Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been ordered to pay over $54,000 in attorney fees for violating Georgia’s Open Records Act, according to court documents.
The dispute arose from Willis’ office failing to provide records requested by defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Michael Roman, a former campaign and White House aide to President Donald Trump. Roman was indicted alongside Trump in the Georgia election interference case, which Willis brought in 2023 and is currently unresolved, Newsweek reported.Friday’s ruling represents another setback for Fani Willis and her case against Trump and the other defendants, the outlet noted further.
In December, Willis was disqualified from prosecuting the case involving Trump and 18 other co-defendants, who are accused of conspiring to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia. Trump has denied the charges and accused Willis of conducting a politically motivated attack.
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that the disqualification was necessary due to the “appearance of impropriety” stemming from Willis’ previous relationship with Nathan Wade, a former special prosecutor on the case. Wade was forced to resign in October.
Willis filed an appeal with the Georgia Supreme Court in January, arguing that the court was wrong to disqualify her “based solely upon an appearance of impropriety and absent a finding of an actual conflict of interest or forensic misconduct.”
In the court order issued on Friday, the judge found that the DA’s office had been “openly hostile” to Merchant’s requests for documents, adding they were “handled differently than other requests.” The judge added that this indicated a “lack of good faith.”
Willis now has 30 days to provide all the requested records and pay $54,264 to Merchant, reflecting nearly 80 hours of work on the case, according to the court order, Newsweek added.
Merchant had previously accused Willis’ office of withholding crucial documents related to Nathan Wade’s employment. She also requested records detailing how Willis’ office allocated public funds.
In a separate development, the Georgia Senate passed a bill in early March that could allow Trump and his co-defendants to seek reimbursement for their legal expenses.
The legislation, which was approved unanimously, enables counties to cover attorneys’ fees and other legal costs in cases where a district attorney is disqualified due to misconduct, provided the case is dismissed, Newsweek said.
Responding to the court order on Friday, attorney Merchant noted on X: “Proud that we have judges willing to hold people in power accountable when they ignore the law!!!”
Willis wrote in her January appeal: “No Georgia court has ever disqualified a district attorney for the mere appearance of impropriety without the existence of an actual conflict of interest.”
The appeals court removed Willis from the case against Trump in December.
The court did not go further by throwing out Trump’s indictment altogether, but Willis and the assistant DAs working in her office now have “no authority to proceed,” according to the ruling, which was reported by Fox News.
It’s the latest in a string of legal bad news for Willis. In September, a Georgia judge ruled against her in a case concerning an open records lawsuit.
Fulton County Judge Rachel Krause denied a request to dismiss a lawsuit regarding open records aimed at Willis and her office but she did grant a motion that exempts Willis from being personally named in the lawsuit, allowing her to remain involved in her official capacity as district attorney.
The lawsuit stemmed from the Fulton County election interference investigation and involved Merchant.
Merchant alleged that Willis was concealing records related to a media monitoring firm allegedly funded with taxpayer money.