Did special counsel Jack Smith use underhanded pressure tactics in his pursuit of former President Donald Trump? That’s the allegation being made by one of the lawyers involved in the case — and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee wants answers.
In a letter to Smith mailed Thursday, Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, who leads the Judiciary Committee, demanded evidence relating to assertions one of his senior prosecutors “allegedly improperly pressured Stanley Woodward, a lawyer representing a defendant indicted by you.”
The accusations of impropriety stem from a meeting between Jay Bratt and Woodward — who represents one of the defendants in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, Walt Nauta — in which Bratt supposedly pressured Woodward “by implying that the Administration would look more favorably on Mr. Woodward’s candidacy for a judgeship if Mr. Woodward’s client cooperated with the Office of the Special Counsel.”
Jordan gave Smith until Sept. 21 to provide documents related to the allegations.
“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,’” Jordan said in the letter, obtained by Just the News.
“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,’” the letter continued.
Bratt then allegedly “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.”
Woodward then broke off communications with the Department of Justice, saying there would be no further discussions unless Nauta was charged or given an immunity deal.
Smith’s office didn’t stop there, Jordan’s letter alleges.
“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,’” the letter continued.
Bratt then allegedly “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.”
Woodward then broke off communications with the Department of Justice, saying there would be no further discussions unless Nauta was charged or given an immunity deal.
Smith’s office didn’t stop there, Jordan’s letter alleges.