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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis called Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a “clown” and railed against Republican criticism of her tenure in a defiant appearance on MSNBC Monday.
“Jim Jordan has, time after time after time, attacked my office with no legitimate purpose,” Willis told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “Anyone who knows Jim Jordan’s history knows that he only has the purpose of trying to interfere in a criminal investigation.”
“All while his jurisdiction has one of the worst crime rates, has poverty issues, and not one time has he used his position to try to investigate people who are attacking me and attacking others legitimately doing their jobs,” she added. “Making him illegitimate in his position, and it’s disgusting. So I bring that up at the federal level because now at the state level, they have decided to follow this clown’s lead. And they want to now try to interfere in an investigation, and it’s not legitimate either.”
Willis, who is prosecuting the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump, has become a political lightning rod since her past romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade came to light, which nearly resulted in her being removed from the high-profile case.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow sat down with Fulton County DA Fani Willis for an interview on Monday, May 20, 2024. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
“They have decided in Georgia that they would like to come after me. They use false reasons for wanting to come after me,” Willis said during the media appearance. “Georgia had never had a prosecutorial Oversight Committee, and all of a sudden, 14 minorities were elected to office to serve as district attorney, and now, all of a sudden, they need an Oversight Committee to look after district attorneys because they want to tell us how to prosecute and who to prosecute and where we should put our resources, as opposed to allowing the voters that put us in these seats to make those determinations.”
“Apparently, we now need daddy to tell us how to do our job,” she continued.
Maddow, who only hosts her primetime show once a week, used much of her commentary time to rail against GOP criticism and investigations of Willis as she prosecutes Trump. The former president was indicted by Willis for allegedly attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
“They have created a maelstrom of political harassment and pressure, bringing it down to bear on this one prosecutor like a laser,” she said. “Because she brought this case against someone of their party, who has political power. This is Republicans using their political power to try to shut off the legal system, to try to shut off the rule of law here so it cannot be used against their guy, against Trump.”
In a lead-up to the interview, Maddow drew a parallel between criticisms of Willis and efforts to thwart her prosecution with congressional efforts to suppress the prosecution of George Sylvester Viereck. He eventually went to prison for being a Nazi agent spreading propaganda in the U.S. and had worked with some members of Congress before being exposed.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)
JUDGE RULES FANI WILLIS MUST STEP ASIDE FROM TRUMP CASE OR FIRE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE
Maddow made only passing mention to Willis’ past romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade that jeopardized the Trump trial earlier this year and nearly resulted in her being taken off the high-profile case.
Maddow never asked Willis about her thought process around hiring Wade; the two have claimed their relationship began after he was hired to work on the case. Wade resigned from the prosecution team in March.
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“I regret that that private matter became the focal point of this very important prosecution,” Wade told ABC’s “Good Morning America” earlier this month. “This is a very important case.”
Willis, who is up for re-election, said she’s dealt with threats throughout her tenure and had to pay for a second home.
Former special prosecutor in the election interference case against Donald Trump, Nathan Wade, spoke to ABC News’ Linsey Davis in an interview that aired on Monday, May 6, 2024. (Screenshot/ABC)
“It’s a very interesting way to live. But it’s well worth it to have the honor of being the first female district attorney in Fulton County,” she said. “It pales in comparison to what my victims are going through. And the reality is, one of the reasons we are upsetting people is we’re so successful here in Fulton County. I have the third-largest crime drop in America.”
Willis said she’d also grown closer to God.
“I can’t explain to you how much I love the work that I do,” she said. “I can’t explain to you how loved I feel by my community. You really should feel sorry for those that are trying to deter me from my work. It doesn’t do anything but motivate me to continue to work and to work hard.”
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
