Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been ordered to pay more than $22,000 to Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, in connection with an open records lawsuit.
The case stems from a request for documents related to potential communications between Willis’s office and Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith, who led a separate investigation into former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Court Ruling on Open Records Act Violation
Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled earlier this month that Willis’s office violated Georgia’s Open Records Act (ORA) by failing to adequately search for or disclose responsive documents. Initially, Willis’s office claimed no such records existed, only to later categorize them as exempt under the law. This contradiction, McBurney stated, constituted a clear violation of the ORA.
“Even if the records prove to be just that — exempt from disclosure for sound public policy reasons — this late revelation is a patent violation of the ORA,” McBurney wrote in his ruling, according to a report by the Washington Examiner. “No one searched until prodded by civil litigation.”
As a result, Willis’s office was ordered to pay $19,360 in attorney fees to Judicial Watch and an additional $2,218 in related legal expenses.
Judicial Watch’s Response
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, has welcomed the ruling.
“Fani Willis flouted the law, and the court is right to slam her and require, at a minimum, the payment of nearly $22,000 to Judicial Watch,” he said in a statement.
The watchdog group has long sought transparency from public officials and has been critical of what it perceives as political bias in investigations involving Trump.
Background on the Case
Judicial Watch had requested documents to determine whether Willis’s investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results included coordination with Smith or the DOJ.
Smith, who oversaw the federal investigation into Trump’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, later dismissed charges related to the election, citing the DOJ’s longstanding tradition of avoiding investigations into sitting presidents.
Despite Willis’s assertions that her office did not coordinate with Smith, Judge McBurney previously ordered her to produce records of any communications with Smith or the House Jan. 6 committee.
McBurney criticized Willis for failing to provide a timely response, stating that she “never offered up a meritorious defense” and disputed her claim that she was not properly served.
While Willis has denied any wrongdoing or coordination with federal prosecutors, the ruling reinforces the importance of transparency in politically sensitive investigations.
