ATLANTA, Georgia (Atlanta News First) – For the fifth time, a special investigative committee of the Georgia Senate met at the Georgia State Capitol to review the actions of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and consider changes to state law that could hold her and others in her position more accountable.
The committee was formed after strong reactions to Willis’ decision to hire attorney Nathan Wade as special investigator in the election interference case and to appoint former President Donald Trump and others charged with crimes related to the 2020 election. As it later turned out, Wade was Willis’s partner.
The Senate committee can subpoena witnesses and recommend changes to state law, but it cannot bring charges or take disciplinary action.
On Friday, the bipartisan committee heard from a handful of current and former Georgia district attorneys.
Danny Porter, former Gwinnett district attorney and former chairman of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, agreed with Republican members that greater oversight of the state’s district attorneys is needed.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Trump and lawyer present arguments why Fani Willis should be disqualified in Georgia election
“All we could do was condemn the conduct, and we had to get half or a majority of the prosecutors to agree with that – and sometimes we couldn’t,” he said after his testimony. “So there really was no body or law that actually had a disciplinary effect.”
That is about to change in Georgia. Last year, lawmakers passed a law to establish an oversight committee that can investigate local prosecutors suspected of misconduct and, if necessary, discipline them or remove them from office.
The committee has not yet begun its work, and Willis has claimed it was set up as a deterrent to her election interference lawsuit against Trump and other senior Republicans.
Friday’s hearing also turned to the question of how district attorneys are funded. Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney Wright Barksdale said he didn’t want the public to get the wrong impression of a serious funding problem in Georgia. Although Wade was paid six figures for his years as a special counsel in election prosecutions, Barksdale said that doesn’t give a true picture of how things normally go.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Fulton DA Fani Willis: Let me keep pursuing Donald Trump
“The statistics don’t lie,” he said. “Georgia is literally at the bottom of the Southeast when it comes to paying prosecutors and their offices. We are very grateful to the governor and legislators for their help, but we desperately need more money now.”
The Senate Select Committee has often expressed its intention to subpoena Willis to testify before it. On Friday, as the hearing was taking place, Willis’ office sent out an email calling any attempt to subpoena her “an abuse of power, plain and simple.”
“While this sideshow continues, I have to spend my time dealing with right-wing political nonsense and defending myself against these baseless attacks. As a result, I have less time to focus on taking down the bad guys,” the email said.
The committee’s next hearing will be on Friday, September 13.
All rights reserved.
