Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been mandated to compensate more than $54,000 in legal fees for breaching Georgia’s Open Records Act, as stated in court documents.
The conflict originated from the failure of Willis’ office to supply the records requested by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who is representing Michael Roman, a former aide to President Donald Trump during his campaign and time in the White House. Roman was indicted alongside Trump in the ongoing Georgia election interference case initiated by Willis in 2023, as reported by Newsweek.
The ruling issued on Friday signifies yet another challenge for Fani Willis in her prosecution of Trump and the other defendants, as further noted by the outlet. In December, Willis was removed from her role in prosecuting the case against Trump and 18 other co-defendants, who are alleged to have conspired to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia during the 2020 election. Trump has refuted the allegations and accused Willis of engaging in a politically motivated assault.
The Georgia Court of Appeals determined that disqualification was warranted due to the perceived impropriety associated with Willis’ prior relationship with Nathan Wade, a former special prosecutor involved in the case, who resigned in October.
Willis subsequently appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court in January, contending that the disqualification was erroneous as it was based solely on the appearance of impropriety without any evidence of an actual conflict of interest or forensic misconduct.
In a court order issued on Friday, the judge noted that the District Attorney’s office had exhibited an ‘openly hostile’ attitude towards Merchant’s document requests, stating that these requests were managed differently than others, which suggested a ‘lack of good faith.’
Willis is now required to submit all requested documents and remit a payment of $54,264 to Merchant within 30 days, which corresponds to nearly 80 hours of work on the case, as stated in the court order, according to Newsweek.
Merchant had earlier alleged that Willis’ office was withholding essential documents concerning Nathan Wade’s employment and sought records on the allocation of public funds by Willis’ office. In another matter, the Georgia Senate passed a bill in early March that may permit Trump and his co-defendants to request reimbursement for their legal fees.
This legislation, which received unanimous approval, allows counties to cover attorney fees and other legal expenses in instances where a district attorney is disqualified due to misconduct, contingent upon the dismissal of the case, as reported by Newsweek.
Judge Rachel Krause of Fulton County rejected a motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning open records directed at Willis and her office; however, she approved a motion that protects Willis from being personally named in the lawsuit, permitting her to continue her role as district attorney in an official capacity.
The lawsuit originated from the investigation into election interference in Fulton County and included Merchant, who claimed that Willis was hiding records associated with a media monitoring firm purportedly financed by taxpayer funds.
