Report: Biden Admin Aided DA Willis in Trump Inquiry

Documents reviewed by Just the News show that prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, received assistance from the Biden administration in their investigation of Donald Trump's alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

The assistance extended beyond a decision not to assert executive privilege and involvement by the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, according to the outlet.

In a September 2022 letter to Fulton County prosecutors, then-White House special counsel Richard Sauber informed then-Deputy District Attorney John Wakeford that then-President Joe Biden would not invoke executive privilege to block testimony from former Trump White House officials before the Georgia special purpose grand jury.

The grand jury was convened as part of District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

"These events threatened not only the safety of Congress and others present at the Capitol, but also the principles of democracy enshrined in our history and our Constitution," Sauber wrote in the letter, referring to the events surrounding Jan. 6, 2021.

"In light of these unique circumstances, President Biden has determined, as he did with respect to the Congressional investigation of these events, that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the public interest with respect to efforts to thwart the orderly transition of power under our Constitution," Sauber added.

According to Just the News, the documents indicate that the White House's involvement went beyond the privilege determination, though the extent and specifics of that assistance were not detailed in the materials cited.

Just the News obtained the documents after suing Willis' office alongside the nonprofit public interest law firm America First Legal under the Georgia Open Records Act.

Willis' office initially sought to withhold many of the records, citing claims of legal privilege in a prolonged court battle.

In response to the lawsuit, however, the district attorney's office this week dropped all privilege claims and released the documents in full, without redactions.

The production provided more material than Willis' office previously turned over to Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee.

Executive privilege is a legal doctrine that allows presidents to withhold certain communications from disclosure, particularly those involving internal executive branch deliberations.

While the privilege is generally asserted by the sitting president, disputes can arise when a current president declines to uphold a former president's claim.

In this instance, Biden declined to assert privilege over testimony from former Trump officials in connection with a state-level criminal investigation.

The decision cleared the way for those officials to provide testimony before the Georgia grand jury without a White House-backed privilege barrier.

The coordination occurred as Willis' office pursued evidence related to Trump and his allies' efforts to contest Georgia's 2020 election results.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and has characterized the various investigations into his conduct as politically motivated.

The White House has previously argued that declining to assert executive privilege in matters related to Jan. 6 and the post-election period was consistent with its position that transparency served the public interest.

Willis' office also spoke with the Jan. 6 committee's chief investigative counsel, Tim Heaphy, Just the News reported.

"As we discussed yesterday, we're willing to provide an oral summary of what certain witnesses have told the committee in interviews and depositions," Heaphy wrote. "We are also prepared to give you access to some committee documents, in camera in our office."

"We'd like to do this in Washington, sometime next week," Heaphy added.

The email chain indicates that a team from Fulton County made the trip and met with the committee staff.

"These documents reveal that the Biden Administration and the January 6 Committee were much more involved in District Attorney Fani Willis's prosecution of President Trump than was previously believed. AFL was happy to represent Just the News to get Americans this new information," said Will Scolinos, an attorney at America First Legal.

A Georgia judge last year dismissed the election interference case against Trump and his allies.

Willis announced the sprawling indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state's anti-racketeering law to allege a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Trump's narrow loss to Biden in Georgia.

Defense attorneys sought Willis' removal after one revealed in January 2024 that Willis had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case. The defense attorneys alleged a conflict of interest and said Willis profited from the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for vacations the pair took.