Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis got some very bad news on Tuesday.
The Department of Justice has issued a subpoena seeking records of Willis’ international vacation from fall 2024, according to numerous reports.
The subpoena requests information about travel Willis may have taken around the time of last year’s presidential election. The inquiry is being led by Theodore Hertzberg, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
The scope of the investigation remains unclear. It is not known whether Willis is the target of the probe or whether she could face charges.
“We have no comment beyond the fact we have no knowledge of any investigation,” Jeff DiSantis, a spokesman for Willis, said.
The subpoena comes just days after the DOJ secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, another figure behind the investigations into President Donald Trump. Trump has recently pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi and other federal prosecutors to pursue his former investigators and political opponents.
Last week, Trump said Willis “should be put in jail. She’s a criminal. Fani Willis is a criminal.”
Willis grabbed the national spotlight in August 2023 when she indicted Trump and 18 others under Georgia’s racketeering law for allegedly attempting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. The case became mired in controversy after defense filings in January 2024 revealed Willis had a sexual relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired with taxpayer money to lead the case.
In December 2024, the Georgia Court of Appeals removed Willis from the case over what it called a “significant appearance of impropriety” over her relationship with Wade. The Georgia Supreme Court declined to review her appeal earlier this month.
The current federal subpoena is separate from the earlier scrutiny of Willis’s travel. During the disqualification hearings, Willis testified about trips she took with Wade in 2022 and 2023 to Aruba, the Bahamas, Belize, and Napa Valley. Willis claimed she reimbursed Wade in cash for those trips. Wade said Willis “paid for the excursions so the expenses sort of balanced out.”
“A thorough investigation of her actions is warranted and long overdue,” Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said in a statement.
Georgia State Representative Jasmine Clark, a Democrat, accused Trump of weaponizing the Justice Department.
“He is using it as his personal vendetta machine to go after his perceived political enemies. People who either won’t do what he asked, or people who he feels has tried to hold him accountable in any way, are going to be on that list. And I’m sure we’re going to continue to see the DOJ come up with more reasons to indict people.”
Willis won reelection in November 2024 in the Democrat-controlled Fulton County with more than 68% of the vote despite her numerous controversies.