Just the News sues Fani Willis office to force release of communications with Biden White House

The legal foundation representing Just the News filed a complaint in Fulton County, Georgia, Wednesday requesting the court compel the county’s District Attorney’s Office to comply with an open records request to obtain communications that DA Fani Willis or her office had with the Biden White House.

Just the News is being represented by the America First Legal Foundation in the case.

“AFL is pleased to represent Just the News in this critically important case. Georgia law recognizes that ‘open government is essential to a free, open, and democratic society.’ It encourages public access to government records so citizens may evaluate the efficient and proper functioning of its institutions. Here, there is substantial evidence that the Fulton County District Attorney’s office has ceased to function properly; the requested records must be produced.“ said Reed D. Rubinstein, America First Legal Senior Vice President.

“Determining whether this local district attorney had any contact with the Biden White House in the Trump prosecution is a matter of public interest regardless of your political stripe. Prosecutions should be free of political influence. I want to thank America First Legal for representing us in this very important quest for the truth,” said John Solomon, CEO and Editor in Chief of Just the News.

In January, Just the News submitted a request to DA Willis’ office after reports emerged that the special prosecutor she had appointed to handle the 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump had met with Biden White House officials.

Just the News requested records of any meetings and any communications between Willis or her special prosecutor and White House and Justice Department officials.

On January 25, 2024, in a hearing before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, the DA’s office told the court that it had communicated with the White House in two written letters about “logistics and procedures.”

On February 12, however, the DA’s office responded, claiming that there were no records responsive to the request despite acknowledging the aforementioned letters before the court.

Willis has come under scrutiny for her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor which she appointed to handle the election interference case against the former president. One codefendant in the case filed a motion for Willis to be disqualified because of the alleged improper romantic and financial relationship: Wade was paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees and he subsequently paid for himself and Willis to go on vacations, according to the motion.

Yet, little attention has been paid to the communications between Biden’s White House staff and the DA’s office, which would not mark the first time that the White House has been involved in one of the cases against Trump.

In the summer of 2022, the Biden White House also facilitated the criminal probe by the Justice Department into his predecessor by waiving executive privilege claims and directly requesting the National Archives to provide the FBI access to documents delivered by Trump to the agency, which bolstered the classified documents case being pursued by DOJ special counsel Jack Smith. Smith’s aide also visited the Biden White House weeks before announcing an indictment against Trump in the case.