House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to special counsel Jack Smith after launching an inquiry into one of Mr. Smith’s top aides.
Mr. Smith was appointed special counsel last November on matters related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach events, and the Department of Justice has since brought cases against more than 1,000 citizens who were present at the Capitol that day. He is also prosecuting two criminal cases against former President Donald Trump, who is now campaigning for a 2024 presidential run.
Stanley Woodward had been representing an unnamed “Employee 4” in the Mar-a-Lago case where President Trump is accused of allegedly mishandling classified documents; the employee previously testified no knowledge of deleting security footage, and later said otherwise. Mr. Woodward had claimed that the employee had been threatened with prosecution before he agreed to become a key witness.
Mr. Woodward no longer represents the employee but still represents Walt Nauta, a co-defendant in the case.
The inquiry is part of the Judiciary Committee’s ongoing oversight of the Department of Justice, Mr. Jordan wrote, and the “attempt to inappropriately coerce Mr. Woodward raises serious concerns about the abusive tactics of the Office of the Special Counsel and the Department’s commitment in its mission to upload the rule of law and ensure impartial justice.”
Mr. Jordan is requesting all documents and communications concerning Mr. Woodward or concerning legal representation for Mr. Nauta by the end of the business day on Sept. 21.
Mr. Smith’s office was not immediately available for comment.
Alleged Threats
The event allegedly took place in November 2022, when Mr. Woodward was summoned for a meeting with Mr. Bratt. Mr. Woodward has alleged prosecutorial misconduct, claiming Mr. Bratt told him that he should get his client Mr. Nauta to cooperate because his testimony conflicted with another’s, and “threatened” him in saying that could result in his client making a “false statement.”According to Mr. Woodward, Mr. Bratt said in the conversation that because he did not take him for a “Trump guy,” he was confident he “would do the right thing” and brought up Mr. Woodward’s application for judgeship in Washington, D.C.
Conflict of Interest Hearing
In August, the special counsel’s office asked for a conflict of interest hearing, also known as a Garcia hearing, regarding legal representation for Carlos de Oliveira, the third defendant in the classified documents case.After an inquiry from Judge Aileen Cannon, the prosecution ended the grand jury in Washington.
