Trump prosecutor Fani Willis fights subpoena from GOP-run state Senate committee

ATLANTA (CN) — A hearing was scheduled Thursday to determine whether officials including Fani Willis, lead prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, must comply with a subpoena from a state Senate committee.

Then, the hearing was abruptly put on hold.

Fulton County Superior Court struggled to find a judge to take on the matter, as each one recused themselves, citing concerns their impartiality may be questioned. That could be because Willis serves as the county’s district attorney. Or, it could be because her personal attorney in the matter is former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes.

Barnes did not immediately respond when asked if and when the hearing will be rescheduled.

Willis was expected to argue why she should not be held in contempt for refusing to obey a subpoena that she received from a Republican-led Special Senate Committee on Investigations. The state committee was created in January and specifically targeted Willis amid efforts by nine defendants, including Trump, to remove her from the election interference case.

The defendants sought to disqualify Willis over her personal relationship with Nathan Wade, the former appointed special counsel on the case. They argued the relationship created a conflict of interest and that Willis misspent public funds and enriched herself through personal trips the two took together.

Bill Cowsert, an Athens Republican who leads the Senate committee, contends that his panel has the legal authority to force Willis’ testimony in their investigation. The subpoena seeks to compel Willis to produce an extensive array of documents, including all texts, emails, cell phone records and any transactions between Willis and Wade starting from 2019.

Willis argues the sought documents are privileged and would harm the ongoing prosecution. In a filing Wednesday, she noted that “multiple members of the Committee have signed onto the false theory that Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results were fraudulent.”

Willis also said no committee members had sought permission from a Fulton County judge to issue, serve or enforce such subpoenas. “The subpoenas lack a legitimate legislative purpose and are intended to punish,” she wrote.

The panel has already heard testimony from Fulton county officials who appropriate local funding.

They’ve also heard from Ashleigh Merchant, attorney for Trump’s co-defendant Mike Roman, who led the push to disqualify Willis, as well as Amanda Timpson, a former employee who said Willis retaliated against her for raising concerns about spending meant for creating a center for youth empowerment and gang prevention.

In March, a judge ruled the defendants had failed to meet their burden to prove that Willis’ relationship with Wade was enough of a conflict of interest to merit her disqualification from the case. He did, however, find an “appearance of impropriety" — leading to Wade’s withdrawal from the case.

That decision was then appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals. The court is set to hear oral arguments on the issue on Dec. 5, putting most of the case on hold until after the presidential election.

Willis in February 2021 first launched an investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election victory of President Joe Biden. Those efforts, which involved Trump, aimed to unlawfully award the former president with Georgia’s electoral votes.

After a special-purpose grand jury heard evidence and testimony over the course of eight months, a criminal indictment was brought against the former president and 18 other defendants in August 2023.

“Trump and the other defendants charged in this indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump," the indictment states. “That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.”

While the investigative committee lacks the power to prosecute or disbar Willis, it could recommend changes to the state budget or draft legislation setting stricter oversight guidelines for prosecutors.

The panel can also continue to cast negative attention on Willis in the lead-up to the November election, in which the Atlanta-area district attorney faces Republican opponent, Courtney Kramer.

Willis has faced public scrutiny for other matters as well, including for spearheading a high-profile racketeering case against Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Young Thug — resulting in what is now the longest trial in Georgia history.

In that case, Willis’ prosecution team has claimed that Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, helped form a criminal street gang known as “Young Slime Life.” His large fan base, on the other hand, has proclaimed his innocence and argued that “YSL” is merely an acronym for his record label, “Young Stoner Life.”

Defense attorneys in the case have also made repeated efforts for a mistrial and to disqualify the prosecutors for misconduct and withholding evidence.

Trump and his allies are taking note of the drama. Last month, in an interview with streamer and influencer Adin Ross, Trump called out Willis and said that Williams was being “treated very unfairly” — an apparent effort to reach out to younger voters. Kramer has also said that if she wins in November, she will end the prosecution against Williams immediately.

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