The Justice Department disclosed discrepancies in how Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis was utilizing federal grant funds, validations of the claims came from a whistleblower. The whistleblower, who accused the Fulton County office of mismanaging $488,000 in federal grant funds for expenses like “swag,” computers, and travel, was previously fired by Willis.
Discrepancies In Reporting
Andrew Kerr from the Washington Free Beacon reported,
“It’s that same grant that the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs now says is plagued with reporting discrepancies from Willis’s office.”
Discrepancies
The Justice Department has not gone into detail about the specifics of the discrepancies that were reported by Willis regarding the $488,000 federal grant designated for establishing a Center for Youth Empowerment and Gang Prevention in Atlanta.
Despite the grant ending in September 2023, the center was never operational.
Inconsistencies
Collaborating with Wills’s office, the Justice Department is working to rectify the grant reporting inconsistencies.
A House Judiciary Committee is investigating Willis’s mismanagement of federal grants.
Rep. Jim Jordan
In early February Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), the committee chairman, issued a subpoena to Willis for documentation related to the $488,000 federal grant and the allegations made by the Willis’s former employee Amanda Timpson,
Who was the grant director until her abrupt dismissal by the district attorney in January 2022.
Congress
On March 14,
Jordan issued a warning of the possibility of holding Willis in contempt of Congress after she replied to his subpoena with a limited set of documents unrelated to Timpson’s whistleblower claims.
Unreasonable
In her response,
Willis condemned Jordan’s demands as “unreasonable and unorthodox,” suggesting that his inquiry was aimed at obstructing her investigation of election interference against former President Donald Trump.
Analysis
In a statement,
a spokesperson for the Department of Justice confirmed to the Beacon that inconsistencies were found during their examination of Willis’s office.
Inconsistencies
The spokeswoman said,
“During our review of the award to respond to this inquiry, we have noticed some inconsistencies in what Fulton County has reported to [the Federal Subaward Reporting System] and we are working with them to update their reporting accordingly.”
Federal Funds
The scrutiny of Willis’s utilization of federal funds is the latest controversy affecting her office
Coinciding with her efforts to prosecute the former President Donald Trump.
Conflict Of Interest
Despite allegations of a conflict of interest arising from their past relationship,
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee found no tangible conflict necessitating Willis’ removal from the case.
Trump
In March, Nathan Wade, who is both Fani Willis’ former romantic partner and colleague,
Decided to resign from the Trump case, handing over a political win for the former president.
Operative
In February, reports surfaced indicating that the Biden administration had placed a Democratic operative within a Fulton County,
Aiming to target Trump.
Upcoming Presidential Election
If these claims are accurate,
it could strongly indicate that the administration interfered in the 2024 presidential election.
