‘A Dumb A– Question’: Fani Willis Goes Off on Georgia Lawmakers, Calls Out Racist Attacks in Explosive Hearing
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis remained steadfast as state lawmakers grilled her during a tense hearing. The questioning came from a special Georgia Senate committee created to investigate her prosecution of President Donald Trump and 18 others in the 2020 election interference case. Fani Willis, Fulton County District Attorney, at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, March 1, 2024. (Photo: Alex Slitz/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images) A defiant Willis defended the case and her appointment of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she was involved in a romantic relationship during the court proceedings against Trump and his cronies, at the hearing before the Georgia Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations Wednesday, Dec. 17. And it’s easy to see why some supporters see the commission’s investigation into Willis and the Fulton County DA’s office, not only as a racist attack, but a political ploy meant to soothe Trump’s ruffled feathers over Willis’ prosecution of him and his allies. ‘What a Dingbat’: Karoline Leavitt Gets Dragged for Claiming Trump Invented a Slogan Coined by a Black Man 20 Years Ago “Is it true that part of your transition team was involved in the process of interviewing people before you entered office to lead the investigation into the 2020 presidential election?” Republican state Sen. Greg Dolezal nonsensically asked her, implying that she’s some kind of psychic. But Willis wasn’t playing around, and not only crushed it with her spot-on reply but called out Dolazal and the other committee members. “What you ask is a factual impossibility,” she pointed out, before calling it what it was. “That's what we call a lie. I had no way of knowing that these criminals were going to commit a crime. I didn't wait until the day I took office to look for talent that would represent my office for a case that didn't exist. It's a dumbass question,” an exasperated Willis declared. At that point, Willis’s attorney, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, agreed that the question didn’t make sense, but he encouraged her to continue her testimony. "It's a dumbass question," an exasperated Willis declared. Willis had to spell out for the seemingly ignorant lawmakers that she could not predict the future. “I didn't know that he was going to commit a crime prior to me taking office,” she told the committee. Willis won the 2020 election for Fulton County district attorney, the same election Trump lost to former President Joe Biden. That was the year Georgia turned purple, electing two Democratic Senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and giving Biden a victory by just over 11,000 votes. Trump and his supporters tried to overturn the election results in states across the country. In Georgia, he was recorded in a phone conversation demanding that Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger “find him 11,000 votes.” Raffensberger refused. When Willis took office in January of 2021, she launched a racketeering investigation against Trump and 18 others over the election interference and attempts to change the outcome in Georgia. Trump blasted both Raffensberger and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for their refusal to overturn the outcome of a legitimate election and carried a grudge against the pair for years. But Dolezal wasn’t finished and gave Willis a chance to put him and the other lawmakers in their place. “What was the total cost of the election interference case?” he asked. “I don't know the exact cost,” Willis responded. “It couldn’t have been enough. Dolezal then asked if Wade had ever prosecuted that type of case. Willis defended Wade and his record and called him “a leader” to the prosecution team, but then, in a surprise move, she turned the tables on him. “Him, like me, has been threatened,” Willis spat out. “Do you want something to investigate as a Legislature? Investigate how many times they've called me the N-word? Why don't you investigate that? Why don't you investigate them writing on my house. Why don't you investigate the fact that my house has been swatted?” Willis angrily inquired. “What have you done, sir? Nothing!” she scornfully replied. State Sen. Brian Strickland, who is running for Georgia Attorney General next year, took to Facebook after the hearing, accusing Willis of turning the hearing “into a three-ring circus.” He also called the prosecution of the clear election interference by Trump and others “misguided.” But social media wasn’t having any of it. “Imagine running to be the top law enforcement officer of this state and being more upset at the person who tried to uphold the law than at the person who actually broke the law,” this Threads user said, which plenty of people were wondering about too. “Georgia State Senator Strickland is a Trump apologist. He is running for Attorney General to advance Trump's pitiless, vile, racist agenda and cruel policies. Hopefully whoever runs against Strickland crushes his dreams,” another user agreed. Responses across Instagram applauded Willis’ testimony. “Fani did well today. Proud of her and her office.” Another user thinks Willis used the hearing to her advantage. “Yall gave her nothing but a platform! Proud of the way she handled herself today.” Willis was removed from the criminal case against Trump over her intimate relationship with Wade, and the case was ultimately dropped.
