The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office declined this week to turn over any new communications between District Attorney Fani Willis and outgoing special counsel Jack Smith, asserting in a new court filing that the documents either do not exist or are exempt from disclosure under Georgia law.

The update was shared Tuesday by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group that sued Willis in March after her office denied having any records of communication between Willis and Smith or between Willis and the House January 6th Committee.

HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATING WHETHER FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS ‘COORDINATED’ WITH JAN 6 COMMITTEE

Both Smith and the House Select Committee had been investigating alleged efforts by President-elect Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election—putting their investigations directly in the crosshairs of Judicial Watch and other conservative activists. 

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis last Monday to produce any records of communication with either Smith or the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 within five business days, siding with Judicial Watch in determining that Willis had indeed violated the state’s open records act by failing to respond to the lawsuit. 

Willis, for her part, claims she was not properly served by the group.

The Fulton County Open Records Department appears to disagree. In a new court filing this week, they said that their staff conducted a “diligent search” but had not uncovered any records of documents or communications between Willis and Smith, the special counsel tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to oversee two investigations into the alleged actions of former President Donald Trump.

Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the Department of Justice on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

Additionally, staff for the Open Records Department asserted any records or documents between Willis and the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 are still “legally exempt” or “exempted from disclosure” to Judicial Watch under the Georgia Open Records Law, which itself protects against the release of documents or records that arose from an investigation, subsequent indictment, or prosecution in the ongoing case against Trump and his allies. 

The filing comes as Willis’s actions have come under scrutiny by Republican lawmakers and conservative nonprofit groups. 

Members of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee have said Willis asked the House Select Committee on January 6th to share information with her office, prompting additional scrutiny into those communications.

TRUMP BOOKED AT FULTON COUNTY JAIL AFTER CHARGES STEMMING FROM 2020 ELECTION PROBE

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, strikes the gavel to start a hearing on Capitol Hill. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in Fulton County last year to all charges stemming from a sweeping racketeering indictment brought by the DA’s office, which accused them of attempting to overturn the results of the presidential election. 

The charges against Trump in Georgia had been on hold after his attorneys filed an appeal to have Willis disqualified from the case, citing alleged conflicts of interest.

Importantly, the charges against Trump in the state have not yet been officially dropped, despite his status as president-elect. 

The case’s status comes as Smith has wound down all federal court proceedings against Trump following his victory in the 2024 election and longstanding Justice Department policy that prevents U.S. prosecutors from bringing federal criminal charges against a sitting president. 

Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.

The legal team for Ryan Routh, the man accused of trying to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course in September, is considering an insanity defense.

Routh appeared for a hearing in federal court Wednesday morning in Fort Pierce, Florida, with Federal Judge Aileen Cannon presiding. Cannon previously presided over and eventually dismissed Trump’s federal classified documents case.

Public defenders said a mental health expert has met with Routh at least twice, and Routh has also met with jail mental health professionals who they say can prove his mental health state.

The last witness to see Routh before he was arrested claims Routh was “hallucinating” and that other witnesses said he was “delusional,” according to the defense.

WHO IS RYAN WESLEY ROUTH: ALLEGED GUNMAN AT TRUMP GOLF CLUB

Prosecutors also said that Routh had written up to 40 letters to national news outlets in what appeared to be an attempt to persuade the press that he’s an “honorable guy.” The letters were intercepted before being received, though Cannon made it clear that she had not put a gag order on his free speech up to this point.

Routh allegedly lay in wait for over 12 hours in the brush with a rifle on the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach as Trump was golfing on Sept. 15. A Secret Service agent saw Routh pointing a rifle through a fence and fired at him. Routh fled and was arrested that day.

The alleged would-be assassin has pleaded not guilty to five counts, including the attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and assault on a federal officer. His trial is currently scheduled for Feb. 10, 2025.

Trump assassination attempt suspect Ryan Routh was seen being taken into custody on Sept. 15 in bodycam footage. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office )

Routh’s attorneys have already filed a motion for a continuance, asking for the trial to be delayed until December 2025 because of the “extraordinary volume” of discovery still being examined.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT HEARING DEVOLVES INTO SCREAMING MATCH

“Proceeding with the scheduled trial or anytime soon thereafter — on charges punishable by life imprisonment — would result in a miscarriage of justice,” the defense attorneys said in the filing.

A court sketch depicts Ryan Routh as he appears in federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 23. (Lothar Speer)

Prosecutors said they will be prepared for trial in February but are not opposed to a “reasonable” delay, though they said a continuance until December 2025 would not be “reasonable.”

The prosecution’s response to Routh’s request for a continuance filed on Tuesday detailed some of the discovery. 

Prosecutors said 17 of the 18 cell phones found during the investigation belonged to Routh. Routh’s notebook had “dozens of pages of names and numbers pertaining to overseas locations.”

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The filing said a “massive amount of law enforcement agents and agencies” have been working “around the clock” to assess Routh’s movements in both the U.S. and “multiple countries abroad.”

Fox News’ Heather Lacy contributed to this report.

Two dolphins were rescued in Lee County, Florida, on Wednesday after becoming stranded in the shallow waters of a lagoon possibly more than a month ago.

The county sheriff’s office said witnesses reported seeing the pair stranded deep in the mangroves near Matlacha late Monday night, prompting a rescue response Tuesday morning.

LCSO’s Marine Unit and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologists used shallow water boats to locate the dolphins, pushing through mangrove canals and mud flats.

FOUR DOLPHINS FOUND DEAD ON MISSISSIPPI’S PETIT BOIS ISLAND IN ‘VERY UNUSUAL EVENT’ 

The lagoon was only about two or three feet deep at high tide, the sheriff’s office said, and the trails leading to open water were only about two feet deep, which prevented the dolphins from escaping.

“Biologists believe the dolphins could have been stranded since – at least – a very high-tide in mid November, or even as far back when water levels rose during Hurricane Milton in October,” the sheriff’s office said.

WATCH: DOLPHINS RESCUED FROM SHALLOW MASSACHUSETTS RIVER ARE RETURNED TO OCEAN

The dolphins were rescued after being placed onto a floating mat and pulled out of heavy mud in the lagoon. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

The two agencies were unable to rescue the dolphins on Tuesday because of “technical and environmental challenges of trapping, lifting and moving” the two adult dolphins through “heavy mud,” so more groups joined the efforts on Wednesday.

The FWC, LCSO, the Dolphin Research Program, the Brookfield Zoo Chicago-Sarasota, Clearwater Aquarium and Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium all met at the lagoon with more equipment to rescue the dolphins.

After placing the dolphins on floating mats, pulling them through more than 300 yards of mud and muck, and towing them to deeper waters, they were rescued.

The dolphins were pulled to safety and released into deeper waters after being evaluated by FWC biologists. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

FWC biologists evaluated them, applied satellite tags and safely released them into deeper waters in Matlacha Pass.

“The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is always willing to help out our great residents….. on land and sea,” the agency wrote on Facebook.