The Fulton County Board of Ethics reportedly declined to review two complaints against Fani Willis just before a meeting scheduled for their consideration 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.”
It is unclear whether the meeting has been canceled entirely, though the Zoom link provided for public access leads to an invalid notice.
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
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. (RELATED: Witness Comes Forward To Contradict Testimony Of Nathan Wade’s Former Law Partner)
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.”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – AUGUST 14: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County Government building on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Judge Scott McAfee said after closing arguments Friday on the motion to disqualify Willis that he intends to issue a ruling within two weeks.
Willis failed to disclose plane tickets paid for by Wade, along with any other purchases he made on her behalf, on her 2022 financial disclosure form, which requires disclosing any gift or favor from a “prohibited source” exceeding $100, the Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported. (RELATED: Fani Willis Explains Why She Didn’t List Gifts From Wade On Financial Disclosure)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 1: Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade, left, and executive district attorney Daysha Young confer during a hearing in the 2020 Georgia election interference case at the Fulton County Courthouse on December 1, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by John David Mercer- Pool/Getty Images)
“The State Ethics Code specifically references its application to district attorneys,” the board said in a statement. “Accordingly, any ethics complaint against the district attorney of any county would be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the State Ethics Commission.”
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