Shan Wu, a former federal prosecutor who testified during this week’s House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing, criticized Republican Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Matt Gaetz of Florida in an opinion column on Saturday for their line of questioning.
According to the subcommittee’s website, Tuesday’s hearing spearheaded by Jordan, the House Judiciary Committee chair, looked into “how the New York County District Attorney’s Office weaponized the criminal justice system in pursuit of its perceived political enemy” former President Donald Trump.
In late May, a New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a case brought forward by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, relating to a hush money payment made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels by Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Trump denied the charges and Daniels’ allegations that the two had an affair. He has vowed to appeal.
In an opinion column published by The Daily Beast on Saturday, titled “I Went Toe to Toe With Jim Jordan in Congress. What a Circus!” Wu discussed the hearing as he took aim at Jordan and Gaetz.
“The questions that stuck out at me the most were the ones from Congressman Matt Gaetz (R. Florida) to the Republican witnesses. Gaetz wanted to make the point that convicting Trump under a theory that involved covering up the payments so as not to have them treated as campaign contributions meant that he, Gaetz, could start buying ties and charging them to his campaign,” Wu, who served as counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in the Clinton administration, wrote.
He added: “Gaetz’s ‘question’ was all about his theory that the Trump conviction actually would encourage misuse of campaign finance funds. Gaetz’s pleasure with himself was blatant as he grinned and snickered throughout. Chairman Jim Jordan appeared to enjoy Gaetz’s performance even more than Gaetz, continuously beaming and laughing during Gaetz’s questions.”
Wu condemned the hearing by accusing the congressmen of being more interested in putting on a “show” rather than asking substantive questions.
“It was the interaction of Gaetz and Jordan that made the biggest impression upon me. For in their frat-boy style joking I could sense that there was no real substance to their inquiries. There in the splendor of the high ceilings and wood panels, the real point for them seemed to have fun and put on a show. But it’s a show that masks the real dangers of using the trappings of Congress to interfere with the administration of justice,” he concluded.
Newsweek has reached out to Jordan and Gaetz’s office via email for comment.
Wu was one out of three others who testified during Tuesday’s hearing including, professor of law and a federal campaign finance expert Bradley Smith, former New York state judge John H. Wilson, a former federal prosecutor Jonathan L. Fahey.
During the hearing, Wu spoke to his expertise in law regarding how Congress should not be interfering with criminal prosecutions. He also pushed back on GOP North Carolina Representative Dan Bishop’s attempt to get him “to agree that Congress should be able to inquire into state criminal cases by saying they needed to wait for the case to conclude.”
According to Wu, while he was the only witness for the Democratic minority, the three others “were all there to justify the variety of criticisms about the Bragg case.”
During the hearing, Jordan took aim at the prosecution against Trump at his criminal hush money trial.
“It is clear Manhattan district judge Juan Merchan‘s decisions guided by political bias, unfairly prejudice the outcome of the trial and violated president Trump’s due process rights. Bragg’s prosecution of Trump with the help of judge Merchan opened the door for political motivated prosecutions and it will not be easy to undo the damage that has been done,” he said.
This comes after Jordan has already demanded testimonies from two key Trump prosecutors in May.
In letters addressed to Bragg and prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, Jordan explained the hearing will probe political motivations behind Trump’s conviction.
In June, after resisting calls to testify, Bragg in a letter agreed to testify before Congress at a later date to “better understand the scope and the purpose of the proposed hearing.”
“This Office is committed to voluntary cooperation. That cooperation includes making the District Attorney available to provide testimony on behalf of the Office at an agreed-upon date, and evaluating the propriety of allowing an Assistant District Attorney to testify publicly about an active prosecution to which he is assigned,” the letter reads.
Jordan and other Republicans have continued to reiterate Trump’s claims that the legal cases against him have been political motivated and that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was weaponized against him.
In regards to Trump’s conviction, there is no evidence to support Biden had a hand in his criminal hush money case. The case was filed by local prosecutors in Manhattan, who do not work for the DOJ or any White House office.
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