'Fair game': Trump ally using elected office to torment Fani Willis

Georgia Republicans are out to punish Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, and the scheme has the backing of Donald Trump ally Lt. Gov. Burt Jones – who could himself face charges for his own conduct following the 2020 election.

Jones has been using his influence as president of the state Senate to allow separate legislative investigations into how Willis has handled a backlog of criminal cases and spent taxpayer funds on the Trump prosecution, which the lieutenant governor dismisses as a political "circus," reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“It has all the implications that she is prosecuting for profit,” Jones told the newspaper. “I know she’s out there wanting to be a self-promoter, but now it looks like she’s profiting off taxpayer dollars.”

Jones told the Journal-Constitution that the district attorney's personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade made her "fair game," but he insists he's not out for revenge.

READ MORE: Prison president: How Donald Trump could serve from behind bars

“I’m wondering if the resources are being used properly,” he said.

Burt signed off on a Senate investigated overcrowding at the Fulton County jail and is expected to tie Willis to recent deaths at the infamous facility, and the lieutenant governor recently endorsed a new Senate committee with subpoena authority to determine whether Willis misspent state money due to her relationship with Wade.

He also supports an effort by Gov. Brian Kemp to authorize a new state commission to punish or remove "rogue" prosecutors, and several of his Senate allies filed the first complaint under that law against Willis for allegedly using "cherry-picked cases" to advance her political career.

As a state senator, Jones was among 16 Republican activists who signed documents in December 2020 asserting they were duly elected presidential electors from Georgia, where multiple vote counts had shown Joe Biden had won against Trump, and he was sent a target letter in July 2022 with other GOP electors warning of possible charges.

Jones filed a motion not long afterward seeking to block Willis from bringing charges against him because she had hosted a fundraiser for Charlie Bailey, who had gone on to run against Jones as a Democrat, and a Fulton County judge disqualified Willis and her office from investigating him further.

The nonpartisan Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia was then placed in charge of the investigation of Jones, but it has not announced whether any charges would be brought against the lieutenant governor, who has spent $110,000 in campaign funds on legal fees.