Georgia State Senate The investigative committee will hold its fourth hearing Thursday afternoon as part of its investigation into alleged misconduct by District Attorney Fani Willis.
The Senate Special Committee on Investigations, chaired by Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, will consider sworn testimony from witness Amanda Timpson, who worked as Willis’ director of juvenile diversion programs but says she was demoted and eventually fired.
Cowsert told Fox News that the termination came after she became a whistleblower and began complaining about misuse of federal grant funds.
The goal of the committee is to investigate allegations of misconduct by Willis related to potential conflicts of interest. misuse of public funds,
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrives to speak after winning the Democratic primary, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP Photo/Brian Anderson)
Willis won the primary election on Tuesday by a wide margin over his Democratic opponent.
“They sent a strong, powerful message tonight,” Willis said in her acceptance speech. “They want a district attorney who believes that everybody deserves to be safe. And everybody deserves to have some respect. And that’s a message that’s bothering people. But in this country, nobody is above the law. Nobody is below the law.”
Willis is leading the 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump. She has been the focus of criticism following allegations that she had an “inappropriate” relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she appointed to help prosecute the case.
Georgia’s GOP-controlled Senate voted in January to create a special committee to investigate Willis amid revelations of her romantic relationship with Wade.
He is unlikely to testify on Thursday and has previously called the committee “unlawful,” though the committee has the power to issue subpoenas to compel his testimony.
Previous state Senate committee hearings revealed that Willis’ oversight of the $36 million budget was “like the Wild West, very little control,” Cowsert said.
At a hearing earlier this month, Fulton County Commissioner Rob Pitts and Fulton County Chief Financial Officer Sharon Whitmore testified that Willis has broad discretion over taxpayer money, including who appoints a special prosecutor. whether or not they should be paid and how much they should be paid.
“You don’t know how much of it is spent on professional services, who is hired, how much they are paid per hour, what their total compensation is. Yet you are asked to provide $36.6 million per year That being said, as you know this involves a variety of independent contractors that you know you are funding without any oversight or control, right?” Cowsert asked Whitmore at one point.
Pitts also testified that Willis needed no pre-approval to hire an independent special counsel to assist him in his activities.
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Former special prosecutor Nathan Wade arrives before Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks after winning the Democratic primary for candidate for reelection, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Georgia. (AP Photo/Bryn Anderson)
Ashley Merchant, an attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, testified at the committee’s first hearing that Willis was granted a $780,000 increase in the DA’s budget on September 15, 2021, through the end of that year, rising to $5 million the following year. Should not exceed.
The budget increase was made just months before Wade was appointed in November 2021, and about eight months before the special grand jury in the case was empaneled in May 2022.
He said the DA claimed the money was to hire additional people to help with the backlog of murder cases the office was handling at the time.
Fannie Willis suggests she won’t testify in ‘unlawful’ Georgia Senate investigation
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing in the case of State of Georgia vs. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 15, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Alyssa Pointer-Poole/Getty Images)
Merchant testified that when she made open records requests to confirm that her office had hired new employees, not specialized contractors, the DA’s office denied her request.
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Thursday’s hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Fox News’ David Levkovic and Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
