A state judge ordered on Tuesday that Franklin County District Attorney Fani Willis renounce any and all communications with the House Democrats ‘ Jan. 6 Committee and Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney declared that Willis is “in definition” for failing to file court records in response to a legal problem brought by Judicial Watch in his six-page purchase.
After the Democratic District Attorney denied having any of the information requested in an open records request in August 2023, the liberal watchdog group filed a petition against Willis in March. That demand sought to know how her company communicated with the specific guidance and/or the Jan. 6 Committee.
In its complaint, Judicial Watch argued that Willis ‘ claim that he did not have the information necessary to fulfill the demand is “probably false” was refuted by the House Judiciary Committee in a letter from December 2023 to the Fulton County prosecutor. The committee indicated that Willis — who indicted Donald Trump and 18 other Republicans last year— “had coordinated ]her ] politically motivated prosecutions” and “investigative actions” with Smith’s office and the Jan. 6 Committee, respectively.
McBurney noted that she “never moved to open default on any basis ( not even during the period when she could have opened definition as a matter of proper ), she never paid charges, and she never offered up a worthy protection” despite having many opportunities to respond to Judicial Watch’s legal processing.
According to McBurney,” Plaintiff] Judicial Watch is therefore entitled to view by default as if every point and phrase of the complaint were supported by sound and satisfactory evidence.” This means that Plaintiff has established that Defendant [ Willis ] broke the [Open Records Act ] by failing to turn over responsive records or to give notice to Plaintiff of her decision to withhold some or all of these records.
Within five business days of the passage of this Order, the Fulton County prosecutor then directed Willis to perform a thorough search of her information for relevant documents. A court hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 20 to choose Judicial Watch’s “request for defendant’s fees and costs”.
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton stated in a statement that “we’ve been doing this job for 30 years, and this is the first day in our experience a state official has been found in default for not showing up in court to answer an open records lawsuit.” ” Judicial Watch is looking forward to receiving any information from the Fani Willis operation regarding the investigation into her extraordinary and affected “get-Trump” prosecution against Nancy Pelosi’s Congress.”
Tuesday’s ruling is the latest loss for the Democrat counsel in her anti-Republican lawfare.
As my partner Brianna Lyman reported in September, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee dismissed several matters from Willis ‘ trial of Trump, whose future is uncertain now that Trump has been reelected leader. McAfee earlier donated to Willis ‘ 2020 strategy.
Shawn Fleetwood is a University of Mary Washington student and a staff author for The Federalist. He previously served as a condition content writer for Agreement of States Action and his work has been featured in various stores, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Following him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
