Fulton County DA Fani Willis Subpoenaed by House Committee

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times); Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee sent a subpoena on Friday to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to obtain documents related to possible misuse of federal funds related to her case against former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants.

In a letter sent by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), he noted that the committee in August 2023 had requested documents regarding the usage of federal funds. However, he said even after two letters were sent to her office last year, she has “failed to comply voluntarily with any of our requests.”

“In accordance with the attached Schedule instructions, you, Fani T. Willis, in your capacity as the District Attorney of Fulton County and head of the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, are required to produce the following items in your possession, custody, or control, from the period of September 1, 2020, to present in unredacted form,” it said before making specific requests for documents and communications related to federal funds usage or allegations about their misuse.

As of Friday morning, Ms. Willis, an elected Democrat, has not publicly responded to the subpoena. The Epoch Times contacted her office Friday.

Previously, her office condemned Mr. Jordan’s requests, claiming they are politically motivated, and said last year that under the Constitution, Congress has no right to “interfere with a state criminal matter.”

The House Judiciary letter made reference to a Washington Free Beacon report that claimed a former employee in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office was demoted after she issued a warning to Ms. Willis about her use of federal grant funding that was allegedly intended to be used for gang prevention efforts in Fulton County. Months later, according to the letter that cited the report, the employee was “abruptly terminated” and was “escorted out of her office by seven armed investigators.”

“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,’” he added. “Moreover, the whistleblower’s direct supervisor stated that these planned expenditures ‘were part of [your] vision.’”

Ms. Willis has not yet publicly responded to those allegations in the Free Beacon’s report.

“These allegations raise serious concerns about whether you were appropriately supervising the expenditure of federal grant funding allocated to your office and whether you took actions to conceal your office’s unlawful use of federal fund,” Mr. Jordan said.

Other Concerns

His letter raises yet another issue for the embattled Fulton County district attorney as she faces separate scrutiny related to her prosecution of President Trump and his co-defendants. One of the defendants, Michael Roman, last month claimed in court papers that Ms. Willis engaged in an “improper” and “clandestine” relationship with her special prosecutor tapped in the Trump case. She has until Friday to respond to a court-ordered deadline to respond to the allegations.

Arguing that Ms. Willis should be dismissed from overseeing the case, Mr. Roman’s attorney alleged that her office space Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor, while they were romantically involved before they used those taxpayer funds to go on vacations. Neither Ms. Willis nor Mr. Wade have publicly confirmed or denied the allegations, while Ms. Willis was involved in a separate case involving Mr. Wade’s divorce from his now ex-wife Jocelyn.

Aside from Mr. Jordan’s letter, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told Newsweek on Friday that Ms. Willis needs to be investigated for what he described as a conflict of interest regarding Mr. Wade, suggesting that House Republicans may target the district attorney over those allegations, too.

“Fani Willis awarded her married paramour a prosecutorial contract then used the money for personal lavish expenses,” Mr. Gaetz told the outlet. “The least she should do is step down from the case and be investigated for her misconduct and impropriety.”

In the state of Georgia, the Republican-controlled state Senate voted 30–19 on Jan. 26 to form a special committee to investigate her conduct, while the state House recently voted to create a commission targeting prosecutors in the state.

But a report from CNN, citing anonymous sources, claimed that Ms. Willis has no intention of stepping down from the Trump case.

During an appearance in mid-January, Ms. Willis gave a speech at a black church in Atlanta, suggesting that the criticism and allegations against her are motivated by racism because she is a black woman. In her speech, she didn’t address the allegations about the relationship, although she defended Mr. Wade’s qualifications.

“First thing they say, ‘Oh, she gonna play the race card now,’” she said at the church event. “But no, God, isn’t it them who’s playing the race card when they only question one?”

President Trump’s attorneys several weeks later joined Mr. Roman’s motion in arguing that she should be disqualified from overseeing the case, citing the relationship claims. They also argued that her suggestions that race plays a role are “provocative and inflammatory extrajudicial racial comments.”