The Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations met for the first time on Friday since it was created following the adoption of SR 465, which allowed for the formation of the Senate committee to investigate the allegations surrounding embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The committee is chaired by Senator Bill Cowsert (R-Athena), who promised that the Senate’s work will not seek to undermine any of Willis’ ongoing criminal cases, including her election case against former President Donald Trump. However, Cowsert (pictured above) suggested future funding for district attorneys could depend on the investigation’s findings.
Explaining the need for the committee, Cowsert said the committee will launch an “independent investigation to look into this potential misuse of public funds, prosecution for personal gain, any violations of certain proprieties, and conduct in a public administration.
Cowsert then stressed the Senate committee does not seek to disqualify, criminally prosecute, or disbar Willis but instead will “investigate many of these troubling allegations that have come forward in the last few months, determine what the true facts are, independently investigate and verify the truth, facts, and to shine light on these facts, whatever they may be.”
Then, Cowsert suggested that the investigation could inform future legislation to restore faith in Georgia’s justice system.
“The more specific charge of SR 465 is, if we need to amend existing laws or pass and create new laws to restore the public’s faith in the impartiality and fairness of our criminal justice system,” said Cowsert.
He added that the committee’s findings will also be used “to consider the current and potential future of both state and other public funding of certain activities of district attorneys throughout the state.”
Though Governor Brian Kemp previously suggested he would rather see the lawmakers reform the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PAQC), a statewide body created to rein in partisan or incompetent prosecutors, Cowsert said the committee would work in parallel and independently from the PAQC.
“We are not trying to supplant the new prosecutorial commission that is established to look into prosecutorial misconduct, that will run parallel with us and independently of this committee,” he explained.
He said, “What we really want to do is find out the facts.”
Legislation currently making its way through the Georgia General Assembly seeks to remove a requirement for the PAQC to have its procedures approved by the Georgia Supreme Court, allowing it to immediately go into effect.
Though aimed at investigating Willis, an elected Democrat, Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler (D-Stone Mountain) is a member of the nine-member committee, as are two other Democrats.
Butler commended Cowsert for including three Democrats on the committee, and said “a political witch hunt or show trial would damage Georgians’ faith in our political system.”
Watch the full committee meeting:
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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].
