Fani Willis Defends Trump Prosecution in Heated Georgia Senate Hearing

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis delivered a combative, hours-long defense of her collapsed prosecution of President Donald Trump and his allies on Wednesday, appearing under oath before a Georgia Senate panel investigating her conduct in the high-profile election case.

Willis testified for more than three hours before the Senate Special Committee on Investigations, marking her first sworn testimony in the nearly two-year probe into her office’s handling of the Trump prosecution, her romantic relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, and allegations that her office coordinated politically with Democrats in Washington.

From the outset, Willis adopted a defiant tone toward lawmakers.

“I know you are somewhat offended that I had the audacity to prosecute these folks that came into my county and committed crimes,” Willis told senators. “But this wasn’t special to me. This was another day of business.”

“These 19 people deserved to be indicted,” she later said. “And they were.”

During questioning, Willis acknowledged she did not conduct formal vetting of Wade before hiring him to help lead the racketeering case against President Trump and 18 co-defendants.

“When I became Fulton County DA, the office was in absolute chaos,” Willis said. “We were drowning. Every lawyer I had with that level of experience had a huge project.”

She admitted to a romantic relationship with Wade during the early stages of the prosecution but defended her decision to bring him on, citing his trial experience and workload.

“He had a thriving law practice,” Willis said, claiming Wade billed as many as 160 hours a week while training junior attorneys assigned to the case.

As the hearing progressed, Willis grew increasingly hostile toward the Republican-led committee, accusing members of pursuing political ambitions rather than legitimate oversight.

“Your real purpose is to try to get elected,” she told lawmakers. “You’re wasting a lot of time where me and my staff could be keeping the community safe, but I’m here to do this song and dance with you.”

The testimony became especially heated when committee Vice Chair Sen. Greg Dolezal questioned Willis about the romantic relationship that ultimately led to her disqualification from the case. Willis responded by attempting to redirect the inquiry.

“You want to investigate something? Investigate how many times they called me the n-word. Investigate them writing on my house, how many times my house has been swatted,” she said.

Willis also rejected allegations that her office coordinated with the Biden administration or the House January 6 Committee, asserting that any contact with federal officials was purely procedural.

“I couldn’t recall the House committee sending me anything,” Willis said. “Wade probably traveled to Washington to get information on some of the criminals I ended up indicting.”

The Fulton County case unraveled earlier this year after the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that Willis’s relationship with Wade created an “appearance of impropriety.” Judge Scott McAfee formally dismissed the prosecution on Nov. 26, ending the once-vaunted effort to criminally pursue President Trump in Georgia.

Wednesday’s hearing followed months of legal wrangling over Willis’s refusal to comply with a legislative subpoena. After initially resisting testimony in 2024, Willis was compelled to appear following a Georgia Supreme Court ruling last week affirming the legislature’s authority to investigate her conduct.

Willis repeatedly pointed out that four of the committee’s five Republican members — Sens. Bill Cowsert, Greg Dolezal, Steve Gooch, and Blake Tillery — are running for statewide office in 2026, accusing them of politicizing the proceedings.

Still, she showed no remorse for bringing charges against President Trump and his allies.

“The reality is that I brought forth an indictment because people came in my county, they committed a crime, and they got charged,” Willis said. “They didn’t get charged because of their race. They didn’t get charged because of their political party. They got charged because they came to my county and committed a crime.”

The Senate committee is expected to issue a detailed report on Willis’s testimony and the conduct of her office early next year.