ATLANTA — A Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations gathered for the third time to hear testimony concerning potential misconduct by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. According to the Republican-led committee, the investigation is being done to restore trust in the criminal justice system.
Willis hired a special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, for the election interference case pending against former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants. She later admitted to having a romantic relationship with Wade -- who has since stepped down from the case.
The special committee is investigating accusations of misuse of funds for the hiring of Wade.
Among those who testified Friday was Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts, who said he would support a potential law change as it relates to oversight of the district attorney expenses.
“There’s times when you just disagree with what’s on the books and that’s where I find myself in,” said Pitts.
The panel is expected to produce a report at the end of its investigation that could feature proposed changes to state law or budgeting to the DA’s Office. The panel’s chairman, State Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens), revealed they have invited Willis to their hearings and if forced, they plan to subpoena her.
“She’s a key part of the investigation and her viewpoints are valued by us. We need to hear what she has to say and her explanation and what she thinks the appropriate rules ought to be going forward so that we don’t have this kind of scandal giving Georgia a black eye in the future,” said Cowsert.
D.A. Willis appeared at a community event Friday morning ahead of the hearing criticizing the panel’s investigation.
“Isn’t it interesting when we’ve got a bunch of African American DAs, now we need daddy to tell us what to do,” Willis said.
The nine senators serving on the committee investigating Willis are primarily Republicans, with the exception of three Democratic senators which includes State Sen. Harold Jones II (D-Augusta) who called this investigation a waste of time.
“There’s nothing else to talk about quite frankly and we found that out today… that’s the only thing I learned was how to become a Fulton County Commissioner. Nothing involved the state of Georgia today. Nothing involved the Georgia State Senate today, at all,” said Jones.
The last hearing at the Capitol in March featured testimony from Attorney Ashleigh Merchant who brought a motion in January to disqualify Willis from the sweeping election interference case. The Georgia Senate authorized the formation of the special committee to investigate Willis on Jan. 26.