Conservative Group Prevails Over Fani Willis in Court Battle Over Trump Prosecution Records

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may face significant consequences for defying legal obligations, according to a court order issued Monday.

The Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, ruled in favor of Judicial Watch in a lawsuit seeking access to communications between Willis, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and the House Jan. 6 committee, as reported in a Judicial Watch news release.

Willis, who has brought election interference charges against President-elect Donald Trump and several co-defendants, faces scrutiny for her alleged lack of compliance with Georgia’s Open Records Act. Trump’s presidential win has effectively halted Smith’s attempts to convict him in federal court.

The court order revealed that Judicial Watch filed its records request under the Open Records Act in March but received only a response claiming no such records existed.

Superior Court Judge Robert C.I. McBurney criticized Willis’s office for its inaction, stating that despite having options to respond to the request, the office “did none of that.”

Judicial Watch, therefore, “is thus entitled to judgment by default as if every item and paragraph of the complaint were supported by proper and sufficient evidence,” McBurney wrote.

The judge concluded, “Here, this means Plaintiff has established that Defendant violated the ORA by failing to either turn over responsive records or else notify Plaintiff of her decision to withhold.”

A hearing to determine whether Willis’s office must pay court costs and attorney’s fees is scheduled for Dec. 20.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton commented on the case, saying, “Fani Willis is something else. We’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and this is the first time in our experience a government official has been found in default for not showing up in court to answer an open records lawsuit.”

Fitton added, “Judicial Watch looks forward to getting any documents from the Fani Willis operation about collusion with the Biden administration and Nancy Pelosi’s Congress on her unprecedented and compromised ‘get-Trump’ prosecution.”

A March release from Judicial Watch noted that communications from Willis to the House committee exist and highlighted that representatives from her office traveled to Washington, D.C., at least three times in 2022 to meet with the panel.

Judicial Watch’s lawsuit alleged that Fulton County’s claim of having no responsive records was likely false, citing evidence of such communications.

After 30 days passed without an official response from Willis’s office, Judicial Watch argued it was entitled to a default judgment. The recent court decision confirms that position, according to the organization’s latest release.