Fani Willis ‘Inconsistencies’ Found by DOJ: Spokesperson

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing on the Georgia election interference case in Atlanta on March, 1, 2024. Alex Slitz/AP

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was asked by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve “inconsistencies” in how her office reports federal funding, a spokesperson for the federal department said this week.

Earlier this year, reports emerged that a former Fulton County employee revealed that some federal funding that was sent to the office was used for different expenses, which is now being probed by House Republicans. It comes as Ms. Willis continues to work on a case targeting former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen others for an alleged scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.

Now, the DOJ, in a statement issued this week, confirmed that it had discovered inconsistencies in how Ms. Willis’s office reported that grant money and that the agency is now working to receive the correct reports.

“During our review of the award to respond to this inquiry, we have noticed some inconsistencies in what Fulton County has reported ... and we are working with them to update their reporting accordingly,” a DOJ spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon.

The Epoch Times has sent multiple requests for comment to the DOJ and the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs. Ms. Willis’s office has not returned a request for comment.  Ms. Willis has not yet publicly responded to the DOJ’s statement.

During an interview on Thursday, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said that a former Fulton County employee has been speaking with his staff and to the media about the alleged funding problems.

“Now the Department of Justice is looking into this. All kinds of problems with Fani Willis and this ridiculous investigation she’s run on President Trump and others,” Mr. Jordan said.

Earlier this year, Mr. Jordan’s office issued a subpoena weeks earlier to Ms. Willis to obtain documents related to possible misuse of federal funds related to her case against President Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants. That letter asserted she’s “required to produce the following items in your possession, custody, or control, from the period of September 1, 2020, to present in unredacted form.”

“Instead of using these federal grant funds for the intended purpose of helping at-risk youths, your office sought to use the grant funds to ‘get Macbooks … swag … [and] use it for travel,’” the letter added. “Moreover, the whistleblower’s direct supervisor stated that these planned expenditures ‘were part of [your] vision.’”

It also stipulated that the former employee’s job was “abruptly terminated” after speaking about the alleged funding misuse and was “escorted out of her office by seven armed investigators.”

But Ms. Willis has denied any wrongdoing related to the use of federal funds and told Mr. Jordan that her office would provide information on a rolling basis. She also said Mr. Jordan is unfairly going after her office over her Trump prosecution and that it “would require this government office to divert resources from our primary purpose of prosecuting crime.”

Appeals

The DOJ’s statement comes as lawyers for President Trump and the co-defendants appealed a decision issued last month by Judge Scott McAfee to allow Ms. Willis to stay on the case after allegations surfaced that she engaged in a relationship with her now-former special prosecutor, Nathan Wade. The pair confirmed the relationship, which allegedly occurred while Mr. Wade was still married, but they denied other allegations that they improperly financially benefitted from the arrangement.

The judge found that there wasn’t enough evidence to support claims of a conflict of interest but asserted that an “odor of mendacity” remains, asking either Ms. Willis to step down or for Mr. Wade to step down. Hours after the ruling, Mr. Wade left the team, allowing Ms. Willis to remain on the case.

Earlier this week, the district attorney’s office this week asked a Georgia appeals court not to consider President Trump’s motion to appeal “because the applicants have wholly failed to carry their burden of persuasion.”

“There is simply no trial court error to be found in the decision to deny disqualification,” her office wrote on Monday. “Days of evidence and testimony failed to disclose anything like a calculated pre-trial plan designed to prejudice the defendants or secure their convictions. The applicants have not identified any public statement injecting the District Attorney’s personal belief as to the defendants’ guilt or appealing to the public weighing of evidence.”

Despite the allegations and the judge’s criticism, Ms. Willis told CNN last month that she is still working on prosecuting the former president despite the appeals process that is playing out.

“We’re not going to miss or skip a beat because of all the noise or distraction on one case. We’re going to continue to do our work,” she told the outlet.

In the case, President Trump and the remaining co-defendants have pleaded not guilty. The former president has said the case is an attempt to denigrate his chances at being reelected president in November.