ATLANTA – A judge has ruled that the state Senate can subpoena Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in its investigation of her role in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported Friday.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram filed the order on Monday, giving Willis until Jan. 13 to submit arguments over whether subpoenas issued by a Senate special committee to investigate allegations of misconduct against Willis are overly broad. Willis’ office has indicated she will ask the Georgia Supreme Court to review the ruling.
Ingram heard arguments in the case early this month, when former Gov. Roy Barnes appearing as her lawyer argued Senate Republicans were conducting a vendetta to punish Willis for prosecuting the Republican former president. A Fulton grand jury indicted Trump in August of last year on charges of participating in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia that saw Democrat Joe Biden capture Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.
Last week, the state Court of Appeals disqualified Willis from the case, ruling that her sexual relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the prosecution, constituted an appearance of impropriety.
However, state Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, has announced he will introduce a resolution at the beginning of the 2025 General Assembly session next month to reestablish the Senate Special Committee on Investigations despite the decision removing Willis from the case.
“(The) ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals … in removing Fani Willis from the election interference case only further validates our body’s justified concerns about the potential need to legislatively address such conduct and decision-making,” Dolezal said the day after the appellate court’s ruling. “These developments confirm the pressing need for continuing legislative action.”
The Senate committee sent subpoenas to Willis in August ordering her to testify at a September meeting and bring documents related to the case. She refused to comply, asserting the subpoenas were unlawful.
Barnes argued the committee lacked the authority to subpoena Willis, a power he said rests only with the full General Assembly. He also contended the subpoenas did not serve any legitimate legislative purpose but were simply to embarrass Willis and discover the details of her case against Trump.
But Josh Belinfante, a lawyer representing the committee, said investigating Willis’ handling of the election interference case might show existing state laws governing the hiring and compensation of district attorneys in Georgia to be inadequate for addressing “legal and fiscal issues” raised by her alleged misconduct.