Politics
Fani Willis Breaks Silence On Special Prosecutor Scandal: ‘You Can’t Expect Black Women To Be Perfect’
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis addressed allegations that she was sleeping with the special prosecutor appointed to investigate and eventually, recommend RICO charges against former President Donald Trump and a number of his associates. Nathan Wade was paid more than $600,000 while working on the case.
Willis was speaking to churchgoers at Big Bethel AME in her first public remarks since news of the scandal broke.
At one point in her remarks, Willis appeared to defend the hiring of Wade. Without mentioning Wade by name, the Fulton County DA claimed that she hired three special prosecutors to work on the case and paid them all the same hourly rate.
“Lord, your flawed, hard-headed, and imperfect child, I’m a little confused. I appointed three special counselors. Is my right to do? Paid them all the same hourly rate? They only each had one,” she said. “I hired one white woman, a good personal friend and great lawyer. A superstar, I tell you. I hired one white man, brilliant, my friend, and a great lawyer. And I hired one black man, another superstar, a great friend, and a great lawyer.”
Willis went on to insinuate that Wade is only being criticized because he is black, a common theme throughout her remarks. “Oh Lord, they’re going to be mad when I call them out on this nonsense. First thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s going to play the race card now.’ But no God, isn’t it them who’s playing the race card when they only question one?” Willis said. “Isn’t it them playing the race card when they constantly think I need someone from some other jurisdiction in some other state to tell me how to do a job I’ve been doing almost 30 years.”
She went on to state that Wade has “impeccable credentials” before once again insinuating that criticism of him is racially motivated. “Wasn’t it them that attacked this lawyer of impeccable credentials? The black man I chose has been a judge more than 10 years, run a private practice more than 20, represented businesses in civil litigation,” she said, adding “I ain’t done ya’ll.”
“How come God, the same black man I hired, was acceptable when a Republican in another county hired him and paid him twice the rate? Oh y’all didn’t hear me. Another county, the elected official, has the authority to pay him twice the rate. Why is the white male Republican’s judgment good enough, but the black female Democrats’ not?”
“You cannot expect black women to be perfect and save the world,” Willis went on to say. “The Lord is completing us. We are not perfect. We need your prayers. We need to be allowed to stumble. We need grace. With that kind of support, we will move mountains and do Jesus’ will, stumbling all the way.”
A growing number of Georgia Republicans at the state and federal level have called for a formal investigation into Willis’ conduct. Willis has also been served with a subpoena as part of the divorce proceedings of Wade and his wife, Joycelyn, who alleges that her husband his ore than $700,000 in income.