Tipsheet

Jim Jordan Is Going After Special Counsel Jack Smith for Office's Misconduct

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  September 08, 2023 9:00 AM

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has made it his mission to get to the bottom of investigating how weaponized the Biden administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) has become. It's been a particularly busy week for him, the most recent example being that he sent a letter to Special Counsel Jack Smith on Thursday afternoon.

The letter goes into great detail summarizing the alleged prosecutorial misconduct by Jay Bratt, who works on the special counsel's team. Last November, Bratt approached an attorney, Stanley Woodward, about a client of his, Walt Nauta, who has been indicted by the special counsel in the case to do with former and potentially future President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents. Bratt appeared to have been particularly relentless in the means in which he sought cooperation.

As the letter explains:

In November 2022, when your prosecutors were trying to secure the cooperation of Walt Nauta—who is alleged to have “move[d] boxes of documents” at Mar-a-Lago—prosecutors, including Mr. Bratt, summoned Mr. Woodward to a meeting at the Department’s headquarters for “an urgent matter that they were reluctant to discuss over the phone.” When Mr. Woodward arrived, Mr. Bratt threatened him that Mr. Nauta should cooperate “because he had given potentially conflicting testimony that could result in a false statement.” Mr. Bratt commented that he did not take Mr. Woodward as a “Trump guy” and indicated that he was confident that Mr. Woodward “would do the right thing.” Mr. Bratt referenced Mr. Woodward’s pending application for a judgeship on the D.C. superior court, implying that the Biden Administration would perceive Mr. Woodward’s application more favorably if Mr. Nauta was a cooperating witness for the Special Counsel against President Trump. Mr. Woodward subsequently informed the Justice Department that they “would have no further communications” unless the Justice Department charged Mr. Nauta or brokered an immunity deal.

After Mr. Woodward declined to give in to Mr. Bratt’s intimidation and coercion, Mr. Bratt once again sought to induce Mr. Nauta’s cooperation by attacking Mr. Woodward’s representation. On August 2, 2023, Mr. Bratt filed a motion in Mr. Nauta’s case raising alleged conflicts of interests presented by Mr. Woodward’s representation of two other witnesses “who could be called to testify at a trial in the case involving classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.” He further suggested that the court should “procure independent counsel” to be present at the hearing “to advise Mr. Woodward’s clients regarding the potential conflicts.” Mr. Woodward’s reply brief stated that Mr. Bratt’s intimidation threats were merely “an attempt to diminish the Court’s authority over the proceedings in this case and to undermine attorney-client relationships without any basis specific to the facts of such representation.

Jordan's letter becomes even more strongly worded as it calls out the alleged misconduct on Bratt's part. On a larger scale, it also speaks volumes about the DOJ.

"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. 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," Jordan's letter also reads.

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Jordan is asking Smith for the following information:

1. All documents and communications referring or relating to any appointment, meeting, or other visit by Mr. Woodward to the Justice Department, including the Office of the Special Counsel, concerning the representation of Mr. Nauta;

2. All documents and communications between or among the Office of the Special Counsel, the Office of the Attorney General, or the Office of the Deputy Attorney General referring or relating to Mr. Woodward and his representation of individuals involved in the matters before you; and

3. All documents and communications referring or relating to Mr. Woodward’s application to fill a vacancy on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

The documents are due by September 21.

Jordan had already sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland and White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients regarding Bratt just over a week ago prior to sending Thursday's letter, giving them until September 12 to provide the requested documents.

Those letters mentioned not just the alleged misconduct laid out in great detail above, but how Bratt had met with White House officials on March 31, 2023, just nine weeks before Smith indicted Trump.