GA lawmaker probing Fani Willis says more hearings to come after ‘credible’ witness testimony
A Georgia state senator spearheading the probe into the Fulton County district attorney's office says some of District Attorney Fani Willis' claims about her relationship are "dubious" after one whistleblower's testimony.
On Thursday, the Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations, chaired by Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, held its fourth hearing as part of its investigation into Willis' alleged misconduct and misuse of funds.
Amanda Timpson, who once served as Willis’ director of juvenile diversion programs, testified that she was demoted and eventually fired after she blew the whistle on the office's misuse of federal grant money.
Timpson also testified that in 2020, shortly after Willis was elected, that Nathan Wade, with whom Willis is alleged to have had an "improper" affair, was part of every interview panel for Willis' incoming staff.
FANI WILLIS’ EX-STAFFER TESTIFIES SHE WAS FIRED AFTER BLOWING WHISTLE ON DA’S SPENDING
However, Wade would not be hired as special prosecutor until roughly a year later. Willlis hired Wade in November 2021 to help prosecute the sweeping racketeering case against former President Trump related to allegations of election interference.
It is unclear if he was on the payroll at the time he was helping Willis build her new team.
Willis and Wade were accused of having an "improper" affair prior to his hiring, which both parties denied and alleged their romantic relationship started after Wade was hired.
However, Cowsert says he believes that claim is "dubious."
"[Wade], for a whole year, was her confidant and collaborator on running the office before he gets hired," Cowsert said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"And then she's acting like it was just something that happened in the summer of 2022. That they began a relationship months after the hiring. That's a dubious claim, you know?" Cowsert said.
In a committee hearing in March, Ashleigh Merchant, a lawyer for a co-defendant in the case against former President Trump, testified that information on Wade’s cellphone data indicated he visited the condo Willis was renting a number of times before he was hired.
"It's pinging from his house all the way down to the condo at midnight 1 a.m. And then he calls her when he gets there. And then it goes silent for four or five hours. And then, you know, early in the morning hours, he starts pinging again, driving back, and then he texts her when he gets home," Merchant said, describing the geolocation data from Wade’s cellphone.
Attorneys for the state in the proceedings in Fulton County Superior Court in February testified that geolocation data is unreliable as evidence.
However, Merchant noted that the state is "currently using the same data in another courtroom to prosecute someone, but in their defense in ours was that it's not reliable."
Merchant along with lawyers for Trump and other co-defendants are appealing to the Georgia Court of Appeals to have Willis disqualified from the case.
A state judge ruled in March that Willis could stay on the case only if Wade was removed. Wade resigned from the case later that day.
"An odor of mendacity remains," the judge said, adding that "reasonable questions about whether the District Attorney and her hand-selected lead SADA [special assistant district attorney] testified untruthfully about the timing of their relationship further underpin the finding of an appearance of impropriety and the need to make proportional efforts to cure it."
In the meantime, state lawmakers formed a special committee with subpoena power to investigate the Fulton County district attorney.
Cowsert called Timpson a "very impressive and credible" witness.
"I think it was interesting that nobody on the committee ever questioned the accuracy of her complaints," Cowsert said.
EMBATTLED DA FANI WILLIS WINS GEORGIA PRIMARY ELECTION
Timpson testified that she was subject to "overwhelming retaliation" and "pushback" after notifying her direct boss that Willis' office was knowingly misusing federal grant funds, which is illegal.
Timpson said she wanted Willis to be aware of the misuse of funds to "protect" her and "protect the integrity of the grants." She said that after Willis was made aware of Timpson's warnings, she was demoted to the position of file clerk.
"I thought that I was going to ultimately retire from the DA's office, and it made a place that I used to be proud of working at hell for me, essentially," Timpson said.
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Cowsert observed that working in the DA's office was a "dream job" for Timpson, who had grown up in Compton, California, and alluded to being personally affected by the rampant gang activity there.
"I think she's trying to make the world better. And that her niche is stopping youths from joining gangs. And she did that with the school system here and then with the DA's office. It was like a dream job, really, for her… and then it was snatched away from her," Cowsert said.
The committee is expected to hold additional hearings over the next several months.
Willis has said she will not testify, though the committee has subpoena power, and she has called the committee "unlawful."
Fox News Digital reached out to Willis and Wade for comment.