Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is facing intense pressure from House Republicans and even second-guessing from a judge in her own state. But her record makes it clear she knows what she’s doing.
In a letter last week, Willis gave a sharp retort to House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, after he demanded that she turn over all documents related to her election interference case against former President Donald Trump and the 18 other people indicted in Georgia in August.
Prosecutors only bring cases they believe that they can win.
Willis wrote in part, “Your job description as a legislator does not include criminal law enforcement nor does it include supervising a specific criminal trial because you believe that doing so will promote your partisan political objectives.
“Your letter makes clear that you lack a basic understanding of the law, its practice and the ethical obligations of attorneys generally and prosecutors specifically.”
This comes after Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the Georgia case, said that he was “very skeptical” of Willis’ plan to put all 19 defendants on trial in October.
It seems that McAfee, Jordan and other critics have forgotten who Fani Willis is and what exactly she has accomplished in her time in office.
Let’s look at her track record:
In her almost 20 years as a prosecutor, Willis has led more than 100 jury trials; she is an expert in RICO cases; and she prosecuted one of Georgia’s largest criminal cases involving a cheating scandal in the Atlanta Public Schools system. In fact, since becoming Fulton County’s chief prosecutor, her office’s conviction rate has stood at close to 90%. That conviction rate matters because prosecutors only bring cases they believe that they can win. So why are some saying that Willis is in over her head or biting off more than she can chew? And why does special counsel Jack Smith seem to be avoiding the same level of scrutiny and second-guessing? Many seem content to take Smith at his word and assume that he knows what he is doing while not extending Willis the same good faith. Fani Willis is not new to this, so where is the confidence in her prosecutorial skills? It may never come. But if I’m confident of one thing, it’s that Fani Willis knows what she’s doing. This is an adapted excerpt from the September 9 episode of “Symone.”
Symone D. Sanders Townsend is an author and a co-host of "The Weeknight."
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