Politics
Fani Willis likely to defy Georgia state Senate subpoena ahead of hearing Friday, chairman says
District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to defy a Georgia state senate subpoena for her testimony ahead of a hearing Friday, Fox News Digital has learned.
The Senate Special Committee on Investigations, chaired by Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, subpoenaed Willis to compel her testimony related to the committee’s investigation into allegations she misused taxpayer funds.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Cowsert said after Willis refused to testify voluntarily, the committee issued a subpoena, adding her legal counsel had indicated to the committee she would not be complying with the subpoena.
“We think it’s unlikely that she will appear but disappointing that she considers herself above the law,” Cowert said.
FANI WILLIS FACES NOTHING BUT SETBACKS IN CASE AGAINST TRUMP, THE LATEST PENDING WITH SUPREME COURT
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrives to speak after winning the Democratic primary May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
If Willis does not appear at Friday’s hearing, the state Senate will seek to compel her attendance through a judicial order that will work its way through the court system the next few weeks.
“We do have the authority to investigate and to issue subpoenas to compel testimony and the production of documents, and if tested in court, that will be validated,” Cowsert said.
“She’ll be required to attend, and she’ll be required to produce certain requested documents. It may require a court order for her to obey them, but that’s where we’re headed.”
FORMER SENATOR LAUNCHES 6-FIGURE AD BLITZ AGAINST FANI WILLIS AHEAD OF GEORGIA ELECTION
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)
Friday’s hearing will feature a presentation from David Cook, the former Georgia secretary of the Senate, on the investigative powers of legislative bodies and the ability to subpoena.
Legislative counsel Stuart Morelli will also testify on the committee’s legal authority to conduct investigations and to subpoena individuals to testify or to produce documents.
The Republican-led committee was established in January by a resolution that passed by a 30-19 vote.
Willis, who is spearheading the sweeping prosection case against former President Trump, has come under scrutiny after she was accused in February of having an “improper” affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to help prosecute the case.
FANI WILLIS’ EX-STAFFER TESTIFIES SHE WAS FIRED AFTER BLOWING WHISTLE ON DA’S SPENDING
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis celebrates after winning the Democratic primary May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
A decision by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee not to disqualify her from the case is now on appeal, and that hearing is slated for December.
The Georgia Senate committee has already held several hearings, including one featuring the testimony of a whistleblower who said she was fired after she raised concerns about Willis’ office’s alleged misuse of funds.
Willis said in May she believes the committee has no authority to subpoena her and told a news reporter she “will not appear to anything that is unlawful.”
“I have not broken the law in any way,” Willis told reporters at a press conference in May. “I’m sorry folks get p—ed off that everyone gets treated equally.”
But Cowsert said the committee members are “all extremely confident that we’re acting within the constitutional and legislative authority of the state Senate.”
A representative for Willis did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The hearing begins Friday at 10 a.m. ET.
Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire signed a bill on Thursday that creates a strict photo identification requirement to vote, allowing for no exceptions. The bill would also require first-time voters to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
The law does not take effect for 60 days, meaning it will have no impact on the upcoming elections.
Current law allows voters in New Hampshire who show up at the polls without proper identification to cast a ballot with an affidavit, and gives them seven days to return with proper identification. That law will still be in place in November.
Going forward, there will be no exceptions to the photo identification rules, and first-time voters will need to present a birth certificate, passport or other official citizenship document to register.
Initially, both Mr. Sununu and David M. Scanlan, the New Hampshire secretary of state, expressed reservations about the legislation. Mr. Sununu had said that he was “not looking into making significant changes in voting laws.” Mr. Scanlan had noted that implementing the law in time for the 2024 election “could be done, but not without challenges.”
A statement from the governor’s office on Thursday indicated that the secretary of state had been consulted and added a “reminder” that the “2024 election will not be impacted in any way.”
“We have a proud tradition and proven track record of conducting elections that are trusted and true,” Mr. Sununu, a Republican, said in a statement. “Looking forward to the next decade or two, this legislation will instill even more integrity and trust in the voting process.”
But critics argued that the law makes New Hampshire the only state in the country to require such specific proof of citizenship to register to vote. In 2018, a similar law in Kansas was struck down by a federal judge.
“This extreme legislation signed by the governor will roll back voting access for all eligible Granite Staters,” said McKenzie Taylor, director for the New Hampshire Campaign for Voting Rights, in a statement. “Once this law goes into effect later this year, any voter may be turned away from the polls if they did not have the correct documents, creating massive new changes to New Hampshire’s registration system, burdening our election officials, and disenfranchising eligible voters.”
Trump pledges to end taxation of overtime pay
Former President Trump announced during a campaign event Thursday in Tucson, Arizona, he’d end taxes on overtime pay. He has made similar pledges for Social Security and tips for service workers.
Former President Trump promises to eliminate taxes on overtime pay as part of a series of proposed cuts he said would mean more disposable income for workers.
“That gives people more of an incentive to work. It gives the companies a lot,” Trump told a crowd Thursday at a campaign rally in Tucson, Arizona.
“The people who work overtime are among the hardest-working citizens in our country. And for too long, no one in Washington has been looking out for them.
TRUMP PLEDGES TO ELIMINATE TAXES ON TIPS FOR SERVICE WORKERS DURING LAS VEGAS RALLY
Former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks during a campaign event at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall Thursday in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
“Those are the people, they really work. They’re police officers, nurses, factory workers, construction workers, truck drivers and machine operators.”
The pitch came as Trump seeks to turn Arizona, a state President Biden won by just a few thousand votes in 2020, red again.
REPUBLICANS BLAST BIDEN ADMIN OVER PLAN TO CRACK DOWN ON WAITERS’ TIPS
“So, that’s why we will be saying that if you’re an overtime worker when you’re passed 40 hours a week, think of that,” he added. “Your overtime hours will be tax-free.”
Trump has also promised to get rid of taxes on Social Security benefits and the taxation of tips for service workers, a pledge Vice President Kamala Harris has made, as well as raising the minimum wage.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that eliminating taxes on tip income, as well as increasing the minimum wage, could add between $100 billion and $200 billion to the nation’s deficits over a 10-year window.
A Haitian illegal immigrant now charged with drug and weapons crimes in Massachusetts was released into the United States by officials at the southern border last year, officials said this week – just as Haitian migration has become a top political issue.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Boston division announced that they had taken Gasnoy Saintilme into custody on Aug. 26 at the Worcester District Court. The Haitian national is charged with conspiracy to violate drug laws, drug distribution, drug manufacturing and unlawfully carrying a dangerous weapon.
ICE said Border Patrol encountered Saintilme in February 2023 after entering the U.S. illegally. He was given a notice to appear before an immigration judge and was released on parole, the agency said in a statement.
HAITIAN MIGRANT ACCUSED OF MOLESTING CHILD IS IN US VIA CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN-HARRIS PROGRAM
ICE agents picked up Saintilme after being alerted by the Worcester Sheriff’s Office. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
He was arrested in Worcester on March 7 on conspiracy to violate drug laws, but was released on recognizance, before again being arrested in April on weapons and drugs charges.
After ICE issued a detainer – a request to local authorities that they be alerted to a potential release so they can take a suspected illegal immigrant into custody – the sheriff’s office notified them when he posted bail.
“Gasnoy Saintilme unlawfully entered the United States and has now been charged with conspiracy, weapons charges and attempting to manufacture and distribute poison in our Massachusetts communities,” ICE Enforcement and Removals Operation Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a statement. “We are beyond pleased that our partners at the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office honored our immigration detainer and transferred custody of Saintilme to ERO officers. The Worcester County Sheriff’s Office remains a valued ally in our fight to prioritize public safety in our Massachusetts neighborhoods. ERO Boston will continue our efforts to arrest and remove egregious noncitizen offenders from New England.”
The announcement of Saintilme’s arrest comes as Haitian migration into the U.S. remains a top political issue. This week, former President Trump brought up alleged issues that the town of Springfield, Ohio, is having with Haitian migrants – where there has been a surge in arrivals in recent years.
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine also announced he’ll be funneling resources to help ease the influx of the approximately 20,000 Haitian migrants that have arrived in the city of Springfield legally under the Biden-Harris administration.
“As these numbers dramatically pick up, there’s some obligation for the federal government to help local communities who had nothing to do with the decision about people coming in, but now find themselves with a massive number of people,” DeWine said Tuesday.
ICE FINDS, ARRESTS HAITIAN MIGRANT WHO WAS RELEASED ON $500 BOND AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH RAPING CHILD IN MA
In Massachusetts, ICE officials announced last week that a Haitian migrant who entered the U.S. as part of the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV) was arrested. He is accused of allegedly molesting a 10-year-old boy who lived next door to him.
Akim Marc Desire, 18, was arrested by police last week in Mansfield, Massachusetts, about 45 minutes south of Boston, and is being charged with indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, law enforcement sources told Fox News.
Last month, ICE announced it had located and arrested a Haitian immigrant brought in on the same program who had been released on a $500 bond despite facing charges of raping a 15-year-old while staying at a migrant hotel in the state.
Fox News’ Michael Lee and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
Katie O’Neill for Ohio Senate, 18th District: endorsement editorial
Who are Oklahoma Warriors? NAHL team has brought high-level hockey back to OKC
Oregon’s largest natural gas company said it was going green. It sells as much fossil fuel as before.
Ready-to-drink cocktail sales start Monday at Pa. grocery stores
Rhode Island issues bulletin notifying insurers to stop unlawfully setting premiums
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
At least 2 dead as tornadoes hit Alabama, damage homes across Southeast
Fani Willis likely to defy Georgia state Senate subpoena ahead of hearing Friday, chairman says
Putin warns Ukraine use of long-range arms will put NATO at war with Russia
A loose electrical cable is found on ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse
Trump Defends Debate Performance and Calls for Ending Tax on Overtime
Trump promises to end taxation of overtime pay: 'Your overtime hours will be tax-free'
-
Business1 week agoHow Self-Driving Cars Get Help From Humans Hundreds of Miles Away
-
World1 week agoMeloni says 'we are making history' as Italy’s FDI reviews progress
-
World1 week agoIsraeli forces using ‘war-like’ tactics in occupied West Bank: OCHA
-
Movie Reviews1 week agoQueer: Daniel Craig shines in Luca Guadagnino’s steamy drama
-
World1 week agoHow Venezuela’s recent history can inform its present-day election crisis
-
News1 week agoGeorgia school shooting live updates: Casualties reported at Apalachee High School, suspect in custody
-
World1 week agoFrontex chief: NGO rescue ships don't embolden Mediterranean migration
-
Politics1 week agoTrump, Kamala aiming for the middle with varying degrees of success