Georgia lawmakers investigating potential abuse of power by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis are calling for her arrest after the Trump prosecutor ignored their latest legal order.
The probe into Willis began last year when Governor Brian Kemp renewed a commission charged with providing oversight of state prosecutors and removing them from office if any is found to have violated their oath to faithfully execute their duties. Critics of Kemp and the Republican-led state legislature have decried the move as retaliatory against Willis for her ongoing election interference case against former President Donald Trump. But Willis threw herself into hot water last week when she failed to honor a subpoena to testify about her case. Instead, she sent two of her top deputies who spoke about the need for prosecutorial independence and insisted that the case against the former president is not politically motivated.
Newsweek reported that the Georgia Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations is investigating Willis over “allegations of misconduct…relating to potential conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds, to enact new or amend existing laws and/or change state appropriations to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system.” The State Senate committee ordered Willis to sit for “sworn testimony,” but she defied that order, instead traveling to Washington, D.C. for a fundraiser. Now a court battle will begin to determine whether Willis was legally justified in ignoring the request.
Democratic former Governor Ray Barnes, who is representing Willis in the probe, said she “will not appear until there has been a judicial determination of the validity of the subpoena.” Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani previously told the outlet, “These sorts of legislative subpoenas are generally void because of the separation of powers.” Republican lawmakers including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) disagree. “Fani Willis thinks she is above the law, defying a subpoena from the Georgia State Senate today. Her defiance is absolutely unacceptable. There are very serious questions regarding various potential forms of misconduct,” the conservative Republican wrote on X. “This investigation is all the more urgent considering her political persecution of the leading candidate for President. Fani Willis is NOT above the law.” In a second post, she added, “Fani Willis should be arrested for ignoring her subpoena.”
Still, Willis has provided plenty for lawmakers to go on. She’s been embroiled in scandal since the start of her trial last year when a co-defendant’s attorney uncovered she was involved in a romantic relationship with a subordinate who was hired and paid at least $700,000 over two years to join the investigation into President Trump. The prosecutor, Nathan Wade, eventually resigned under court order, but that hasn’t stopped the onslaught of salacious news about Willis. Attorneys for President Trump are seeking to dismiss the case on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct, alleging Willis, who is black, has displayed racial animus against Trump for mocking her first name during campaign stops.
