The Fulton County Board of Ethics reportedly declined to review two complaints against Fani Willis just before a meeting scheduled for their consideration on Thursday.
The board chose not to review the complaints because it found it lacks jurisdiction to enforce the code of ethics against Willis, as she is a state constitutional officer, according to multiple reports.
The meeting agenda initially listed two ethics complaints against Willis but was later amended to exclude them.
“The Fulton County Code of Ethics only applies to county officers and employees,” a member of the board stated, according to a video posted by Atlanta News First reporter Doug Reardon. “The Fulton County district attorney does not fall within the definition of a county officer.”
The Fulton County Board of Ethics will NOT hear two Fani Willis complaints. Board apparently has determined it does not have jurisdiction over Willis, a state constitutional officer. #gapol
— David Wickert (@dwickert) March 7, 2024
It is unclear whether the meeting has been canceled entirely, though the Zoom link provided for public access leads to an invalid notice.
Gregory Mantell, who operates the Substack blog Investigative News Service, filed one complaint due to “the DA’s illegal refusal to release certain financial records, including Nathan Wade’s invoices, under Georgia’s public records law.”
Steven Kramer, a Fulton County resident, filed the other complaint, according to the agenda.
The Board of Ethics determined it lacked jurisdiction over Willis, who is an elected state officer, unable to be ethically reviewed by a county board. They noted the investigations going on at the state level. pic.twitter.com/3V8DGPiU3m
— Doug Reardon (@ReardonReports) March 7, 2024
Defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who filed the motion to disqualify Willis on behalf of Trump co-defendant Michael Roman in January, testified Wednesday on how she had uncovered the district attorney’s relationship with Nathan Wade at a Georgia State Senate hearing.
The Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations held its first meeting Feb. 9 to “thoroughly investigate the allegations of misconduct by the district attorney for Fulton County, Fani Willis, relating to potential conflicts of interest and misuse of public funds, to enact new or amend existing laws and/or change state appropriations to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system.”
