(Townhall) Fani Willis has been handed a “Get Out of Jail Free” card…for now.
Last week, the Fulton County Board of Ethics was set to hear two complaints filed against the Democrat DA. But, as the meeting convened Thursday, the ethics board decided last-minute not to consider the filings accusing Willis of prosecutorial misconduct.
The board’s chairman, Daraka E. Satcher, a former Obama administration appointee, declared that they do not have jurisdiction over the ethics complaints because Willis is a state constitutional officer, not a county official subject to the local ethics code.
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
“The Fulton County Code of Ethics, our code of ethics, only applies to ‘county’ officers and employees,” Satcher reportedly said, reciting a prepared statement. The proper venue, instead, is a hearing before the Georgia State Ethics Commission, he stated.
Thursday’s special meeting was not publicly live-streamed as they typically are, Townhall columnist Phil Holloway reported.
UPDATE: 🚨🚨🚨
This is the first meeting they have held without a live stream
Only in person
They changed the notice Tuesday….
— Phil Holloway ✈️ (@PhilHollowayEsq) March 7, 2024
One of the complaints—brought forward by Fulton County resident Steven Kramer—flags the luxury trips Willis took that were bought by her lover, Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to helm the prosecution of former President Donald Trump and his 18 allies in the sprawling Georgia RICO case. Willis awarded Wade “lucrative” contracts that have earned him over $650,000 in taxpayer-funded income for his years of work on the Trump case. Since his November 2021 appointment, Wade paid for “vacations around the world” with Willis, including trysts in Aruba, the Bahamas, and Belize, his credit card transactions show.
Kramer’s ethics complaint says Willis failed to report Wade’s purchases of plane tickets, Caribbean cruises, and hotels on financial disclosure reports in compliance with the county code (Section 2-79), which requires officials to disclose gifts of $100 or more from someone doing business with the county such as special prosecutor Wade, a contracted private-practice lawyer.
“There’s a lot of money being spent, but not for the citizens of Fulton,” Kramer told Real America’s Voice host Grant Stinchfield
“It’s our money, the taxpayers’ money being wasted,” Kramer added during the TV interview. “It’s just very unethical.”
Fulton County Republican Steve Kramer concisely making the case against Fani Willis tonight on @stinchfield1776 ! #gapol pic.twitter.com/WBXc9lA4Vi
— Josh McKoon 🇺🇸 🇹🇼 🇮🇱 (@JoshMcKoon) February 22, 2024
Kramer suggested Willis herself could be charged with RICO violations. “One could surmise that D.A. Willis, perhaps with the aiding and abetting of district attorney employees, could have turned the Fulton County District Attorney office into a criminal enterprise. Should the multiple crimes be proven, D.A. Willis, so fond of using RICO, could be its latest target by the Georgia Attorney General,” Kramer’s complaint says, adding: “Only an evidentiary hearing by the Board of Ethics will uncover the truth.”
“The Fulton County Code of Ethics has been put into place for exactly the kind of behavior alleged […] all I ask is that it be put to use fairly and without fear or favor. I respectfully submit this complaint to the Fulton County Board of Ethics in furtherance of seeking the truth, good government, transparency, ethics, and fiscal responsibility,” Kramer’s seven-page complaint concludes.
The other complaint—lodged by Gregory Mantell, founder of the Substack blog Investigative News Service—alleged that the DA’s office unlawfully refused to release financial records related to Wade’s invoices in violation of the state’s Open Records Act.
Fulton County Board of Ethics cancelled its inquiry into Fani Willis’ refusal to release financial records under Georgia’s open records law. The nation’s largest counties willingly released records about DOJ funding. We’re filing complaint with GA senate & prosecutor commission pic.twitter.com/3tNsPenuxN
— Investigative News Service (@InvNewsServ) March 7, 2024
