EXCLUSIVE — House Democrats are zeroing in on Donald Trump‘s legal woes, accusing Republicans of shielding the former president from being punished in any of his criminal cases to secure his path to the White House next year.
The Democratic-aligned Congressional Integrity Project is launching a billboard campaign in Atlanta ahead of a Thursday hearing on whether Fulton County Attorney General Fani Willis engaged in misconduct while overseeing Trump’s election interference case in Georgia. The billboard accuses Trump and his allies in Congress of trying to distract the public from Trump’s criminal prosecutions.
“Don’t let Donald Trump and his MAGA allies distract you [from] four indictments, 91 felony counts, [and] ‘I just want to find 11,780 votes,” the billboard reads, referring to a phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the 2020 election to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden. “Hold Trump accountable!”
The billboard, which will be placed alongside Interstate 85 in Atlanta as Fulton County officials consider whether to disqualify Willis from the case, is part of a larger campaign the Congressional Integrity Project will be launching to tie House Republicans to Trump’s federal investigations, the group told the Washington Examiner.
The hearing comes after Mike Roman, one of 18 Trump allies indicted by a Fulton County grand jury for allegedly conspiring to subvert the county’s election results, dropped a bombshell complaint last month alleging Willis engaged in an “improper, clandestine” relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to help lead the investigation.
Willis has since acknowledged having a “personal relationship” with Wade but denied any professional conflict of interest, arguing it was not enough to disqualify her from Trump’s election interference case. However, the complaint has prompted widespread criticism from Trump’s allies on Capitol Hill, with several calling on Willis to recuse herself.
The campaign comes as House Republicans have used their newfound control to open several investigations against Biden while also taking it upon themselves to protect the former president as he navigates legal troubles and federal investigations of his own.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the fourth highest-ranking Republican in the House, has played an active role in protecting Trump as he faces legal troubles in states such as New York and Georgia. Stefanik has submitted several judicial complaints in Trump’s civil fraud case in New York, accusing the judge of displaying “biased misconduct.”
Meanwhile, other Trump allies on the Hill are seeking to exonerate the former president from accusations that he engaged in insurrection with his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, fighting against efforts from some states to disqualify Trump from the presidential ballot. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a resolution last week that would “clarify the stance of the House of Representatives” to declare Trump “did not participate in actions that would bar him from again holding public office.”
In response, Democrats are accusing Republicans of interfering with Trump’s legal cases to protect him until the November election. The Congressional Integrity Project is especially hitting out against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is leading a congressional investigation into Willis.
The committee subpoenaed Willis earlier this month, accusing her of misusing federal funds by paying Wade a higher salary than other prosecutors on the case that Republicans allege was later used to pay for luxury vacations and other “lavish trips” for the pair. Several of Trump’s allies in Congress have sought to punish Willis over those allegations, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who submitted an ethics complaint against the district attorney and called for an investigation into the matter.
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The Congressional Integrity Project relaunched itself shortly in 2022 to push back against GOP efforts to investigate Biden and his family members as “revenge” for Trump’s loss in 2020.
“Donald Trump has instructed his puppets in Congress to conduct baseless investigations and shut down bipartisan border deals in order to distract from his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, two impeachments, 91 criminal indictments, and MAGA House Republicans’ year of legislative failures,” Hannah Muldavin, senior communications adviser for the Congressional Integrity Project, told the Washington Examiner last week. “Republicans have done absolutely nothing to help Americans across the country and only want to harm President Biden in order to help Trump return to the White House in 2024.”