ATLANTA – Former Gov. Roy Barnes accused state Senate Republicans Tuesday of pursuing a “vendetta” in issuing a subpoena for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to testify about alleged misconduct in the 2020 election interference case.
“This was nothing but singling out one district attorney who was elected and reelected to embarrass,” Barnes, a lawyer representing Willis, said during a hearing in Fulton County Superior Court on Willis’ challenge to a subpoena a special Senate committee issued last spring.
The GOP-led Senate Special Committee on Investigations was formed last January to gather testimony and documents related to a romantic relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the case against former President Donald Trump, who won reelection to a second non-consecutive term last month.
A Fulton grand jury indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants in August of last year for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia that saw Democrat Joe Biden carry the Peach State’s 16 electoral votes.
On Tuesday, Barnes argued the subpoena the committee issued to Willis did not serve any legitimate legislative purpose, as is required by a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited the subpoena power of legislative bodies. Its only purpose, Barnes said, was to embarrass Willis and discover the details of her case against Trump.
But Josh Belinfante, a lawyer representing the Senate committee, said the legislative purposes behind the subpoena were spelled out in the resolution that created the committee.
Senate Resolution 465 asserts that an investigation into allegations against Willis might show that existing state laws governing the hiring and compensation of district attorneys in Georgia might be inadequate for addressing “legal and fiscal issues” raised by her alleged misconduct and might need to be changed.
Barnes also argued that neither a Senate committee nor the full Senate have the power to issue subpoenas, an authority that rests only with the entire General Assembly. Also, the committee didn’t issue the subpoena until after Sine Die, the date the legislature adjourned the 2024 session at the end of March, he said.
“When (the General Assembly) adjourns, it is gone. It has no more force and effect,” Barnes said. “It cannot issue a subpoena.”
But Vincent Russo, another lawyer for the committee, said Georgia’s Constitution authorizes the creation of “interim” committees between legislative sessions, including the special committee.
“Sine Die is the adjournment of a regular session of the General Assembly,” he said. “The General Assembly doesn’t cease to exist when its regular session ends.”