Taking on President-elect Donald Trump may prove to be the worst career decision that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ever made.
A court has just ruled that the Georgia state Senate does have the authority to subpoena her to ask questions about the investigation into the president-elect, The Los Angeles Times reported.
On Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram said that Willis has until Jan. 13 to submit arguments if she wishes to claim that the subpoenas seek legally shielded or confidential information.
The judge said that she would issue a final order instructing the district attorney on what Willis ultimately would be required to respond to and provide.
“A state appeals court earlier this month removed Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others, citing an ‘appearance of impropriety’ that might not typically warrant such a removal. The Georgia Court of Appeals panel said in a 2-1 ruling that because of the romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, ‘this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,’” the report said.
“Willis’ office immediately filed a notice of intent to ask the Georgia Supreme Court to review the decision,” it added.
The Republican-controlled Senate issued subpoenas in August demanding that the district attorney testify about allegations of “various forms of misconduct” by her and her office.
The Senate was particularly interested in her relationship with Wade and her hiring him as the lead prosecutor in the case against the president-elect.
That relationship is what led to her being disqualified from the case this week.
Last week, a Georgia appeals court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump in his election interference case.
The court did not go further in throwing out Trump’s indictment altogether, but, Fox News reported, the ruling noted that Willis and the assistant DAs working in her office now have “no authority to proceed” in their case against the now-president-elect.
It’s the latest in a string of legal bad news for Willis. In September, a Georgia judge ruled against her in a case concerning an open records lawsuit.
Fulton County Judge Rachel Krause denied a request to dismiss a lawsuit regarding open records aimed at Willis and her office but she did grant a motion that exempts Willis from being personally named in the lawsuit, allowing her to remain involved in her official capacity as district attorney.
The lawsuit stems from the Fulton County election interference investigation and involves attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents co-defendant Michael Roman in the case against former President Donald Trump and his associates.
The Georgia Open Records Act required the district attorney’s office to provide documents on time, according to Merchant, who brought the legal action.
Merchant alleged that District Attorney Willis was concealing records related to a media monitoring firm allegedly funded with taxpayer money. In response, Judge Krause scheduled an evidentiary hearing to determine the existence and extent of the requested documents, according to 11Alive.
Additionally, attorneys intend to subpoena individuals who managed the open records requests to Willis’s office to gather further evidence, the report said.
“The judge clearly agreed with the defense that the actions of Willis are a result of her poor judgment,” Merchant noted earlier.
Willis’ extensive racketeering case against Trump has been on hold since June as the Georgia Court of Appeals reviewed Trump’s attempt to disqualify the 52-year-old district attorney.
In March, Trump and eight co-defendants requested that the appeals court consider their claims of prosecutorial misconduct, alleging issues related to Willis’ relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee had earlier ruled that District Attorney Willis could continue with the case provided her former lover, Nathan Wade, stepped down, which he did.
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