Department of Justice subpoenas Fani Willis as Trump targets political foes

The DOJ’s inquiry into Willis comes as President Trump has pressured the nation’s top law enforcement agency to go after his political foes, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a subpoena for records related to Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who criminally charged President Donald Trump, related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to President Joe Biden.

According to NBC News, the DOJ is seeking records of Willis’ travel history; however, it is unclear if she is the target of an inquiry or facing charges.

In 2023, the Fulton County prosecutor charged Trump and 18 others, whom she accused of engaging in a “criminal enterprise” to illegally return Trump to office after his 2020 defeat.

The case hit a snag after attorneys for Trump and other defendants asked a judge to remove Willis from the case because of a romantic relationship with the case’s special prosecutor, Nathan Wade. After much scrutiny into their personal lives, Wade resigned, and Willis was allowed to continue leading the case.

In December 2023, an appeals court disqualified Willis, citing that the trial court “erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office.” Willis appealed the decision and asked to be reinstated; however, Georgia’s Supreme Court denied her appeal.

The DOJ’s inquiry into Willis comes as President Trump has pressured the nation’s top law enforcement agency to go after his political foes, including former FBI Director James Comey, who opened up an investigation into Trump’s presidential campaign and possibly coordination with Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

On Sept. 25, Comey, whom Trump fired in 2017 after the FBI director refused to end an investigation into Trump’s national security advisor, was indicted on perjury charges after years of Trump attacking Comey and calling for his arrest.

Trump has also called for the arrest of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud in 2024. Trump accused James of mortgage fraud; however, James maintains she did nothing wrong. The New York prosecutor said she would not be “intimidated by bullies — no matter who they are.”

In response to the DOJ’s subpoena of Fani Willis’s travel records, a spokesperson for the district attorney told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, “We have no comment beyond the fact we have no knowledge of any investigation.”

Willis’s criminal prosecution of Trump was one of four criminal charges against him, two of which were led by special prosecutors appointed by the DOJ. The two federal cases related to Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the withholding of classified documents were dropped upon his re-election. Though the case in Georgia was stalled due to Willis’s disqualification, Trump was found guilty in another criminal case brought by New York Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Before being elected for a second term, Trump campaigned in 2024 promising to seek retribution against his political enemies, including the prosecutors who led investigations against him.