Georgia Court Orders Fani Willis to Pay Over $20,000 in Records Dispute
“Non-compliance carries consequences,” a judge remarked in the ruling.
A Georgia court mandated Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to compensate a legal organization with over $21,000 in legal expenses due to an ongoing Open Records lawsuit against her.
Judicial Watch, a conservative legal organization, filed an Open Records Act (ORA) request in August 2023 aimed at acquiring potential communications between Willis’s office and special counsel Jack Smith, as well as a now-disbanded House committee that was looking into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Willis is prosecuting former President Donald Trump and several others for alleged offenses related to the 2020 election aftermath.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton praised the court’s ruling, affirming that his organization seeks complete transparency from Willis regarding any communications with the January 6 committee.
“Remarkably, just five minutes later, before any simplification was executed, the plaintiff received another email from the Records Custodian: ‘After careful review of your request. [sic] We do not possess the responsive records,’” the judge’s order highlighted.
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Fulton County officials have repeatedly stated that there were no communications between their office and Smith’s special counsel investigation, which has issued separate charges against Trump in two regions.
Nonetheless, Willis had “previously informed the plaintiff four times that her team had diligently searched but found no responsive records; however, records suddenly appeared that were claimed to be undisclosable under the ORA,” Judge McBurney observed in his ruling.
“The ORA is not merely suggestive; it is obligatory. Non-compliance entails repercussions,” the judge emphasized. The office “totally disregarded the plaintiff’s initial ORA request, failing to conduct any search and incorrectly asserting to the County’s Open Records Custodian that no responsive records were available,” he concluded.
The judge subsequently mandated Willis to compensate Judicial Watch with $21,578 for attorney and legal fees due to her violations.
In July 2023, Willis stated on a radio program that she was not collaborating with Smith’s office concerning investigations and cases involving Trump, including one regarding classified documents in Florida and another related to election matters in Washington.
Conversely, Smith has not publicly commented on Willis’s case. In December, he acknowledged that his office would drop both cases against Trump following his victory in the November election, while Willis was recently disqualified by the Georgia Court of Appeals due to alleged misconduct.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office for a statement on Thursday.
