Jordan Subpoenas Fairfax and Boulder DAs Over Leniency for Criminal Aliens

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, issued subpoenas Wednesday to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, accusing both prosecutors of giving “preferential treatment” to criminal aliens and of stonewalling earlier document requests.

The letters, obtained by Fox News Digital, give the offices until Sept. 25 to comply. Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., chairman of the immigration-enforcement subcommittee, is running the inquiry with Jordan.

“Your office’s lenient treatment of foreign national criminals endangers communities and ensures that criminal aliens escape both criminal and immigration accountability for their actions,” Jordan wrote Descano. “The policies clearly intersect with federal interests and implicate Congress’s plenary power over immigration.”

Jordan said the committee asked Descano for records on Jan. 15 and June 4. He said the office produced policies and a thin set of court files but not the case-level materials that would show whether immigration consequences steered charging and plea decisions. On 27 specific cases, Jordan wrote, Descano denied an immigration-driven decision in only four. “Your refusal to deny that your office considered immigration consequences in these matters speaks volumes.”

The Fairfax fight sharpened after the stabbing death of Stephanie Minter, 41, a U.S. citizen. The Department of Homeland Security has said the accused killer is an illegal alien from Sierra Leone who entered in 2012 and had been arrested more than 30 times. Descano, in office since January 2020, issued 2020 plea-bargaining guidance directing prosecutors to consider collateral immigration effects “where possible.” He testified in May that Fairfax is not a sanctuary office and does not block federal enforcement.

Descano’s office called Wednesday’s subpoena a “needless escalation” and a “partisan siege.” It said the commonwealth’s attorney has produced more than 1,100 pages and appeared voluntarily. Lawyers for Descano said committee staff now want every nolle-prossed case from his tenure, “regardless of a defendant’s immigration status,” which they called a shift away from legitimate oversight.

The Boulder subpoena tracks a 2017 sanctuary ordinance that directs city employees not to cooperate with federal immigration authorities or ask about status. Jordan’s letter to Dougherty said the office “has not produced a single document” despite repeated requests. Dougherty, who lost a Democratic primary for Colorado attorney general, dismissed an earlier phase of the probe as political theater aimed at federal immigration failures rather than local charging.

Jordan told Fox News in August that the committee asks, explains, and works with counsel before it issues compulsory process. “If we have to, we’ll use subpoenas.” Wednesday was that step.

The subpoenas do not charge either prosecutor with a crime. They demand the paper trail on how two large suburban offices treat defendants who are removable if convicted. Fairfax sits across the river from the Capitol. Boulder is a designated sanctuary jurisdiction. Both will now answer under subpoena or litigate the demand while the House is out until after the midterms.