A judge in Georgia has ruled that state legislators can subpoena Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to investigate whether she engaged in misconduct during her continuing prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram, in his December 23 order, gave DA Willis until January 13 to file a list of claimed objections and privileges to anything that has been subpoenaed.
Willis plans to appeal the decision.
“We believe the ruling is wrong and will appeal,” wrote former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes, who is representing the DA in the case, in an email to The Associated Press.
Earlier in the month, an appeals court removed Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against President-elect Trump and others, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The panel additionally cited the romantic relationship between special prosecutor Nathan Wade and Willis.
“This is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated, and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” said the court.
Trump called the case a “disgrace to justice”
At the time, President-elect Donald Trump called the case a “disgrace to justice.”
“It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” said Barnes. “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.”
In August, the GOP-led Senate committee sent subpoenas to DA Willis seeking to compel her to testify in September. She skipped a hearing that month when legislators hoped to question her.
The committee was formed to examine allegations of misconduct against Willis during her prosecution of Trump over efforts to overturn the loss of the 2020 election in Georgia.
Barnes argued that the subpoenas were overly broad and unrelated to a legitimate legislative need and that the Senate committee didn’t have the power to issue one for her in the first place.
One issue raised is that the Georgia legislative term will halt when legislators are sworn in for their new term on January 13. GOP state Senator Greg Dolezal said last week that he plans to file legislation to re-establish the committee at the start of the 2025 legislative session.
“The law is clear, and the ruling confirms what we knew all along,” wrote Dolezal in a text Friday. “Judge Ingram rejected every argument made by Willis in her attempt to dodge providing testimony to the commitment under oath. I look forward to D.A. Willis honoring the subpoena and providing documents and testimony to our committee.”
