A former governor and the state’s top local prosecutor on one side. Three would-be lieutenant governors and a would-be attorney general on the other.
Toss in the collapse of the biggest criminal case in Georgia history, and Wednesday’s showdown between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and a state Senate panel could provide plenty of political fire.
Willis will testify before the Senate Special Committee on Investigations — a panel created to investigate her actions in the criminal case she brought against Donald Trump and 18 others who sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
She filed that case in 2023 and quickly obtained four guilty pleas. But it hit a snag when defense attorneys accused Willis of having a conflict of interest because of a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to assist with the case. After Willis was disqualified from the case, another prosecutor dropped the remaining charges last month.
The Senate created the panel shortly after the allegations against Willis came to light. Willis resisted the committee’s efforts to compel her testimony. But on Wednesday, she’ll make a long-delayed appearance before the panel.
The committee is stocked with Republicans aiming for higher office, and other big names in Georgia politics will be on hand.
Here’s a look at some of the key players:
Lieutenant governor candidates: State Sens. Greg Dolezal, Steve Gooch and Blake Tillery are seeking the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor next year. Each could use the hearing as an opportunity to distinguish themselves against Willis, who is despised by many Republicans for her prosecution of Trump.
Attorney general candidate: Sen. Bill Cowsert, who chairs the committee, is a Republican candidate for attorney general. At times, he’s stressed the panel is not a partisan witch hunt. But that pledge has sometimes been drowned out by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who presides over the Senate and has blasted Willis.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Willis’ attorney: Former Gov. Roy Barnes, a fellow Democrat, has represented Willis in recent proceedings. A top Georgia trial lawyer, Barnes, who left office in 2003, after losing his bid for a second term. Some blamed the defeat on Barnes’ controversial push to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag. He was the last Democrat to serve as Georgia’s governor.
Credit: AJC file photo
Credit: AJC file photo
Willis herself: Willis was a combative witness when questioned by defense attorneys in the criminal case nearly two years ago. She has skipped Senate committee meetings and defied its subpoenas. Now she’s preparing to testify under oath.
It won’t be her first time — she testified under oath during the criminal case. But the political ambitions of some of her inquisitors and Willis’ flair for fighting back could make for a combustible combination Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Willis did nothing to tamp down expectations when asked about her impending testimony. In a roomful of reporters, she launched into a two-minute tirade that touched on the October assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and Trump’s social media remarks about the stabbing deaths of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife in Los Angeles.
Then, she seemingly alluded to her impending Senate testimony.
“Tomorrow,” she told a reporter, “you’ll get Christmas.”
Staff writer Shaddi Abusaid contributed to this report
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