Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis suggested Monday that the creation of a new prosecution oversight board in Georgia was motivated by racism.
“Georgia has never had a prosecution oversight committee,” Willis told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow when asked about the state Senate select committee’s investigation.
“All of a sudden, 14 minorities were elected to the post of prosecutor,” she continued. “And now, all of a sudden, they need an oversight committee to look after the district attorneys because they want to tell us how to prosecute, who to prosecute and where we should put our resources, instead of allow the voters who elected us to vote. to make these decisions.
The new disciplinary board, approved by the Republican-controlled state legislature earlier this year and signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in March, will have the power to discipline and remove prosecutors in Georgia cases found guilty of bad conduct.
Willis, who is currently under investigation by the Georgia State Senate over his use of taxpayer dollars during his relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, could face scrutiny from the new body over the same allegations and other aspects of its handling of legal proceedings. former President Donald Trump.
“They are giving false reasons for wanting to attack me,” the prosecutor said on Monday.
“The ironic thing is that even though it’s only 14 of the 50 DAs in the state of Georgia, most citizens fall within our jurisdictions. So even though we are outnumbered by the other 36, most of the population elected these minority prosecutors to serve and trusted their judgment,” Willis argued.
“But apparently we now need Dad to tell us how to do our jobs.”
Willis, 52, also denounced House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who subpoenaed the prosecutor in February over allegations that she mismanaged federal funds.
“Jim Jordan has repeatedly attacked my office for no legitimate purpose,” she said. “Anyone who knows the story of Jim Jordan knows that all he did was try to interfere in a criminal investigation.”
“He has now decided to examine grant programs – which I invite him to do – and we have complied with his subpoenas,” she added. “But yet he continues his attacks to try to interfere in a criminal investigation – when his jurisdiction has one of the worst crime rates, has poverty problems, and not once has he used his position for trying to investigate people attacking me and attacking other people legitimately doing their job – which makes him illegitimate in his position.
“It’s disgusting,” Willis said of the congressional investigation. “Now, at the state level, they have decided to follow this clown’s lead.”
A spokesperson for Jordan did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The Georgia State Senate’s Special Investigative Committee held its third public hearing related to the Willis investigation earlier this month, which examined the amount of money the DA’s office spent prosecuting the historic racketeering case against Trump and his co-defendants and lack of oversight. other government entities have the prosecutor’s office.
Willis vowed not to appear before the panel, questioning the authority state lawmakers have to issue him a subpoena.
New York Post
