A Wednesday report reveals the Department of Justice (DOJ) admitted to “inconsistencies” in how Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis used federal grant money.
A DOJ official admitted this to The Washington Free Beacon regarding a $448,000 federal grant dispersed to Willis’ office.
According to the outlet, the DOJ confirmed in a statement, “some inconsistencies in what Fulton County has reported” that the federal grant money was used, which were discovered when the agency reviewed materials for its response to The Free Beacon.
Additionally, a DOJ spokesman told the outlet that the agency is “working with them to update their reporting accordingly.”
The revelation comes months after Amanda Timpson, a former employee at Willis’ office who confronted the district attorney about claims her office mismanaged the federal money, released an audio in November 2021 of Willis in a private conversation.
Timspon alleged Willis’ staff members reacted excitedly after they received the federal grant, with one describing plans to use the money for vacations, computers, and miscellaneous “swag” unrelated to legal work.
Willis did not dispute the allegations, instead offering her own concerns about employees named by Timpson.
Nonetheless, the district attorney fired the whistleblower in January 2022. Her office characterized Timpson as a “holdover from the prior administration” who failed “to meet the standards of the new administration” and was terminated as a result.
One of the defendants in Willis’ criminal case against former President Donald Trump referenced the allegations that Willis’ office misused federal money.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant, who represents Trump co-defendant Mike Roman in Georgia, previously accused Willis of stonewalling the defense team by refusing to comply with discovery requests.
Merchant explained in a separate lawsuit that alleges Willis’ lack of cooperation that one of those requests is an accounting from the district attorney of how her office spent federal grant funding.
The lawsuit alleges that Willis did not dispute whether defendants were entitled to the information about how the grant money was spent, but rather that the district attorney’s office claimed it, “in its normal course of business, does not maintain responsive records” and “cannot produce the records” sought by defense attorneys.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fani Willis” by Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.
