Over the last few weeks, Fulton County DA Fani Willis has been in court fighting for the right to continue prosecuting Donald Trump.
One of the bricks that was supposed to take her down, however, has fallen, as the Fulton County Ethics Board dropped the complaint against her on Thursday.
Talking Points…
- The complaint
- FC Ethics Board drops complaint
- Analysis
Two complaints were filed against Willis: the first by Gregory Mantell, an investigative journalist, and the second one by Steven Kramer, a local resident.
Mantell’s Investigative News Service announced his complaint on Substack, stating:
“We filed the complaint because of the DA’s illegal refusal to release certain financial records, including Nathan Wade’s invoices, under Georgia’s public records law. In our complaint, we maintained the denial was an effort to cover up other actions by the DA which also raised ethical issues.”
The Kramer complaint was regarding Willis’ relationship with Nathan Wade. Kramer wrote:
“The extra resources and financial costs for the court and the district attorney’s office, both paid for by Fulton County taxpayers like me, are to deal with this improper relationship.”
Just before the hearings were held, the Fulton County Ethics Board dropped a bombshell announcement that it would not hold the hearings, citing that it did not oversee Willis. The board stated:
“The Fulton County Code of Ethics only applies to county officers and employees.
“The Fulton County district attorney does not fall within the definition of a county officer.”
The Board of Ethics determined it lacked jurisdiction over Willis, who is an elected state officer, unable to be ethically reviewed by a county board. They noted the investigations going on at the state level. pic.twitter.com/3V8DGPiU3m
— Doug Reardon (@ReardonReports) March 7, 2024
With all the pressure she is facing, this is a rather significant win for Willis, but I imagine it will be short-lived. I suspect both complaints should be refiled with the proper oversight board to have their cases reviewed. This could actually help Trump by pushing the trial back even further depending on how Judge McAfee rules in the disqualification hearing.
Willis has been under fire ever since Defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant introduced evidence of an affair between Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade on behalf of her client, Michael Roman, one of Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election fraud-RICO case brought by Willis.
After more than a week, Judge McAfee is expected to make a ruling within a few days regarding Willis’s fate regarding being able to try the case. If McAfee rules that Willis must be recused from the case, it does not mean the case against Trump will be dropped, but it should slow the case down considerably.
