Fani Willis Makes Rare Move in Trump Co-Defendant’s Case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Tuesday was in court, arguing that Harrison Floyd, Donald Trump co-defendant in the Georgia election subversion case, should have his bond revoked.

Willis is leading Georgia’s criminal racketeering case against the ex-president, who’s accused of attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state to President Joe Biden. Floyd, former leader of Black Voices for Trump, is among Trump’s 18 co-defendants and faces three charges in a harassment campaign targeting Atlanta election worker Ruby Freeman. Floyd is accused of trying to force Freeman into make false statements about election procedures. He has pleaded not guilty.

Trump has also pleaded not guilty, to 41 counts, including racketeering, violating the oath of a public officer, perjury, forgery and false statements, while denying any wrongdoing.

In a motion last week to revoke Floyd’s bond, Willis said that since his initial release from jail in August, Floyd has engaged in numerous intentional and flagrant violations of his bond agreement, which bars him from communicating directly or indirectly with co-defendants and intimidating them or potential witnesses involved in the case.

On Tuesday, Willis appeared in the courtroom and personally handled the arguments for her office that Floyd’s bond be revoked, a move some are saying was “interesting.”

“We’re asking that his bond be revoked and he be remanded,” Willis told Judge Scott McAfee at the start of the hearing.

Newsweek has reached out to Fulton County offices via email for comment Tuesday.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Glenn Kirschner, NBC News and MSNBC legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, noted Willis’ appearance in court by saying, “It’s interesting that DA Fani Willis is personally handling the bond revocation hearing for defendant Harrison Floyd. It’s being live-streamed presently.”

X user Dorsey Girl said, “Let’s be clear what’s happening here.The fact that Fani Willis is standing up on this motion herself lets everyone know how serious the claim is and send a message to any other defendant who many want to get cute.”

The podcast Mueller, She Wrote also noted Willis’ move on X, saying: “The McAfee hearing on Harrison Floyd’s bond. This is the first motion to revoke bond by a prosecutor in a trump case. DA Fani Willis is arguing this herself!”

In court proceedings, Willis’ office has continued to cite Floyd’s posts on social media over the targeting of Georgia elections officials such as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and one of his top officials, Gabriel Sterling.

Willis also announced that the state intends to call three witnesses for the bond hearing, including Sterling and Mike Hill, an investigator for the district attorney’s office who has worked on the 2020 election interference case for some time.

Anna Bower, legal fellow and courts correspondent at Lawfare, said on X, “DA Willis tells Judge McAfee that Floyd violated conditions of his release through his social media posts. She announces that the state intends to call three witnesses for today’s bond hearing—including Gabriel Sterling, the COO for the GA Sec. of State’s office.”