Today, Fulton County Prosecutor Fannie Willis, leading Georgia's election subversion case against Donald Trump and co-defendants, ignored a subpoena from state lawmakers for today's hearing. The state Senate panel is investigating allegations of wrongdoing related to Willis' past romantic relationship with a former prosecutor on her team. Willis did not appear, as expected, as she and her attorney seek a judge's decision on the committee's authority to compel her testimony.
Chairman of the committee, Republican State Senator Bill Kauzert, asserts the committee's power to bring Willis to testify. Testimonies at the hearing emphasized this point, with the former Senate head stating the panel could potentially arrest Willis for contempt. While dramatic, it remains uncertain if this action will be taken. Democratic panel members question the committee's involvement in the matter.
The panel, formed earlier this year to investigate improprieties in Willis hiring her then-boyfriend as a special prosecutor in the Trump case, had called Willis to testify. With her absence, the next steps are unclear. Charges against Trump were recently dropped in the Georgia case, with Judge Scott McAfee dismissing three counts, including filing false documents, faced by Trump and co-defendants. Despite McAfee's limited jurisdiction over Trump's case, his attorney in Georgia, Steve Sadow, views this as a victory for the former president.
