A Judge in Georgia ordered Fulton County District Attorney Fani Williams hands over documents relating to her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the U.S. House of Representatives committee on January 6 after she failed to comply with a request under the Open Records Act (ORA).
The nonprofit Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against Willis in March after her office claimed there were no documents and communications on file between Willis and Smith or Willis and the Commission dated Jan. 6.
But it turned out her office did have communications, and on Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis to produce them within five business days. McBurney also found in his ruling that Willis violated Georgia’s Open Records Act by failing to respond to Judicial Watch’s lawsuit.
McBurney ruled in absentia after the prosecutor failed to mount a “meritorious defense.” Instead, Willis claimed she was not properly served.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing in the State of Georgia’s case against Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 15, 2024 in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer-Pool/Getty Images)
“Plaintiff is thus entitled to a default judgment as if each element and paragraph of the complaint were supported by good and sufficient evidence,” McBurney wrote in his decision, while also ordering her to pay Judicial Watch’s attorneys’ fees. “Here, this means that Plaintiff has established that Defendant violated the ORA by failing to turn over responsive data or notify Plaintiff of her decision to withhold some or all of such data.”
A hearing on attorney fees and costs will take place on December 20, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
“Fani Willis is something different. We’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and this is the first time in our experience that a public official has been found guilty for failing to appear in court to answer an open lawsuit.” Tom Fitton, chairman of the judicial watchdog, said this. “Judicial Watch looks forward to receiving documents from the Fani Willis operation on collusion with the Biden administration and Nancy Pelosi’s Congress over her unprecedented and compromised ‘get-Trump’ prosecution.”
The documents Judicial Watch sought to obtain stemmed from an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee into whether Willis coordinated with the House Committee on their investigations on January 6.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks at the Fulton County Government Center during a news conference, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
US lawmakers had said Willis asked the House Select Committee on January 6 to share evidence with her office.
Last year, President-elect Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty to all charges related to a racketeering indictment for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Specifically, Willis charged Trump with one count of violating the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents, and two counts of making false statements.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrives to speak after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Four of the defendants charged along with Trump took plea deals in exchange for testifying against the other defendants.
Trump’s team and other defendants had previously raised the question Court of Appeal of Georgia to hold oral arguments to determine whether Willis could continue to prosecute the case.
The charges against Trump have not been officially dropped, although the case has been stayed as Trump and his co-defendants appeal a Fulton County judge’s decision not to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the case.
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The Court of Appeal canceled oral arguments in November, which were initially scheduled for early December.
Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
