Fulton DA Fani Willis testifies before Senate committee about Trump case

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Tensions ran high Wednesday as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified before a Republican-led Georgia state Senate committee examining whether there was misconduct connected to her prosecution of President Trump and his allies.

What we know:

It took more than a year of legal challenges for the committee to compel Willis to appear. During more than three hours of testimony at the State Capitol, Willis forcefully defended her decision to bring the case, saying, "People came into my community and committed a crime, and I indicted him. And rest assured, if someone else comes in my community and commits a crime, I will indict them again."

Lawmakers are reviewing whether the high-profile prosecution should result in changes to state law. The racketeering case against the president and others unraveled after it was revealed Willis had a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a subordinate on the case. Wade later stepped down, and Willis herself was eventually also dismissed from the case. 

What they're saying:

At one point during the hearing, Willis pushed back sharply against lawmakers, saying, "You want something to investigate as a many times they’ve called me the N word. Why don’t you investigate that." Willis and her attorney, former Gov. Roy Barnes, argued the hearing was politically motivated, with Barnes calling it "a witch hunt." Committee members countered that their goal is to prevent future abuses, citing concerns from defendants who, according to testimony, faced "hundreds of thousands of dollars defending themselves against these politically motivated charges."

The other side:

The committee does not have the authority to take direct action against Willis. Instead, lawmakers say they could propose legislation aimed at preventing future prosecutorial misconduct across Georgia.

Most interesting points and moments in first hour of testimony

Committee framing and procedure: The chair emphasized the hearing is not a court proceeding and will follow Senate rules and Mason’s Manual.

Willis sworn in: Willis took an oath to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

Opening statement dispute: Former Gov. Roy Barnes, who is representing Willis, sought to submit a statement; the chair said Senate committee testimony does not typically include opening statements.

Willis’ background and claims about record: Willis described her education and career path, called herself the "first woman" to serve as Fulton County district attorney, and stated she has a "92% conviction rate."

Office size and staffing: Willis said the office has "a little over 300 approximately," about "150 attorneys," and "65" investigators, while stressing her numbers were approximations.

Pay and funding comments: Willis criticized state-funded pay for assistant district attorneys, said it is "a joke," and described county supplements and remote-indictment arrangements for some state-paid lawyers.

Transition process: Willis said the transition with former DA Paul Howard was poor and that they never spoke; she said she interviewed staff while on personal time and made retention decisions herself.

Nathan Wade involvement (transition): Willis said Wade participated in "more than half" of the interviews but that "none of them were paid" and all transition help was volunteer.

Unit structure: Willis described creating/renaming units (civil rights and anti-corruption), said the units expanded as referrals grew, and named deputies over those units.

Privilege instructions: Barnes repeatedly instructed Willis not to answer certain questions, calling them "deliberative privilege."

Sharp exchanges over a timeline question: Willis called one question "ignorant," said she did not trust the questioner, and repeatedly said a pre-office election-investigation interview timeline was a "factual impossibility."

"Chaos" claim on taking office: Willis described the DA’s office as overwhelmed and physically degraded (molded carpet, blocked doors, boxes piled in offices), and said she removed dozens of employees she believed were not qualified.

Backlog numbers: She cited "18,000 unindicted cases" dating back six or seven years, plus "another 10,000 indicted cases," and said there were "200 and something murders" awaiting action.

Murder backlog project: She said she created a project to address the murder backlog, naming Mike Carlson and Michael Sprinkel as leaders and promising decisions on every case.

Work volume assertions: Willis said decisions were made on the 18,000 backlog cases and referenced additional totals, including "101 police cases" and "46,136 cases" that came in from Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2024.

Rationale for outside counsel: She said she turned to special assistant DAs because staff were "drowning," many were not qualified for the election work, and her most experienced prosecutors were already assigned major initiatives.

High-profile cases cited as priorities: She called the deaths of Secoriea Turner and Kennedy Maxie her "two most important cases," and stated the defendants in those cases are "doing life right now."

Roy Barnes considered, declined: Willis recounted Barnes’ explanation for declining, including threats after changing the state flag and concerns about "security risks," and said he also would not work for $250/hour.

Budget estimates and funding criticism: Willis gave a rough office budget estimate of "around $40 million," stressed it was a "speculation and a guess," and argued DAs are underfunded statewide.

Financial controls: She said she has never had a credit card tied to the DA’s office and routed approvals through Fulton County CFO Sharon Whitmore "so that nobody would say the district attorney stole any money."

SAKI explanation: Willis referenced a grant-funded effort to test sexual assault kits, defining SAKI and describing untested kits dating back decades.

Forfeiture payment document: The questioner presented a "Fulton County Court Payment Voucher" indicating payments to the Law Office of Nathan Wade from "forfeiture fund account" (Fund 440); Willis said she was not aware and said her understanding was Wade was paid from the professional services budget.

Contractor team composition: Willis said the election case had about "maybe nine" attorneys at peak and identified "three independent contractors": Nathan Wade, John Floyd, and Anna Cross, describing diversity as "intentional."

John Floyd characterization: She described Floyd as a RICO expert who "wrote the book" and taught her RICO, saying he was valuable for indictment-building though not necessarily the trial lead.

Most interesting points and moments in second hour of testimony

Wade’s experience questioned: Willis said she did not hire Nathan Wade to prosecute RICO and indicated she believed he had prosecuted before, possibly did work for the attorney general, and may have defended RICO cases.

Election authority and mandate: Willis cited her election margins and argued she—not legislators—has the authority to make hiring decisions, while criticizing the idea of committees overseeing prosecutors.

Block billing question derailed: When asked to define "blockbilling," Willis pivoted to dispute a prior committee claim involving Vice President Kamala Harris, calling it "a damn lie," and said she has "never even had the honor of meeting" Harris.

Billing review disclaimer: Willis repeatedly said she does not review the invoices and could not speak to documents she had not seen; she identified Dexter Bond as deputy of operations when pressed on process.

Correction on Wade hours: Willis clarified she misspoke earlier—she meant Wade was allowed "160 a month," not "160 a week."

Attorney General spending figures introduced: Willis read out a series of year-by-year totals and top-recipient initials, saying she wanted the press to have the numbers and asking that her information be included in the record.

Jan. 6 committee letter: Willis acknowledged a Dec. 17, 2021, letter (with her signature) seeking documents from the Jan. 6 committee; she said she recalled no nonpublic documents being provided and said she has never met Rep. Thompson.

D.C. trip acknowledged, purpose vague: Willis confirmed Wade and staff traveled to Washington and said it was connected to "this investigation," but she said she could not recall the purpose or who they spoke with.

Pushback on "nefarious" framing: Willis rejected the premise that seeking information out of state was improper, saying lawyers investigating people who "came to Georgia and committed crimes" is normal.

White House / Touhy reference: Willis suggested one purpose of contacting the White House may have been to determine whether they had to use a federal "Touhy" process, and said they were trying to reach people in the first Trump administration.

Willis argues media visibility is part of public service: Willis says people should see the DA’s office in the community before they see it in the courtroom, describing outreach like schools, book-bag giveaways, and holiday drives.

Performance claims tied to public safety: Willis cited a "92% conviction rate," said she tried more cases than other prosecuting entities in Georgia, and referenced a report (Atlanta Police Foundation) indicating crime is down, crediting both prosecutors and law enforcement.

Heated exchange over "tracking the dollar value" of her name/title: When pressed on inbound media-monitoring/valuation, Willis pushed back that the question was "asked and answered," while Barnes (as counsel) argued she had already addressed it.

Critical Mention subscription and an old bank account: Payments for "Critical Mention" (a $10,000 yearly subscription) presented by the committee. Willis said she had not seen the check and described it as coming from a Fulton County account that existed under former DA Paul Howard and was retitled when she took office.

Audits emphasized repeatedly: Willis said the office has been audited many times and that she had recently passed a DOJ audit.

Side work policy for investigators: Willis describes a sign-off process for sworn investigators’ secondary employment and said she does not want them working certain jobs (example: nightclubs), even if they pay well.

Discussion turns to disqualification/conflict issues: The "appearance of impropriety" ruling and the Burt Jones-related disqualification are raised. Willis calls the ruling "ridiculous" and criticizes subsequent prosecutorial decisions.

Skandalakis and PAC criticism: Willis says Peter Skandalakis could not have reviewed the "entire file" before dismissing, and suggested advance media confidence signaled the outcome.

Campaign vendors and media buying: When asked about Canal Media Partners and Chris Huttman, Willis praised them, cited her election results, and described Huttman as a media buyer who finds "the best rate."

Connection raised between DeSantis, Huttman, and 2020 Insight: Willis said she knew they worked together in the past but did not want to speculate about any current relationship.

Most interesting points and moments in third hour of testimony

Committee process reset: Sen. Greg Dolezal reopened the hearing and explained the committee’s questioning protocol (questions through the chair; minority questions through the minority leader or designee).

Friendly opener, then substance: Minority Leader Harold V. Jones II opened with light banter (MEAC/football) before pivoting to spending figures Willis had cited for the Georgia attorney general’s use of special prosecutors.

Willis cites AG spending totals (as she states them): Willis said the AG’s office spent "$80 million just for the special prosecutors," giving specific figures for 2025 and "2025 to date," and describing a list of the top 13 recipients (by initials).

Block billing / invoice authenticity dispute: Willis said CFO Sharon Whitmore is "a stickler," but emphasized she was being asked to speculate because she had not reviewed invoices. She also said documents shown were not authenticated and that some appeared altered.

Willis refutes "White House" narrative: She said she "was not at the White House," describing the event as a Black History Month celebration at/near the vice president’s residence (a tent on the lawn) and said she did not meet the vice president.

Jan. 6 relevance framed as investigative diligence: When asked whether contact with J6-related entities would be relevant to a multi-state conspiracy; Willis said the case was based on her team’s investigation and pushed back on insinuations about competence.

Willis links billing questions to Jan. 6 harms: She said billing issues cannot change what happened on Jan. 6 and referenced "five lives" lost, including a police officer, and said "They tried to kill our Vice President Pence."

Multi-state context emphasized: Willis asserted defendants were indicted in multiple jurisdictions (naming Arizona and Wisconsin and listing individuals) and contrasted that with the federal case naming only Donald Trump.

Case file size and charging decisions: Willis said the file was "huge," described a grand jury recommendation of 39 and her decision to charge 19, and highlighted Ruby Freeman and her daughter as victims she believed deserved protection.

Special purpose grand jury explanation: Willis defined it as investigatory and not permitted to return an indictment; she said it was necessary to subpoena reluctant witnesses.

Lindsey Graham litigation referenced: Willis said subpoena litigation went "all the way to the Supreme Court," which she believed unanimously required Sen. Lindsey Graham to appear.

Statewide grand jury / concurrent jurisdiction debate: Willis argued local jurisdiction should retain power to prosecute crimes occurring there, said the AG already has the ability to prosecute, and framed proposed changes as efforts to "take rights away."

Grant questions and Sen. Grassley letter: Willis repeatedly said she was not DA in 2020, did not recall responding to Grassley, and would not speculate about allegations. She claimed a DOJ audit passed and said a former employee’s cases had been dismissed.

Open Records workload and policy changes: Willis cited "over sixteen hundred" open records requests (Jan. 2024–Nov. 30, 2025) with a 92% clearance rate; she said she began charging in January 2025 (handled via CFO) and expanded staffing to multiple attorneys and support staff due to demand/abuse.

Closing rationale for bringing the case: Willis said she brought it because people "came in my jurisdiction and broke the law," emphasized election protection and public safety, and ended with defiance about threats/audits: "I’m a keep doing my job with excellence."

What happened before today

What we know:

Willis recently dropped her opposition to a subpoena requiring her to appear, bringing to a close a dispute that began in the summer of 2024. Her attorney, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, said Willis is complying with the order but maintains the committee’s actions are politically motivated.

Timeline: Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Nathan Wade controversy

The Senate committee is investigating Willis’ decision to bring criminal charges against President Donald Trump and his supporters over efforts to overturn the 2020 Georgia election results. Lawmakers are also examining whether Willis’ romantic relationship with former deputy prosecutor Nathan Wade influenced her decision to pursue the case.

Wade was removed from the case earlier, and Willis was later disqualified as well. The prosecution was formally dropped last month.

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What they're saying:

Despite agreeing to testify, Willis’ legal team argues the hearing is designed to score political points rather than conduct a legitimate inquiry. 

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