For almost a month now, all eyes have been on Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis and the alleged corruption and conflicts of interest that are plaguing her office. What many people who don’t live in metro Atlanta aren’t aware of is that Willis ran her campaign for DA as an anti-corruption candidate.
In 2020, Willis ran against Paul Howard, who won his first election in 1996. Howard was the first black man elected district attorney in Georgia, but scandal plagued his last term in office.
“On April 15, 2020, the Georgia Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission filed a complaint against Howard alleging he violated public disclosure laws,” Ballotpedia explains. “The commission alleged that Howard used his two nonprofits to funnel $195,000 of Atlanta city funds to his personal bank account without disclosing his role as CEO. In the months following, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opened additional investigations into the matter.”
Howard maintained that he didn’t break any laws, but he later admitted to ethics violations and paid a $6,500 fine. He also faced sexual harassment allegations, but a jury exonerated him last year.
As the clouds of scandal loomed over Howard’s sixth term in office, Willis presented herself as the ethical alternative. A video from the 2020 campaign has resurfaced in which she claimed she would behave differently from Howard. In an interview with an outlet called The Atlanta Voice, Willis talked about what set her apart from Howard.
“The District Attorney's Office in Fulton should be the beacon of the Southeast,” Willis begins. “It should be the absolute best office between Washington, D.C., and Miami. And right now, what you have is an office of dysfunction and corruption. And we deserve better. And I am the right choice to improve it.”
“Corruption. Ms. Willis, that's a strong word to level against the office that Paul Howard has run for nearly a quarter century,” interviewer Sharon Reed counters. “If he gets reelected, it’ll be more than 25 years.”
Related: Whatchu Talkin’ ‘Bout, Willis? Fani Goes to Church to Grandstand.
After talking about how proud she is of being black, including her HBCU experience and the fact that her dad was a Black Panther — yes, she did brag about it — Willis cites Howard's alleged misuse of grant money, his supposed inability to get along with other county officials, and reported turnover in the DA's office.
“You have a DA sitting there that doesn't have the qualifications and the experience to do the job,” Willis later declares. “What I can guarantee you is with my reputation, with my community ties, I am going to be able to attract the best and the brightest minds to that office, and we are going to have DAs that stay, that love to serve the citizens of Fulton County, and that we pour into, and it's going to make a difference in everything that a DA should be.”
Later on in the interview, Willis positions herself as the honest and ethical alternative to Paul Howard.
“You're sitting with someone today that actually wants to make a difference because they deserve a DA that won't have sex with his employees, because they deserve a DA that won't put money in their own pocket when it should go to benefit children,” she says. “Because we deserve better.”
Fast forward nearly four years, and Willis is allegedly everything she made a stand against. Hiring the best and brightest? Special counsel Nathan Wade has little or no experience with corruption cases. Won't have sex with employees? Willis and Wade have allegedly been carrying on an affair for years. She may not have taken money that's meant to go to children, but two out of three is pretty bad.
Check out the full interview below:
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