Days – hours – after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was embroiled in some scandal regarding an alleged improper relationship with a fellow attorney prosecuting the election interference case, House Republicans filed new legislation to breathe life into the troubled Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission.
Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, is one of the lead Republicans on the issue and directly referenced Willis in a statement following the filing of the new legislation. “These allegations are exactly why we need an oversight commission. Right now, district attorneys have no accountability – we’re on the verge of changing that and holding prosecutors accountable. This only fuels the need to get the oversight commission up and running right away,” said Gaines. “Legislation was filed this afternoon in the House to do just that. Fani Willis should be investigated immediately, and if these allegations are true, she should resign or be removed from office.”
As readers may remember, Republicans passed the legislation creating the commission last year but the state Supreme Court threw a wrench into the works when they refused to approve the rules for the commission. The new legislation picks up from last year and simply strikes through the section that states “such standards and rules shall be effective only upon review and adoption by the Supreme Court.”
State Rep. Teri Anulewicz, D-Smyrna, disagrees with Gaines’ efforts. “As is the case for any elected official at any level of government, they are certainly accountable to the voters, and the voters have the opportunity to demonstrate that every election day,” Anulewicz told James Online. “And as was discussed at length during the debate for the legislation enacting the DAQC during the 2023 session, there is indeed already a process of accountability, I think through the State Bar of GA.”
That process is not quick enough for legislative Republicans, who were pressed to find a way to continue the oversight commission following the Supreme Court decision. Gaines’ hometown of Athens – also Gov. Brian Kemp’s hometown – is the site of another prosecutor under fire from Republicans, who claim the district attorney there Deborah Gonzalez has contributed to increased crime in the community there due to lack of prosecutions. The new bill is sponsored by Gaines and a number of other Republicans, several of whom sit on the Judiciary Committee – the eventual recipient of the bill when assigned to committee.
“I would surmise that Rep. Gaines’s legislation was in the works well before any of the allegations regarding the Fulton County DA; indeed, even the Governor had previously been very careful to be clear that the intent of the legislation was never specific to Fulton County,” said Anulewicz. “I would guess that Rep. Gaines got going on this new bill the moment the Supreme Court determined that they would not approve the rules of the nascent DAQC.”
