The House Judiciary Committee has called upon special counsel Jack Smith’s office to disclose details concerning its interactions with lawyer Stanley Woodward.
Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio and the chair of the committee, issued this request through a letter, following recent news reports where Woodward raised questions about the behavior of the prosecution in a recent legal document.
Previously, Woodward was the legal representative for Yuscil Taveras, an IT professional who was employed at Donald Trump’s former Mar-a-Lago estate, alongside another worker from the same establishment, Walt Nauta.
Due to the growing apprehensions about the potential conflict arising from Woodward defending both individuals, the court granted permission for Taveras to seek advice from an external legal representative. Subsequently, after liaising with the external attorney, Taveras agreed to a cooperation pact with the prosecutors, thereby avoiding charges of perjury, much to Woodward’s chagrin, leading to Taveras severing ties with him.
Currently, the prosecution team anticipates that Taveras will bear witness during the upcoming trial, as per his collaboration agreement. This development might introduce a fresh layer of conflict of interest for Woodward, as it entails a former client giving testimony against a person he is presently representing.
In the past, this IT specialist had named Trump, Nauta, and another employee at Mar-a-Lago, Carlos de Oliveira, in his testimony before a grand jury in the month of July. This testimony played a pivotal role in the formation of a supplementary indictment by Smith in the same month, leading to the levying of fresh charges against the previous president.
Moreover, Woodward has claimed that he experienced undue pressure from Jay Bratt, a senior figure at the Justice Department, when discussing his aspirations for a role in the Washington, D.C., superior court, during a confidential discussion regarding his client Nauta.
Reacting to these developments, Jordan has demanded, through his letter dispatched on Thursday, a complete record of communications between Woodward and the prosecutors concerning Nauta, along with internal discussions among high-ranking officials at the DOJ pertaining to Woodward’s clients.
Jordan expects to receive the pertinent documents and information by the deadline set on September 21.
