Fani Willis to face Georgia Senate questions about Trump prosecution, despite legal disputes

ATLANTA (AP) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is finally scheduled to appear on Dec. 17 to testify before a special state Senate committee examining her prosecution of President Donald Trump, but lawyers aren’t done arguing over lawmakers’ power to haul her in.

Lawyers for Willis and the state Senate committee appeared Tuesday before the Georgia Supreme Court to contest whether a 2024 subpoena can still compel Willis to testify, even though that version of the Georgia General Assembly dissolved when a new one took office in January.

State senators in January 2024 created the committee to look into allegations of “various forms of misconduct” against Willis concerning her prosecution against Trump and others over efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. Even before Trump embarked on a retribution campaign against his enemies, Republicans on the Georgia committee were eager to bring Willis in for questioning.

The Senate committee issued a new subpoena this year after legislators passed a new law explicitly laying out their subpoena powers. Willis agreed to appear under the new subpoena.

But Senate Special Committee on Investigations Chairman Bill Cowsert, an Athens Republican, still wants the old subpoena recognized as valid, seeking a legal precedent about legislative powers.

“The attack is that the subpoena is void, and there is simply zero constitutional text to support that argument. And there is no reason this court should adopt it,” said Josh Belinfante, a lawyer for the committee.

Georgia Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of that argument and reluctant to rule at all if Willis testifies on Dec. 17.

Instead, multiple justices suggested the subpoena died with the old legislature.

“When the General Assembly convenes, it is a new General Assembly. It is not a continuous process,” said Justice Charles Bethel, himself a former state senator.

Former Gov. Roy Barnes, representing Willis, also argued the old subpoena was defective because it wasn’t issued by both the House and Senate. The new law passed this year explicitly says one chamber may authorize subpoenas without the other chamber concurring.

Although Willis has agreed to appear, Barnes suggested more wrangling may come.

“You can’t just pick somebody out and say, we’re going to embarrass you, we’re going to try you, we’re going to harass you,” Barnes told justices. “So we’ll make an appropriate objection at the time. I’m not a potted plant.”

Four of the five Republicans on the committee are running for statewide office in 2026. Cowsert is running for attorney general, while Sens. Greg Dolezal of Cumming, Blake Tillery of Vidalia and Steve Gooch of Dahlonega are each seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Another Republican who had been on the committee, John Kennedy of Macon, resigned from the Senate on Tuesday to pursue his own lieutenant governor bid.

The resolution creating the committee focused on Willis’ hiring of special prosecutor Nathan Wade to lead the election interference case. It said a romantic relationship between the two amounted to a “clear conflict of interest and a fraud upon the taxpayers.”

Amid a court battle over the committee’s power to order her to appear, Willis didn’t show up last year when subpoenaed. A judge agreed that Willis had to appear, and Tuesday’s arguments stemmed from Willis’ appeal of that ruling.

When Willis announced the indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023, she used the state’s anti-racketeering law to allege a conspiracy to try to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

But in January 2024, a defense attorney in the case alleged that Willis was involved in an improper romantic relationship with Wade.

In an extraordinary hearing, both Willis and Wade testified about the intimate details of their relationship. They both vehemently denied allegations that it constituted a conflict of interest.

The trial judge chided Willis for a “tremendous lapse in judgment,” ultimately ruling that Willis could remain on the case if Wade resigned, which he did hours later.

But after defense attorneys appealed, the Georgia Court of Appeals cited an “appearance of impropriety” and removed Willis from the case. The state Supreme Court in September declined to hear Willis’ appeal.