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By Katherine Fung
Senior Writer
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is facing a new lawsuit from conservative activist group Judicial Watch.
Judicial Watch sued Willis and Fulton County, Georgia, on Wednesday, alleging that the plaintiffs failed to comply with state laws by allegedly refusing to hand over communications that the district attorney and county had with the former January 6 Committee and special counsel Jack Smith.
The Georgia Open Records Act lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, claims that Willis' office lied about not having the records that Judicial Watch had requested in August 2023.
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Newsweek reached out to Willis' office via email for comment.
Judicial Watch is known for its Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, which the group says it files as part of its mission "to promote transparency, accountability, and integrity in government and fidelity to the rule of law." The group primarily targets Democrats.
In the complaint, Judicial Watch claims that it had submitted a request for access to "all documents and communication sent to, received from, or relating to" Smith, the House committee and any of their employees on August 22, 2023.
After acknowledging receipt of the request, the group said the county informed Judicial Watch it did not have the records a day after the request was made.
The conservative group argues that "the County's representation about not having records responsive to the request is likely false" because of a letter that Willis sent to January 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson in December 2021 and news reports that indicate members of Willis' office traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with committee staffers.
"The letter [from Willis] requests assistance from the Select Committee and suggests dates when Willis and her staff were available to travel to Washington, DC to meet with Select Committee staff," the lawsuit reads. "The letter also offers Willis' email address and the email address of Ms. Willis' assistant to coordinate future communications and contacts."
"Willis' letter to Chairman Thompson is plainly responsive to the request, yet it was neither produced to Plaintiff in response to the request nor claimed to be subject to exemption from production under the Open Records Act," it argues.
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Judicial Watch is asking the court to declare that Willis violated the state's Open Records Act, order the district attorney's office to search for and hand over all records, and award the group its attorney's fees and other costs related to the lawsuit.
This is the second lawsuit that the group has filed against Fulton County. In January, Judicial Watch sued the county for records regarding the hiring of special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The suit came after defendants in former President Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case filed a motion to have Willis' office disqualified from the prosecution, citing a conflict of interest that arose from the revelation that Willis and Wade are in a romantic relationship.
Willis and Wade maintain their relationship did not begin until after she appointed him to the case. Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the Trump case in Fulton County, is currently weighing whether or not the claims warrant Willis' disqualification.
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