ATLANTA – Members of the Georgia House of Representatives on Monday approved a bill to revive a commission with powers to discipline and remove prosecutors, a move that Democrats warn is aimed at disrupting the prosecution of former President Donald Trump by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The House voted 95-75 along party lines in favor of House Bill 881, sending it to the Senate for further debate.
A similar bill advanced in a Senate committee last week.
Although Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation last year to create the Commission on Prosecutor Qualifications, it failed to begin operations after the state Supreme Court refused in November to approve rules governing its conduct. .
The judges said they had “grave doubts” about their ability to regulate the duties of district attorneys beyond the practice of law.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis appears during a hearing on defendant Harrison Floyd, leader of the Black Voices for Trump organization, as part of the Georgia election indictments on Nov. 21, 2023. AP/Dennis Byron
Monday’s move eliminates the Supreme Court approval requirement.
“This commission will now be able to begin its real work, which is holding accountable those dishonest prosecutors who abuse their office,” said Rep. Joseph Gullett, a Dallas Republican who sponsored the measure.
Gullett and some other Republicans deny that the measure is aimed directly at Willis, citing instances of prosecutorial misconduct, including times in the past when Democrats supported the idea of a prosecutorial oversight panel.
But Democratic opposition to the commission has hardened, saying Republicans are trying to override the will of Democratic voters.
“The commission will be able to proceed unilaterally and will have the ability to interfere with and undermine an ongoing investigation into Donald J. Trump,” said House Minority Leader Sam Park, a Democrat from Lawrenceville. “They are taking steps to protect former President Trump from ongoing criminal proceedings.”
On Thursday, Trump joined an effort by co-defendant Michael Roman to have Willis, Wade and their offices excluded from the case. REUTERS
Senators on Friday approved a special investigative committee that Republicans say will be used to investigate whether Willis has used state money to benefit from hiring attorney Nathan Wade as special prosecutor.
On Thursday, Trump joined an effort by co-defendant Michael Roman to have Willis, Wade and their offices excluded from the case.
Ashleigh Merchant, Roman’s attorney, filed a motion on Jan. 8 accusing Willis of having an inappropriate romantic relationship with Wade that resulted in a conflict of interest.
Willis has yet to publicly respond to allegations of a romantic relationship between her and Wade. But she vigorously defended Wade and his qualifications during a Jan. 14 service honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a black church in Atlanta.
He then suggested that Wade’s questioning has its roots in racism.
A filing in Wade’s divorce case includes credit card statements showing that Wade, after being hired as a special prosecutor, purchased plane tickets in October 2022 for him and Willis to travel to Miami and purchased tickets in April to San Francisco in his name.
Republicans allege that Willis was improperly motivated by personal gain in employing Wade.
Kemp has said he prefers that the prosecutorial oversight panel and not the Senate committee investigate any allegations of misconduct by Willis, and on Monday he called on the Senate to approve the measure quickly. But Democrats warn that eliminating the requirement that the Supreme Court review the rules could leave the commission itself without oversight.
The measure would also make it more difficult for a court to overturn the commission’s action by imposing a high standard of review.
“The question we should all be asking is who will oversee this commission,” said Rep. Tanya Miller, D-Atlanta. “To whom will they be accountable? Certainly not the voters, because they are not elected. “This should terrify us all.”
The Georgia law is one of multiple attempts by Republicans across the country to rein in prosecutors they don’t like.
Republicans have lashed out at progressive prosecutors after some filed fewer drug possession cases and called for shorter prison sentences, arguing that Democrats are coddling criminals.
“If you talk to victims across this state of district attorneys who aren’t doing their jobs, you’ll recognize why we can’t delay this any longer,” said Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens.
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