The names of the members of the Georgia Senate’s special committee, established to investigate alleged misconduct by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her top special prosecutor, were confirmed by the state’s lieutenant governor’s office on Monday.
Sen. Bill Cowsert (District 46) will serve as chair of the committee, and Sen. Greg Dolezal (District 28) will serve as vice chair. The other members are senators Jason Esteves (District 6), John Kennedy (District 18), Blake Tillery (District 19), Harold Jones (District 22), Bo Hatchett (District 50), Steve Gooch (District 51), and Gloria Butler (District 55).
“The Georgia Senate has the right and responsibility to investigate misuse of taxpayer resources by public officials. I have full faith in the members of this investigative committee, chosen this morning by the Committee on Assignments, and their efforts to pursue the truth wherever it may lead,” Mr. Jones told the Daily Caller.
He added that the panel is now “one step closer to uncovering the truth” behind allegations involving Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis, specifically regarding a romantic relationship and her misuse of taxpayer funds.
Last week, the Georgia state Senate approved the special committee in a 30-19 vote after a defendant in the Trump case filed a motion.
The motion accused Mr. Wade and Ms. Willis of engaging in a “clandestine” and “improper” relationship while the case was ongoing. Without providing many details or much evidence, court papers said that Mr. Wade used funds that were provided to him by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office to take Ms. Willis on lavish vacations.
Last week, President Trump’s attorneys supported the motion filed by Michael Roman, a former Trump aide. They also accused Ms. Willis of fomenting racial animosity, referencing a church speech she made this month where she suggested that the accusations against her were filed because she is a black woman.
“The awesome power to prosecute ought never to be manipulated for personal or political profit,” the Trump motion stated, arguing that she should be disqualified. “In addition to the extensive misconduct alleged in Roman’s motion, the DA did just that in her speech by wrongfully inserting racial animus into this case to publicly denounce and rebuke the defendants, and to defend her personal and political reputation against the numerous and diverse allegations Roman made in his court filing.”
In accusing her of fomenting a racial bias in the case, his attorneys accused her of making “provocative and inflammatory extrajudicial racial comments, made in a widely publicized speech at a historical black church in Atlanta, and cloaked in repeated references to God.”
Her recent comments, they argued, could improperly turn potential jurors against the defendants in the Fulton County case.
Neither Mr. Wade nor Ms. Willis have yet to respond publicly to the allegations of a romantic relationship. But at the church appearance, she vigorously defended Mr. Wade.
A filing in Mr. Wade’s divorce case includes credit card statements showing that, after being hired as a special prosecutor, he purchased plane tickets in October 2022 for himself and Ms. Willis to travel to Miami, and tickets in April for a trip to San Francisco in their names. Republicans allege that she was improperly motivated by personal benefit in employing him.
House Bill 881
The Senate committee announcement comes as the Georgia state House of Representatives on Monday passed a measure to establish a panel with oversight powers and the capacity to remove prosecutors. The House voted 95-75 along party lines for House Bill 881, sending it to the Senate for further debate.While Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation last year creating the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, it was unable to begin operating after the state Supreme Court in November refused to approve rules governing its conduct.
At the time, the top state judges said they had “grave doubts” about their ability to regulate the duties of district attorneys beyond the practice of law. Monday’s measure removes the requirement for Supreme Court approval.
Republicans in the state legislature have denied the measure is targeting Ms. Willis. But Democratic opposition to the commission has hardened, saying Republicans are trying to overwrite the will of Democratic voters.
“The commission will be able to unilaterally proceed and have the ability to interfere and undermine an ongoing investigation against Donald J. Trump,” said House Minority Whip Sam Park, a Democrat. “You are taking action to protect former President Trump from an ongoing criminal prosecution.”
In the Fulton County case, President Trump and more than a dozen individuals are facing racketeering and other charges. Prosecutors allege this was part of an attempted plot to overturn the 2020 election. The remaining defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
