Fani Willis Stung by Ethics Complaint

Fani Willis has been hit by an ethics complaint after her office allegedly refused to a request to provide public records.

Willis, who is leading the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, has come under pressure amid allegations she had an affair with a special prosecutor she hired in the case, Nathan Wade.

Trump and 18 others are accused in a 41-count indictment of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has repeatedly said the case is part of a political witch hunt aimed at undermining his position as frontrunner for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination.

Former Trump staffer Michael Roman, a co-defendant, made the accusations about Willis without evidence, and sought to disqualify her and Wade from the trial. Willis previously rejected the allegations and said her critics were "playing the race card," given that they had singled out Wade, who is Black.

As well as alleging the affair, in a 127-page filing, Roman said two meetings took place between White House employees and Wade in 2022.

In a letter seen by Newsweek, Greg Mantell, founder of the Substack blog Investigative News Service, wrote to the Fulton County Board of Ethics on Tuesday accusing Willis of several ethics violations concerning the filing.

He said: "I wish to file a formal ethics complaint against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for several violation of the Ethics Code."

He added he requested Willis's expense reports in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, all contracts and payments to Wade in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and records pertaining to $14.6 million in awards for the Department of Justice.

However, he alleged the office only provided two of apparently three employment contracts for Wade and said his other requests were denied.

Newsweek contacted Willis by social media to comment on this story.

"I believe FCDAO illegally refused to provide the bulk of the records, apparently to cover up other actions that have also raised ethical issues," he said.

He added: "Ms. Willis is a walking ethics violation. She has violated so many sections of the Ethics Code it would be easier for me to state what sections she hasn't violated rather than the sections she has."

He added he is attempting to file a formal complaint with the new state prosecutor qualifications committee.

On Thursday, the Fulton County Board of Ethics acknowledged the complaint. In a letter seen by Newsweek, the chair said it will conduct a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is evidence that there has been a violation of the Fulton County Code of Ethics. If there is evidence, there will be a formal hearing date to further consider the claims in the complaint.

On Friday, news website Just the News said its request for records of any meetings and communications between Willis or Wade with White House or Justice Department officials was ignored. The news outlet filed a complaint with Georgia Attorney General Christopher M. Carr, after Just the News said Willis's office failed to meet the three-day deadline to respond to the request under the Open Records Act.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Georgia state Senate Republicans introduced legislation to establish the Senate Special Committee on Investigations to look into the allegations of misconduct.

On the same day, Georgia state Representative Charlice Byrd introduced a resolution to impeach the federal prosecutor, claiming she used her office for political gain.