According to Judicial Watch, a Georgia judge ruled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis must pay over $20,000 in “attorney’s fees and costs” related to an open records lawsuit.
“The Superior Court in Fulton County, GA, issued an order granting $21,578 ‘attorney’s fees and costs’ in the open records lawsuit for communications Willis had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee,” Judicial Watch wrote.
The Superior Court in Fulton County, GA, issued an order granting $21,578 “attorney’s fees and costs” in the open records lawsuit for communications Willis had with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. READ: https://t.co/qcVL9VTlfT pic.twitter.com/i0EFkIli1R
— Judicial Watch
(@JudicialWatch) January 8, 2025
More from Judicial Watch:
The order followed a previous order finding that Willis was in default in the lawsuit.
Judicial Watch filed this lawsuit in March 2024 filed after Willis falsely denied having any records responsive to Judicial Watch’s earlier Georgia Open Records Act (ORA) request for communications with Special Counsel Jack Smiths office and/or the January 6 Committee (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Fani Willis et al. (No. 24-CV-002805)).
After finding Willis in default, the court ordered a court hearing on December 20, which resulted in the order yesterday, finding Willis liable for fees and expenses that “shall be paid within two weeks of the entry of this Order.”
Fani Willis needs to pay Judicial Watch over $21k in “attorney’s fees and costs,” court says.
No more vacations for Fani! pic.twitter.com/a8celEdDrF
— Paul A. Szypula
(@Bubblebathgirl) January 7, 2025
JUST IN
Fulton County DA Fani Willis will have to pay $21,578 to @JudicialWatch.
The Superior Court in Fulton County issued an order granting Judicial Watch’s legal fees to be reimbursed
This is just another loss for Willis, who was sued by Judicial Watch for an open… pic.twitter.com/Rv07mGNq0c
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) January 7, 2025
From the New York Post:
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was ordered to pay nearly $22,000 in legal fees to a conservative watchdog last week after a Georgia court found that she “flatly ignored” an open records request submitted by the organization.
The group, Judicial Watch, had submitted an Open Records Act (ORA) request to Fulton County in August 2023 seeking communications Willis had with special counsel Jack Smith and the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.
One day after the request was made, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office told Judicial Watch that it did not have any “responsive records.”
“This response was perplexing and eventually suspicious to [Judicial Watch], given that Plaintiff subsequently uncovered through own effort at least one document that should have been in the District Attorney’s Office’s possession that was patently responsive to the request,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his Jan. 3 order.
The discovery of the document prompted Judicial Watch to file a lawsuit last March to force Willis to search for material related to the records request, but the embattled DA on four more occasions denied the existence of any communications with Smith or the House Jan. 6 committee.
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