Court sides with Judicial Watch, orders Fani Willis to hand over docs in open records lawsuit

A Superior Court in Georgia on Tuesday found Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in default, ordering her to provide records that Judicial Watch requested related to her communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith's office or the January 6 Committee.

Judicial Watch sued Willis in March after she denied having any records of the communications, which the watchdog claimed was "likely false." Judicial Watch previously requested the documents, which are related to allegations that she colluded with Democrats and the Biden administration to prosecute President-elect Donald Trump, through an Open Records Act request in 2023.

The watchdog claimed that the denial was likely false because House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to Willis last year that referenced a 2021 letter from Willis to then-House January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson. In the letter, Willis allegedly requested assistance from the committee and offered to travel to Washington, D.C.

The court on Tuesday sided with Judicial Watch in its request for a default judgment, finding that Willis has been in default since April.

"The Court finds Defendant [Willis, in her official capacity] is in default and has been since 11 April 2024," the court wrote. "[Willis] never moved to open default on any basis (not even during the period when she could have opened default as a matter of right), she never paid costs, and she never offered up a meritorious defense.”

The court ordered Willis to pay attorney fees for the watchdog, and to search for and provide legally releasable records on the subject to Judicial Watch within five business days. 

“Fani Willis is something else. We’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and this is the first time in our experience a government official has been found in default for not showing up in court to answer an open records lawsuit.,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. “Judicial Watch looks forward to getting any documents from the Fani Willis operation about collusion with the Biden administration and Nancy Pelosi’s Congress on her unprecedented and compromised ‘get-Trump’ prosecution.”

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.