Former President Donald Trump is preparing for another possible indictment. This time it could be in Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with possible interference by him and his allies in the 2020 presidential election.
Fani Willis, the county’s Democratic District Attorney, has investigated Trump’s phone calls to Georgia officials and the compilation of a fake voter roll.
Willis took office on Jan. 1, 2021, the day before Trump’s infamous phone call with Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, during which Trump attempted to “find” enough ballots to win the state. Willis has been investigating this call since February 2021.
“I knew from day one that an investigation might be warranted,” Willis told USA Today. “The call was enough to raise eyes – raise eyebrows – or even cause serious concern. We look at the full extent.”
Throughout the investigation, Willis was criticized for being partisan. Trump, Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga, and attorneys from a number of so-called sham voters moved to have Willis barred from prosecution because of political bias.
Most of these requests were rejected. But in July 2022, a Georgia judge blocked Willis from investigating Georgia Gov. Burt Jones, one of Trump’s sham voters, for hosting a campaign fundraiser for Jones’ opponent, Democrat Charlie Bailey.
“This is NOT a politically motivated investigation. It is a criminal investigation and often at the end of the criminal investigation people are acquitted and often end up in jail,” Willis wrote in an email to Kemp’s attorney, according to Politico. “The fact that it is always a politically motivated investigation does not matter.”
Without explanation, Trump also referred to black Willis as “the local racist Democratic District Attorney” in an April 4 speech following his indictment in New York.
“The comment is none of my business. He’s ridiculous, but I support his right to be protected under the First Amendment and to say whatever he wants,” Willis told WSB-TV.
Willis has served several high-profile cases in Fulton County, both as a District Attorney and as an Assistant District Attorney. She used the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which allows prosecution of organized crime by demonstrating a pattern of illegal misconduct, to prosecute Atlanta public school educators and renowned rappers. Legal experts assume that she could use this law against Trump.
Here’s some background on Willis and the cases she’s prosecuted.
Who is Fani Willis?
Willis began her career in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in 2001 as an assistant district attorney. In this capacity, she served as lead prosecutor in more than 100 jury trials. Among them was a controversial case in which teachers and staff at Atlanta public schools were targeted for their role in inflating standardized test scores.
In 2018 she left the public prosecutor’s office and opened a law firm specializing in criminal defense and family law. In 2019, she served as a judge for the South Fulton, Georgia Municipal Court.
Willis campaigned for reform of the county’s criminal justice system.
“If an elected official breaks the law, they will be prosecuted. If a police officer breaks the law and if a citizen breaks the law, they will be prosecuted,” Willis said in a July 10 interview. 2020, with WAGA TV. “But everything will be done under due process. Everything will be done after proper investigation.”
Willis said the intent of the prosecution is “to obtain a grand jury indictment and ultimately a conviction.”
In 2020, Willis won the bid for district attorney, becoming the first black woman elected to the position. She defeated incumbent Paul Howard, who had been her boss in the district attorney’s office.
Willis received his bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1992 and Emory University School of Law in 1996.
Willis’ high-profile and controversial cases
Convictions of 11 Black Atlanta Public Schools teachers and staff
Shayla Smith, a teacher at Dobbs Elementary, testifies as testimony resumes after a two-week vacation in the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating trial before Judge Jerry Baxter in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta January 5, 2015. (AP)
In 2015, a jury convicted 11 black Atlanta Public School educators for their role in raising standardized test scores. Eight of the convicted educators were sentenced to between one and seven years in prison and fines, plus probation.
As Assistant District Attorney in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, Willis served as the lead prosecutor on the case.
In 2013, a grand jury indicted 35 educators, but most settled.
As the case drew national attention, prosecutors faced backlash as some people questioned Willis’ decision to hire educators.
“The jury made a decision that, in some respects, validates what the prosecution did in this case,” William H. Thomas, a former Georgia federal attorney, told the New York Times. “For me, the real question is: was the win worth the candle? Did they kill a fly with the proverbial sledgehammer?”
Defendants in this case are still appealing the decision.
Prosecution of Young Thug and YSL: Controversy rap lyric as evidence
Young Thug performs at the Lollapalooza Music Festival in Chicago on August 1, 2021. Jury selection in the Atlanta racketeering and gang crime case against rapper Young Thug and others has been slow. (AP)
Willis’ campaign against gang crime has garnered attention of its own as it targets hip-hop stars, including Young Thug, born Jeffery Lamar Williams.
In May 2022, 28 people, including the artist, were charged in Fulton County with gang crime and racketeering. As members of Young Thug’s YSL record label, they have been accused of gang activities. Many of the defendants eventually acquiesced to informed consent; Young Thug didn’t.
The gang association of YSL is unclear, the New York Times speaks of a “hybrid gang”.
Williams founded Young Stoner Life Records — sometimes dubbed Young Slime Life — in 2016. Supporters called it a “music movement full of love,” and his defense argued that YSL was simply the name of the star’s record label. Nonetheless, former employees of the group who obtained consent forms have testified that it was both a music label and a gang.
Prosecutors alleged that several of the organization’s crimes — murders, shootings and car thefts — were linked to the notorious Bloods gang.
Critics backed down on Willis for controversially using Young Thug’s lyrics as evidence of criminal activity during prosecutions. This raised First Amendment concerns among several music industry officials, but the practice is legal, a Maryland court ruled in 2021, and has been used before.
Willis defended the decision to use lyrics in the case, saying, “If you decide to admit your crimes on short notice, I will use them.”
Charges against the shooter in the Spa murders in Atlanta
Robert Aaron Long is seen during his arraignment hearing in Fulton County Superior Court Tuesday, September 28, 2021 in Atlanta. (AP)
Willis is asking for the death penalty against the shooter involved in the March 2021 killing of eight women, six of them Asian, in Georgia.
Robert Aaron Long pleaded guilty to murder, was convicted and received four consecutive life sentences for the deaths of four women in Cherokee County.
However, the case over the Fulton County murders continues as Willis seeks hate crime charges and the death penalty against Long. This marks a departure from her stance in the 2020 district attorney campaign when she said she would refuse to seek the death penalty.
“Last year I told Fulton County voters that I can’t think of any circumstance in which I would seek it,” Willis said during a May 2021 news conference. which I believe warrants the highest penalty, and we will strive for it.”
PolitiFact contributor Nuria Diaz Muñoz and Copy Chief Matthew Crowley contributed to the research.
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