Fani Willis grilled during hearing over amount of money spent on prosecuting Trump case — instead of county’s backlog of criminal cases
Embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ use of funds came under the microscope at a Georgia state Senate Special Committee hearing Friday.
Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert asked financial officers about numerous “enhancement requests” for extra money Willis has made, including one for roughly a million dollars in 2023 for general trial expenses.
Fulton County Chief Financial Officer Sharon Whittmore said the amount was made as a “lump sum, not specific with line item details,” to explain what it would be used for, according to the Washington Examiner.
Cowsert said he was trying to “get a feeling for exactly how much oversight,” there was in the office, adding it “sounds like it’s very loose as far as employment practices and expenditures for independent contractors.”
He was likely referring to Nathan Wade, who Willis brought on as prosecutor in the county’s election fraud prosecution against Donald Trump and 18 others in 2021.
It later emerged Wade and Willis had been in a romantic relationship, and a judge ruled one had to step down from the case, resulting in Wade quitting.
Elsewhere during the meeting, Cowsert criticized Willis for the amount of money spent on prosecuting the Trump case rather than tackling the county’s backlog of criminal cases, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts was asked whether the county signed off on Willis’ hiring of Wade.
“That’s solely the prerogative of the District Attorney,” Pitts told members of the committee.
“We don’t get into that sort of detail.”
Whitmore testified that the county commission reviews and votes on the district attorney’s annual general fund budget request, the Rome-News Tribune reports.
Willis received $36.6 million from the general fund for the current fiscal year, she said.
According to Whitmore, additional funds came from the federal government in the form of pandemic relief.
Willis did not seek prior approval from the commission before using those funds to hire Wade and two other special prosecutors to take on the election interference case.
“The board of commissioners has no oversight over the district attorney,” Whitmore added.
Willis did not attend the hearing, but responded at a press conference, saying: “They can look all they want. The DA’s office has done everything according to the books.”
The committee was expected Friday to address the timing of Willis and Wade’s relationship and the use of campaign funds.
The findings of the investigation will inform legislative actions, including possibly enacting laws to ensure more accountability and oversight of the DA’s offce, a statement from the Georgia Senate read.
Both Willis and Wade have admitted to a love affair but both insisted under oath the relationship only became official in 2022 after they had already brought the case against the former president and his co-defendants.
