Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis opens up about Georgia case against Trump: 'We're ready'

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis spoke briefly about her investigation into former President Donald Trump ahead of a possible fourth indictment for the 2024 presidential candidate.

This month, Willis will present her case against Trump to a grand jury after her two-and-a-half-year investigation into his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Trump has pleaded not guilty to separate federal charges related to his alleged attempts to stop the certification of President Biden's victory by Congress. 

"We're ready," Willis told FOX 5 Atlanta on Thursday. 

She would not comment on Trump's other federal indictment for alleged election meddling other than to say her focus is on Fulton County.

GEORGIA SHERIFF VOWS TO GET TRUMP'S MUG SHOT IF HE'S INDICTED IN FULTON COUNTY ELECTION CASE

"We’re concentrating on Georgia and things that impacted Georgia," Willis said.

Trump currently faces three indictments relating to the handling of classified documents, hush money payments to Stormy Daniels and his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Washington, D.C. This potential fourth indictment concerns whether he violated Georgia law by pressuring state officials to look into allegations of voter fraud. 

MARK LEVIN GOES OFF ON LATEST TRUMP CHARGES OVER JANUARY 6TH: ‘THIS INDICTMENT IS CRAP!’

Willis opened her investigation shortly after Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021 and suggested the state’s top elections official could help him "find" enough improperly cast votes for Biden to throw out and overturn his election loss in the state. 

Trump attempted to have Willis' investigation thrown out in mid-July, but the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the request.

ADAM SCHIFF LEADS DEMOCRAT PUSH TO TELEVISE TRUMP TRIALS: ‘VITALLY IMPORTANT’

The Fulton County grand jurors have already been seated, and an indictment decision is now imminent.

Few details of Willis' case against Trump have been made public. A special grand jury that lacked the power to issue an indictment was seated last May and dissolved in January. The panel was convened as part of Willis' inquiry and reportedly recommended charging multiple people. 

"The oath requires that I follow the law, that if someone broke the law in Fulton County, Georgia, then I have a duty to prosecute," Willis told FOX 5. 

Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat said Wednesday that if Trump is indicted in Georgia, he expects the former president will submit to give his fingerprints and have a mugshot taken. 

"Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you," Labat told WSBTV.

Trump has not been handcuffed in any of his first three indictments, nor has he had a mugshot taken. Each time, he has voluntarily traveled to the relevant courthouse in his motorcade and turned himself in. 

Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report. 

Lebanon marks 3rd anniversary of Beirut explosion with continued disputes over death toll

Three years after Beirut’s massive port blast, attempts to prosecute those responsible are mired in political intrigue, the final death toll remains disputed and many Lebanese have less faith than ever in their disintegrating state institutions.

As the country marks the anniversary Friday, relatives of some of those killed are still struggling to get their loved ones recognized as blast victims, reflecting the ongoing chaos since the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion. The blast killed at least 218 people, according to an Associated Press count, wounded more than 6,000, devastated large swaths of Beirut and caused billions of dollars in damages.

Among those not recognized as a blast victim is a five-month-old boy, Qusai Ramadan, a child of Syrian refugees. His parents say he was killed when the explosion toppled the ceiling and a cupboard in his hospital room, crushing him. The parents have been unable to get the infant added to the official death list, a move that could have made them eligible for future compensation.

LONDON-BASED COMPANY ORDERED TO COMPENSATE BEIRUT PORT BLAST VICTIMS

They accused the authorities of discriminating against victims who are not Lebanese.

Meanwhile, the blast anniversary brought renewed calls for an international investigation of those responsible, including top officials who allowed hundreds of tons of highly flammable ammonium nitrate, a material used in fertilizers, to be improperly stored for years at a warehouse in the port.

Lebanese and international organizations, survivors and families of victims sent such an appeal to the U.N. Rights Council, saying that "on third anniversary of the explosion, we are no closer to justice and accountability for the catastrophe."

Maan, a Lebanese group advocating for victims and survivors, put the death toll at 236, significantly higher than the government's count of 191. The authorities stopped counting the dead a month after the blast, even as some of the severely wounded died in the subsequent period.

Among those listed by Maan Initiative is Qusai, the Syrian infant.

Qusai had been undergoing treatment for a severe liver condition and was transferred to a government hospital near the port about a week before the explosion. Hospital staff said the infant needed a liver transplant and was in critical condition.

On the day of the blast, Qusai’s aunt, Noura Mohammed, was sitting at his bedside while his mother rested at home. The aunt said the staff ordered everyone to evacuate immediately after the explosion, and that she found the infant dead, crushed by fallen debris, when she returned.

Hospital officials said Qusai died an hour after the explosion, with the death certificate listing cardio respiratory arrest as the cause. The family buried him a day later.

WHAT IS AMMONIUM NITRATE, CHEMICAL COMPOUND LINKED TO DEVASTATING BEIRUT EXPLOSION?

"We asked them (the authorities) to register my son among the victims of the blast," his mother, Sarah Jassem Mohammed, said in a recent interview in a small tent in an orchard in the northern Lebanese village of Markabta where she lives with her husband, two sons and one daughter. "They refused."

Lebanon is home to more than 1 million Syrian refugees, who make about 20% of the country’s population. A Lebanese group, the Anti-Racism Movement, said that among those killed in the blast were at least 76 non-Lebanese citizens, including 52 Syrians.

Meanwhile, many in Lebanon have been losing faith in the domestic investigation and some have started filing cases abroad against companies suspected of bringing in the ammonium nitrate.

The chemicals had been shipped to Lebanon in 2013. Senior political and security officials knew of their presence and potential danger but did nothing.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Lebanese and non-Lebanese victims alike have seen justice delayed, with the investigation stalled since December 2021. Lebanon’s powerful and corrupt political class has repeatedly intervened in the work of the judiciary.

In January, Lebanon’s top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat ordered the release of all suspects detained in the investigation.

"The political class have used every tool at their disposal - both legal and extra legal - to undermine, obstruct, and block the domestic investigation into the blast," said Aya Majzoub, deputy chief for the Mideast and North Africa at the rights group Amnesty International.

Makhoul Mohammed, 40, a Syrian citizen, was lightly injured in the blast in his Beirut apartment while his daughter Sama, who was six at the time, lost her left eye.

Mohammed, who settled in Canada last year, said he plans to sue those responsible for the explosion in a Canadian court.

"The (domestic) investigation will not lead to results as long as this political class is running the country," he said.

About Us

Virtus (virtue, valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth)

Vincit (conquers, triumphs, and wins)