After discovering that her office had violated Georgia\u2019s Open Records Act, a judge ordered Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to turn over documents and pay more than $54,000 in attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n
Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign staffer, is one of the 18 individuals indicted in August 2023 alongside President Donald Trump on charges that they unlawfully attempted to overturn Trump\u2019s 2020 election defeat in Georgia. Attorney Ashleigh Merchant is representing Roman. In January 2024, Merchant filed a lawsuit, claiming that the district attorney\u2019s office had not provided the public records she had asked for.<\/p>\n
The violations of the records law \u201cwere intentional, not done in good faith, and were substantially groundless and vexatious,\u201d according to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause. Krause determined that Merchant is entitled to attorneys\u2019 fees and litigation expenses totaling slightly more than $54,000 because Willis and her office \u201clacked substantial justification\u201d for noncompliance. Willis was instructed by Krause to locate and provide all records that were responsive to Merchant\u2019s requests. After Friday\u2019s order, the paperwork and money must be delivered within 30 days.<\/p>\n
On Monday, a representative for Willis\u2019 office stated that they intend to challenge the ruling.<\/p>\n
After Willis\u2019 office repeatedly failed to produce documents, Merchant said she finally filed the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had no intention of bringing a lawsuit,\u201d she stated. \u201cWe truly had no choice because they were ignoring it, denying the existence of documents we knew existed, and opposing us at every turn.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to testimony, Merchant\u2019s requests \u201cwere handled differently than other requests,\u201d and Willis\u2019 office was \u201copenly hostile\u201d to her, Krause wrote in her order. At a hearing, open records officer Dexter Bond stated that although it was standard procedure for him to call the requester if a request was unclear, he declined to speak with Merchant over the phone.<\/p>\n
According to Krause, handling Merchant\u2019s requests in this manner \u201cindicates a lack of good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a court filing, among the documents Merchant requested were reports given to Willis\u2019 office by businesses engaged \u201cto track the impact of Willis\u2019 statements to the media and whether such statements were viewed favorably by the public.\u201d According to the document, Willis signed contracts with those businesses shortly before she and her office attempted to indict Roman, Trump, and other individuals.<\/p>\n
Merchant also requested a list of the lawyers Willis had hired, as well as a copy of the confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement that district attorney\u2019s office staff must sign.<\/p>\n
In December, the Georgia Court of Appeals decided that Willis and her office could not pursue the case against Trump and others for election interference. The Georgia Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will take up the case, but Willis requested in January that the court review and overturn that decision.<\/p>\n
Willis\u2019s romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to spearhead the case, created a \u201cappearance of impropriety\u201d that served as the foundation for the intermediate appeals court\u2019s decision. The relationship was first made public by Merchant in a shocking filing in January 2024, in which she claimed that the relationship created a conflict of interest that should disqualify Willis and her office from the case.<\/p>\n
Using the state\u2019s anti-racketeering law, a grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump and eighteen other defendants in August 2023 on charges of engaging in a complex plot to unlawfully attempt to overturn Trump\u2019s narrow defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia in 2020. Trump allegedly called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ask him to assist in obtaining enough votes to defeat Biden as part of the plot. Four have entered guilty pleas. Roman has entered a not guilty plea along with Trump and the other defendants.<\/p>\n
It appears doubtful that Willis will be able to bring charges against Trump while he is still in office, even if the Georgia Supreme Court decides to hear the case and ultimately finds in her favor. Roman, however, is one of 14 defendants still facing charges in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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