Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been mandated to pay over $54,000 in legal fees for breaching Georgia’s Open Records Act, as stated in court documents. The conflict originated from Willis’ office not supplying records requested by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Michael Roman, a former aide to President Donald Trump. Roman was indicted alongside Trump in the ongoing Georgia election interference case initiated by Willis in 2023, as reported by Newsweek.
The ruling issued on Friday marks another challenge for Fani Willis and her prosecution of Trump and the other defendants, according to the outlet.
In December, Willis was removed from the case involving Trump and 18 other co-defendants, who are alleged to have conspired to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory in Georgia. Trump has refuted the allegations and accused Willis of engaging in a politically motivated assault. The Georgia Court of Appeals determined that the disqualification was warranted due to the “appearance of impropriety” linked to Willis’ prior association with Nathan Wade, a former special prosecutor on the case, who resigned in October. Willis appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court in January, contending that the court erred in disqualifying her “solely based on an appearance of impropriety and without establishing an actual conflict of interest or forensic misconduct.”
In the court order released on Friday, the judge noted that the DA’s office had been “openly hostile” to Merchant’s document requests, indicating they were “managed differently than other requests,” which suggested a “lack of good faith.” Willis is now required to provide all requested records within 30 days and to pay $54,264 to Merchant, reflecting nearly 80 hours of work on the case, as per the court order, Newsweek reported. Merchant had previously accused Willis’ office of withholding essential documents related to Nathan Wade’s employment.
In a recent development, the Georgia Senate approved a bill in early March that may permit Trump and his co-defendants to request reimbursement for their legal fees. This legislation, which received unanimous approval, allows counties to pay for attorneys’ fees and other legal expenses in situations where a district attorney is disqualified due to misconduct, contingent upon the dismissal of the case, as reported by Newsweek.
In response to the court order issued on Friday, attorney Merchant expressed on X: ‘I am proud that we have judges willing to hold those in power accountable when they disregard the law!!!’ Willis stated in her January appeal: ‘No Georgia court has ever disqualified a district attorney solely for the appearance of impropriety without an actual conflict of interest.’
The appeals court removed Willis from the case against Trump in December. While the court did not dismiss Trump’s indictment entirely, it ruled that Willis and the assistant district attorneys in her office currently possess ‘no authority to proceed,’ as reported by Fox News. This marks the latest in a series of legal setbacks for Willis. In September, a Georgia judge ruled against her in a case related to an open records lawsuit. Fulton County Judge Rachel Krause denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning open records directed at Willis and her office, although she did grant a motion that protects Willis from being personally named in the lawsuit, allowing her to continue her official duties as district attorney. The lawsuit originated from the Fulton County election interference investigation and involved Merchant, who claimed that Willis was withholding records related to a media monitoring firm allegedly financed with taxpayer funds.
