rewrite this - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has suffered another defeat in court, resulting in an order for her office to pay attorneys' fees due to intentional violations of Georgia's open records laws. As previously reported by La

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has faced another setback in court, resulting in an order for her office to pay attorneys' fees due to willful violations of Georgia's open records laws. As previously highlighted by Law&Crime, this ruling came in connection with Willis's unsuccessful racketeering (RICO) case against President Donald Trump, a verdict that was widely expected. In October 2024, the presiding judge indicated that Willis would incur both a loss and financial penalties. On Friday, Judge Rachel Krause of Fulton County Superior Court formally issued her ruling. During a final hearing last year, the judge sarcastically commented to a government attorney, "The law doesn't apply to you." In this case, lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, who represents co-defendant Michael Roman in the RICO prosecution, successfully demonstrated that the district attorney's office violated the Georgia Open Records Act by failing to promptly provide documents concerning the employment and salary of Nathan Wade—the former special assistant district attorney who resigned from the Trump case due to his past romantic relationship with Willis—as well as other documents detailing how Willis’s office allocated significant public funds. Instead, the DA's office delayed requests for several months and claimed that the law did not pertain to them, with one specific employee responsible for the obstruction. It was only after litigation was initiated and a subpoena was issued that the DA's office complied with legal requirements. True insight emerged from the bureaucratic fog when Dexter Bond, the deputy of operations for the DA's office, admitted under oath that he treated the plaintiffs' attorney unfavorably based on her identity, which evidently displeased the judge. The court order noted, "As highlighted during the hearing, Defendants—through the Open Records custodian, Dexter Bond—exhibited open hostility toward the Plaintiff's counsel, Ms. Merchant, and confirmed that Ms. Merchant's requests were handled differently than others."