A court in Georgia recently came down hard on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for repeatedly breaking the state’s open records laws. The court also ordered her to pay over $21,000 for her office’s mishandling of public record requests.
Here’s what happened: The trouble began when Judicial Watch, a conservative group that monitors government actions, asked Willis’ office for documents showing any communication with special counsel Jack Smith or the now-disbanded House committee that investigated the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Instead of providing the records or explaining their absence, her office flatly denied having any relevant documents.
The case landed in Fulton County Superior Court, where Judge Robert McBurney wasn’t pleased with how the district attorney’s office handled things. Last year, the court ordered Willis to either produce the requested documents or explain why they couldn’t be found. The judge also left the door open for potential penalties, which have now been set at $21,578 to cover Judicial Watch’s legal fees.
Judicial Watch claims that Willis and her team made false statements about the existence of the documents. The court largely agreed, finding that her office ignored the open records request, failed to search for documents, and falsely claimed no records existed.
The judge pointed out a glaring example of this mismanagement. One of the key documents Judicial Watch sought was a letter Willis had written to the chair of the January 6 committee. Although her office initially denied the letter’s existence, Judicial Watch eventually got hold of it on their own. Later, under court pressure, Willis finally admitted the letter existed and even attached it to a memo filed in court.
Judge McBurney didn’t hold back in criticizing Willis’ office. He noted that her team repeatedly told Judicial Watch they had conducted thorough searches for records, only to later reveal that no real effort had been made until a lawsuit was filed. In fact, the Records Custodian for her office admitted during a deposition that no search was conducted back in August 2023 when the original request was made. When the lawsuit followed, the office still didn’t do a proper search—just a casual inquiry among staff.
The judge also highlighted how poorly the office handled its legal responsibilities. Even after litigation began, there was no organized or systematic effort to review emails or case files for responsive documents.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2024, dragged on as Willis’ office missed deadlines and defaulted by April. In December, the court formally ruled against her office, and now Willis is facing additional legal challenges. Judicial Watch has requested that a special master—a neutral third party—be appointed to search for the missing documents. Willis has until January 16 to respond to that request.
For now, her office is on the hook to pay the legal fees, with a deadline set for January 17. The judge’s message was clear: Georgia’s Open Records Act isn’t optional. Ignoring it can have real consequences, including covering the costs of lawsuits brought by frustrated citizens and watchdog groups.
This legal drama isn’t over yet, but it’s already a major embarrassment for Willis and her team. Many are watching closely to see how her office handles the fallout and whether Judicial Watch will uncover any more surprises in the documents they’ve been fighting to access.