State Senate committee investigating Fani Willis says district attorneys need accountability

“What I’m hearing today is that there’s no real rules,” Cowsert said. “There’s no code or law that says this is proper or improper for district attorney conduct. And so I’m thinking now, maybe we need to put this in statute.”

During the hearing, senators heard testimony from current and former DAs who discussed how they carry out their jobs and the intricacies of how their offices are funded. Among them was former Gwinnett County DA Danny Porter, who said there’s no mechanism in either state or case law that allows the county to impose its will on an elected constitutional officer.

DAs hold a unique position in state government. Even though they’re elected officials representing one or several counties, they are state constitutional officers, which technically means they are members of Georgia’s executive branch.

Cowsert suggested that Willis is ignoring Fulton County’s direction because of her status.

“Y’all are saying, ‘We’re kings, we can do what we want to do, you’ve just got to trust us,’” he said.

The Senate panel was formed earlier this year as several defendants in former President Donald Trump’s election interference case sought to disqualify Willis from the prosecution because of her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

The panel previously heard testimony from Ashleigh Merchant, the defense attorney who has led the push to disqualify Willis; Fulton leaders who appropriate local funding; and Amanda Timpson, a former employee who said Willis fired her after she raised concerns about spending on a gang prevention and youth outreach program.

While the Senate panel lacks the power to prosecute, disbar or directly discipline Willis, it can recommend changes to the state budget or draft legislation setting stricter oversight guidelines for prosecutors.

During Friday’s hearing, Cowsert suggested he was skeptical of Willis’ use of a special grand jury and her hiring of special prosecutors in the election case.

Twenty-six Fulton residents — 23 members and three alternates — met for nearly eight months in 2022 to issue subpoenas for skeptical witnesses, collect evidence and hear testimony as Willis advanced her investigation.

Cowsert told the AJC that a regular grand jury could have carried out the same work and that Willis’ use of a special grand jury appeared to be to maximize publicity.

Willis, meanwhile, has hired three outside attorneys to work on the election case, including Wade, and paid them between $150 and $250 an hour for their work, according to records previously obtained by The AJC. Wade earned upwards of $720,000 in taxpayer money over the course of his employment with the DA’s office, making him the state’s highest paid prosecutor at the time.

Willis requested the special grand jury because a “significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses” had refused to cooperate with her then-nascent investigation, she said at the time. And she has vehemently defended her right to select her own personnel.

Ben Gray

Ben Gray

Cowsert also seemed especially concerned about what he said were inequities between DAs in urban and rural parts of the state. Large metro counties, like Fulton, have “largesse,” which allows them to have public relations departments and bodyguards, he said.

“I hate to see us have smaller counties that feel like they don’t have enough personnel because their counties can’t supplement, or they’re not playing their politics well enough,” he said.

Willis was not present at Friday’s hearing. But Jeff DiSantis, a spokesman for the DA, said that Willis needs security from threats against her, her family and her staff for doing her job.

“Those threats are exacerbated by politicians like Mr. Cowsert, who traffic in lies and mislead the public,” DiSantis said. “When is Mr. Cowsert’s committee planning to investigate the threats against the District Attorney that have led to two federal indictments so far?”

Arvin Temkar/AJC

Arvin Temkar/AJC

Wright Barksdale III and Marie Broder, district attorneys from more rural parts of the state, testified that there are large differences between their offices and those from big counties across Georgia.

“You’ve got Atlanta and everybody else,” said Barksdale, who is the DA for an eight-county circuit in south central Georgia.

Both Barksdale and Broder urged lawmakers to take into account the different needs of rural and urban-area DAs offices as they consider legislation.

Cowsert told the AJC he plans to subpoena Willis this fall to compel her to answer questions before the committee.

Willis and her attorney, former Gov. Roy Barnes, have each said they do not believe the panel has the legal authority to force her attendance but Cowsert said he believes “the law is clear on that.”

“If there is ambiguity or question, then the courts will decide that issue for us, not this committee,” he said, adding that he expects his committee to be holding meetings through November.

At the end of the panel discussion, Cowsert asked the attorneys to weigh in on Willis’ conduct in her prosecution of the 19-month-long Young Slime Life racketeering case and her relationship with Wade.

Porter responded by saying that allowing the behavior of a few prosecutors to “spread as a stain” across every prosecutor in the state would be a huge disservice to those who want to do right by the citizens of their county.

Staff writer Tamar Hallerman contributed to this article.

TNS

TNS

Ben Gray for the AJC

Ben Gray for the AJC