Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her wide-ranging investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election, which resulted in indictments of a former President and 18 others, now has state Republicans clashing over how and if the Atlanta-based prosecutor should be punished.
Calls to remove Willis from office began almost immediately after the indictments were handed up.
In Washington, Republicans in Congress have opened investigations to try and find any forms of communication between Willis’ office and White House officials. Some have also pushed to eliminate any federal funding her office receives.
Closer to home, Donald Trump has been urging Georgia lawmakers to impeach and remove Willis from office. Those calls have been echoed by some of his most vocal supporters, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Rome).
Others are urging lawmakers to convene in a special session and investigate Willis. Colton Moore, a far-right state senator from northwest Georgia who has been a thorn in the side of state GOP leaders, began circulating a petition urging Gov. Brian Kemp to call an “emergency session to review the actions of Fani Willis.”
“America is under attack,” Moore said on X. “I’m not going to sit back and watch as radical left prosecutors politically TARGET political opponents.”
Both prospects face daunting odds.
An impeachment trial in the state senate has not taken place in several decades. Plus, a conviction would require the support of two-thirds (38) of the 56 state senators.
And Sen. Moore’s petition to call a special session would need the support of three-fifths of both chambers under the Gold Dome.
In other words, both efforts would require some support from Democratic lawmakers in order to come to fruition.
Willis does have a powerful Republican lawmaker standing in her corner: State House Speaker Jon Burns, who shared a statement Wednesday defending Willis’ investigation while attacking Moore and his petition without naming him.
“Targeting one specific DA in this manner certainly flaunts the idea of separation of powers, if not outright violates it,” Speaker Burns said. “We trust that our criminal justice system will deal with this matter impartially and fairly, and we will not improperly intercede in this matter in direct contradiction to the oaths we took.”
Burns, a lawyer himself, also added that withholding funding and other crucial state resources from a DA’s office could have an “unintended consequence,” including a backlog in criminal cases and an uptick in violent crimes.
Gov. Kemp, a Trump ally-turned-nemesis who has testified before prosecutors as part of the investigation, has also dismissed calls for a special session to oust Willis and has largely avoided directly criticizing her.
But Kemp was a champion for Senate Bill 92, a new state law taking effect this fall that gives an outside panel the power to investigate and recommend the removal of local prosecutors found to be unfit for office.
Republicans had avoided invoking Willis when debating the bill last session, but critics worried at the time that the new law could be used to target Willis and her investigation. Since the indictments were announced, some GOP lawmakers have said they would like to bring Willis before the new panel when it begins accepting complaints in October.
A lawsuit has been filed to try and overturn the new law.