Liam Conner
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is fighting for another term as prosecutor as her case against former President Donald Trump and others in the 2020 Georgia election interference case remains pending in a Georgia appellate court. Georgia.
“I intend to win and win big,” Willis predicted in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday night. “I’m at the point where I need the voters of Fulton County to get out and vote.”
The 52-year-old prosecutor is running for re-election in Tuesday’s Democratic primary against the lawyer and author Sage Christian Smith. He previously challenged Willis in 2020, along with then-District Attorney Paul Howard.
“People are ready for a change,” Wise Smith told CBS News. “People are tired of the same old office stuff. People want to breathe fresh air.”
Wise Smith, 41, called for Willis’ resignation on Monday. He pointed to a pair of GOP-led congressional investigations investigating the use of federal funds by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Last week, Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson sent a letter to Willis requesting information about several Justice Department grants and alleged that “the Fulton County District Attorney may have improperly used funds from these grants to finance unrelated travel or the purchase of computers and ‘gifts’.
“It’s a very serious job where people trust you to do the right thing and there are ongoing allegations of misuse of these funds to do that, it’s time to go,” Wise Smith said.
The House Judiciary Committee is also conducting an investigation into the district attorney’s funding and has threatened to hold Willis in contempt of Congress. This month, Chairman Jim Jordan also asked former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who was romantically involved with Willis, to testify before the panel.
Willis denied any wrongdoing.
“Jim Jordan repeatedly attacked my office for no legitimate purpose,” Willis said. “He has now turned his tricks to investigating grant programs, which I invite him to do, and we have complied with subpoenas from him, yet he continues his attacks to try to interfere in a criminal investigation.”
A state Senate committee in Georgia has also opened an investigation into Willis’ office and indicated it is prepared to subpoena her. Willis said the investigation is “not legitimate.”
“And so it will fail and go nowhere,” she said.
WIllis launched the election subversion investigation into former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 elections in Georgia, shortly after winning his first term. Last summer she announced a comprehensive charge of extortion against the former president and 18 co-defendants. Four defendants pleaded guilty.
At the beginning of this year, the district attorney revealed a romantic relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who oversaw the case. Wade resigned in March after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued an order ruling rejecting efforts to disqualify Willis if Wade walked away. McAfee is also on the ballot today in a nonpartisan race.
The Georgia State Court of Appeals agreed to hear an appeal by former President Trump and several of the co-defendants in Willis’ position, which could delay a potential trial after the November election.
With campaign signs plastered across parts of Fulton County, Willis makes no mention of the Trump case in his ads.
“I faced gangs and violent criminals,” says Willis in a television ad broadcast in metro Atlanta. “We saw the third largest drop in crime in America.”
Willis, who is the first woman to lead the Fulton County prosecutor’s office, highlights her experience in the community, including establishing a pre-charge diversion program to provide second chances for offenders, initiatives targeting at-risk youth and increased transparency with law enforcement.
Wise Smith founded the nonprofit National Social Justice Alliance to combat police brutality and says his goal, if elected, is to end mass incarceration and “dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.” If elected, on day one he said he hopes to establish an internship and school mentoring program. Wise Smith also wants to divert nonviolent marijuana and THC cases, expunge old nonviolent convictions and put more focus on victim-centered crimes.
“A lot of time is now wasted on prosecuting marijuana, is wasted on prosecuting crimes where the basis or foundation was a mental disability, substance dependence or homelessness,” Wise Smith explained. “If we partner with resource providers who can help them change their lives, then I will have more lawyers, more investigators, more money and more time to attack the rapes, robberies, murders and crimes that truly impact our safety. . .”
Wise Smith was the only candidate to show up last month for a debate at the Atlanta Press Club, where he spoke from an empty podium. Willis did not attend.
If Willis wins the Democratic primary, she will face Republican challenger Courtney Kramer in this fall’s general election. According to her LinkedIn profile, Kramer was an intern in the White House counsel’s office during the Trump administration and a litigation consultant for the Trump campaign in Georgia after the 2020 election.
Wise Smith told CBS News that he would “respect the voters’ decision no matter which way it goes” in the primary, but stopped short of saying whether he would support Willis if she advanced.
Willis hopes to prevail despite ongoing challenges.
“I’m not going to be broke and I’m still going to be here doing my job legally,” Willis said.
Nicole Killion
