Fani Willis Impeachment Moves One Step Closer

Georgia Republican state Senator Colton Moore has said the state Senate's vote on Friday to create a special committee to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is "the first step towards impeaching and defunding this corrupt prosecutor."

Willis is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump in Georgia over allegations he acted illegally to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.

On January 8, the legal team of Michael Roman, one of Trump's co-defendants in the case, accused Willis of engaging in an inappropriate romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, who was hired as special prosecutor in Trump's case, creating a conflict of interest.

Willis has yet to comment on the claim she engaged in a romantic relationship with Wade, but in a speech on January 14, she insisted he is "a great lawyer" and questioned whether criticism directed at the Black attorney was racially motivated.

Newsweek has reached out to Willis for comment via an email sent to Fulton County.

On January 26 the Georgia Senate voted 30-19 to launch a special committee to investigate Willis' conduct, though it can't directly sanction the district attorney.

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the following day, Moore said: "Investigating Fani Willis is the first step towards impeaching and defunding this corrupt prosecutor. We cannot let up the pressure now... we must DOUBLE DOWN.

"We are just getting started. We will save America. But it will take enormous courage and participation from grassroots, blue-collar PATRIOTS from across the land of the free."

According to court records seen by The Hill, Wade received $654,000 in payment relating to the Trump case.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 13 charges in Georgia, including conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, filing false documents and violating the state's anti-racketeering act. Separately Trump is facing four federal charges over allegations be acted illegally when trying to reverse the 2020 election result, to which he has also pleaded not guilty. The former president insists both cases against him are politically motivated and form part of a "witch hunt."

In an interview with Fox News, attorney and legal analyst Phil Holloway said the accusations against Willis could result in Trump's Georgia election interference case being dismissed.

"If it can be proven she violated the Constitution in the way of substitute due process claims, that she was fundamentally unfair in how she carried out her prosecutorial duties, then that could result in a dismissal [of the case]," he told anchor Harris Faulkner.

"It would be a question if she gets recused, then her whole office has to be recused. If she's got a conflict of interest, everybody who works for her has that same conflict of interest. So the prosecuting attorney's counsel here in Georgia or the attorney general's office may have to sort out who in the state of Georgia, if anyone, wants this."

Update 2/1/24, 10:37 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.