Woodward, an attorney representing a defendant you indicted, by implying that the Administration would take a favorable view of Mr. Woodward’s nomination for a judgeship if Mr. Woodward’s client is cooperating with the Office of Special Counsel,” Jordan wrote.
Jordan described the tactics Smith’s office alleged in classified documents as “abusive.”Ron Sachs – CNP
Jordan demanded that Smith hand over communications and documents related to defense attorney Stanley Woodward.AP
“This attempt to unduly coerce Mr. Woodward raises serious concerns about the abusive tactics of the Office of Special Counsel and the Department’s commitment to its mission to uphold the rule of law and ensure fair justice,” he added.
Woodward first made the allegations in June, in a letter filed under seal with federal judge James Boasberg, before Trump and Nauta were indicted in the Smith classified documents investigation, according to the Guardian.
Woodward reportedly claimed in the letter that in November 2022 he was called to a meeting at DOJ headquarters where Bratt told him he didn’t think he was “Trump’s guy” and that “he was going to do the right thing,” before citing his knowledge. Woodward’s pending application for a judgeship on the superior court in Washington, DC
Bratt allegedly referred to Woodward’s application for a judgeship in an effort to “force” the attorney to ask his client to cooperate.DOJ
“[Bratt] apparently, along with five other people before him from the DOJ, blackmailed a very respected, very smart lawyer from Washington, DC, saying basically, ‘If you want this judgeship that’s on Joe Biden’s desk, you’ve got to flip the guy you to cooperate against the President of the United States,’” former Trump lawyer James Trusty also alleged in a June interview with CNN.
Jordan also cited an Aug. 2 motion in the Nauta case in which Bratt raised a possible conflict of interest raised by Woodward’s representatives from two other witnesses seeking cooperation from the special counsel’s office.
Woodward denounced Bratt’s motion as “an attempt to diminish the Court’s authority over the proceedings in this case and undermine the attorney-client relationship without any specific factual basis for such representation,” in a court filing responding to the motion.
The alleged meeting between Bratt and Woodward took place before Trump was indicted in the classified documents case. Getty Images
“Bratt’s attempt to bully Mr. Nauta into cooperation, first by blackmailing his attorney and then by alleging a conflict of interest that kept his attorney off the case, seriously calls into question your team and your ability to remain impartial and uphold the Department’s mission,” Jordan argued.
Jordan’s investigation comes a day after a court filing by Woodward revealed that his former client in the alleged classified documents – identified by several media outlets as Mar-a-Lago IT director Yuscil Taveras – reached a cooperation agreement with Smith’s team after changing lawyers and withdrawing “testimony false” before.
Taveras recused himself after prosecutors raised concerns about Woodward’s possible conflict of interest in the case related to his representation of Nauta as well.
Jordan is seeking documents by Sept. 21 regarding Woodward’s discussions with prosecutors regarding his representation of Nauta and communications among DOJ officials regarding past and current clients of lawyers involved in the special counsel’s investigation.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
