Federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Georgia have issued a grand jury subpoena for records related to the international travel of Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who charged former President Donald Trump and his allies in the high-profile 2020 election interference case, according to reporting by The New York Times and Reuters on September 27, 2025. The subpoena, which seeks documentation of travel taken by Willis around the time of the 2024 election, marks the latest twist in a saga that has become emblematic of the increasingly fraught intersection between politics and the American justice system.
At the heart of the matter is whether Willis, a Democrat and veteran prosecutor, is the target of a federal investigation or whether she might ultimately face criminal charges. As of Friday, neither the Department of Justice nor Willis’ office had commented directly on the nature or scope of the inquiry. A spokesperson for Willis told The New York Times, “no comment beyond the fact we have no knowledge of any investigation.”
The subpoena’s focus on Willis’ travel during the fall of 2024 stands out, as previous scrutiny centered on trips she took in 2022 and 2023—particularly personal excursions to California and the Caribbean with her then-boyfriend, Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to work on the Trump election case. Defense attorneys previously argued these trips constituted self-dealing, since Wade paid for portions of them, and sought to have Willis and her office removed from the prosecution. Ultimately, an appeals court did disqualify Willis and her team from the case in late 2024, a decision that the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed in September 2025.
Yet, as The New York Times reports, the current federal subpoena is looking at a later window—Willis’ travel in the fall of 2024, when she was running for a second term as Fulton County’s top prosecutor. In November 2024, Willis won re-election decisively, securing more than 68% of the vote against her Republican challenger.
Legal experts are divided on what, if anything, might come of the federal investigation. Caren Morrison, a former federal prosecutor and now law professor at Georgia State University, told The New York Times, “I’ve never seen anything like this. It certainly seems like they’re fishing. I imagine they’ll root through all documentation that could have any conceivable connection to federal law—mortgage documents, bank loans, maybe even her taxes.” Morrison also noted that prosecutors could be examining Willis’ travel through the lens of campaign finance laws or possible misappropriation of funds, but emphasized the unusual nature of the inquiry.
Some of Willis’ political opponents have welcomed the news. Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said, “A thorough investigation of her actions is warranted and long overdue. Those who abused our criminal justice system to punish their political opponents should be held accountable.” McKoon had previously called on federal and state authorities to investigate Willis for alleged misconduct related to her prosecution of Trump and others.
The Georgia GOP has not been idle in its opposition to Willis. Over the past several years, the party has funded the legal defense of three activists who were charged by Willis’ office for their roles as Trump presidential electors in 2020. Meanwhile, attorneys representing other defendants in the election case—including Trump’s Georgia defense team—have remained largely silent since news of the subpoena broke. One exception is Scott Grubman, a former federal prosecutor who represented Ken Chesebro, a defendant who struck a plea deal with the Fulton DA’s office in fall 2023. Grubman told The New York Times, “It represents the continued weaponization of the DOJ. I think the office’s leadership ought to be ashamed.”
Willis’ prosecution of Trump and 18 allies—including former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, as well as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows—was once seen as a major legal threat to the former president. However, the case stalled after the appeals court ruled that Willis’ romantic relationship with Wade created a “significant appearance of impropriety.” Georgia’s Supreme Court declined to review the case earlier this month, effectively leaving the disqualification in place, as reported by Reuters.
The political backdrop to these legal maneuvers is impossible to ignore. Trump has repeatedly called for the prosecution of his political opponents since first running for president in 2015. In a recent escalation, the Department of Justice filed criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey on September 25, 2025. The DOJ is also investigating other figures who have drawn Trump’s ire, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former national security advisor John Bolton. According to Reuters, these moves are widely seen as part of Trump’s campaign to use the justice system as a tool against his adversaries.
Some observers see the current investigation into Willis as part of this broader pattern. State Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democratic candidate for Congress, told The New York Times, “He [Trump] is using it as his personal vendetta machine to go after his perceived political enemies. People who either won’t do what he asked, or people who he feels has tried to hold him accountable in any way, are going to be on that list. And I’m sure we’re going to continue to see the DOJ come up with more reasons to indict people.”
On the other side of the aisle, Congressman Mike Collins, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, suggested that the Justice Department’s interest in Willis could be related to possible connections between her prosecution of Trump and the Biden White House. “The American people deserve to know if Biden’s administration colluded with Willis on her witch hunt against President Trump that wasted taxpayer funds instead of fighting violent crime in Atlanta,” he said, echoing a refrain common among Trump’s supporters.
Despite the noise, some legal experts remain skeptical that any charges will ultimately stick against Willis. James, a former DeKalb County district attorney, told The New York Times that prosecutorial immunity and the wide latitude granted to elected officials when it comes to campaigning make a successful case against her unlikely. “I can’t think of anything, unless there’s some smoking gun where she’s in a dark room and she acknowledges that there’s no evidence, but because I don’t like [Trump] and his politics I’m going to take the case to the grand jury, lie about evidence and manipulate them, get an indictment and prosecute him,” James said. “That seems pretty far-fetched to me.”
Still, James admitted he would be nervous if he were in Willis’ shoes. “The rules that have normally applied apparently don’t apply anymore. What you would think is not possible happens, and it’s been happening on a daily basis.”
As the investigation unfolds, the case of Fani Willis stands as a stark illustration of how the boundaries between law, politics, and personal ambition have become increasingly blurred in America’s public life. Whether the subpoena leads to charges, vindication, or simply more controversy, it is clear that the story is far from over—and that the stakes, for all involved, could not be higher.
