Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) said Monday that she would not be testifying before a Republican-led Georgia state Senate panel investigating her.
At an event where she earned the endorsement of many local Black religious leaders, Willis said the committee investigating her may not have the authority to subpoena her.
“First of all, I don’t think they even had the authority to subpoena me, but they need to learn the law,” she said, reported by Fox 5.
She continued, saying she would not appear for anything unlawful because she had “not broken the law.”
“I’ve said it amongst these leaders; I’m sorry folks get pissed off that everybody gets treated equally,” Willis said.
Willis, who is conducting a historic indictment of former President Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, has also made headlines for her personal relationship.
Months of controversy have disrupted Willis’s original case, after it was made public that she had a romantic relationship with someone she hired for the case.
A judge ruled in March that she could continue the prosecution, if she or special prosecutor Nathan Wade stepped down, which he ultimately did.
Now, the state Senate is looking to investigate whether Willis and Wade used taxpayer dollars during their relationship.
County Commission Chair Robb Pitts testified before the committee this week that the board has little power over Willis’s spending once it approves her budget, but also dodged opportunities to criticize Willis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The Hill has reached out to the state Senate press office for comment on Willis’s remarks, but the committee’s chair, state Sen. Bill Cowsert (R), told Fox 5 that he maintains the committee has the power to make Willis testify about her spending. He said Willis could be held in contempt if she doesn’t cooperate.
“I sure hope it doesn’t get to that,” Cowsert told the outlet.
Georgia’s local and state election day is May 21. Willis, who is in the middle of running her reelection campaign, will face a Democratic challenger, Christian Wise Smith, a former prosecutor in the Fulton County district attorney’s ofice, in the primary, 11Alive reported.
“[There] ain’t no one above the law, either,” Willis said at her press conference Monday. “So, I don’t care how rich you are, how powerful you think you are, who your daddy is, what your political party might be, how much money you think you got and how evil your supporters are.”
“I don’t care how many times they threaten me. I will gladly leave this place knowing that I did God’s work,” she said.