Federal prosecutors have taken a dramatic new step in the ongoing saga surrounding Fani Willis, the embattled Fulton County District Attorney who made national headlines by charging former President Donald Trump and his allies with attempting to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. On September 26, 2025, the Department of Justice issued a federal grand jury subpoena seeking records of Willis’s international travel, specifically targeting trips made around the time of the 2024 election, according to The New York Times and other major outlets.
The inquiry is being led by Theodore S. Hertzberg, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. While the precise scope of the investigation remains shrouded in secrecy—grand jury proceedings are, by law, confidential—what is clear is that federal authorities are scrutinizing Willis’s movements at a politically sensitive moment. As FOX 5 Atlanta and USA Herald reported, the subpoena is separate from previous controversies involving Willis’s travel with Nathan Wade, the former special prosecutor she hired for the Trump case and with whom she had a romantic relationship.
Willis’s office responded to the news with a terse statement. “We have no comment beyond the fact we have no knowledge of any investigation,” said Jeff DiSantis, spokesman for the district attorney, as quoted by The New York Times and Atlanta News First. The Justice Department and Hertzberg’s office also declined immediate comment, leaving the public to speculate about the investigation’s aims and potential consequences.
This latest development comes on the heels of a series of legal and political setbacks for Willis. In December 2024, the Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified her and her office from prosecuting the Trump election interference case, citing an appearance of impropriety linked to her relationship with Wade. Defense attorneys had alleged that Willis engaged in “self-dealing” by going on vacations with Wade, some of which he paid for, at least in part. These trips included destinations such as Aruba, the Bahamas, Belize, and Napa Valley, and took place in 2022 and 2023, as documented by Atlanta News First and USA Herald.
Willis has consistently maintained her innocence. In a 2024 court filing, she argued, “Personal relationships among lawyers—even on opposing sides of litigation—do not constitute impermissible conflicts of interest.” During a court hearing, she insisted, “I’m not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial,” while being questioned about her relationship with Wade, according to The New York Times.
Despite her removal from the Trump case, Willis’s political fortunes did not immediately suffer. She won re-election as Fulton County District Attorney in November 2024, reaffirming her support among local voters. However, her legal troubles did not end there. In March 2025, a judge ruled that Willis’s office had violated Georgia’s Open Records Act in a separate dispute, ordering the payment of more than $54,000 in attorneys’ fees and the production of documents, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta.
The Trump election interference case itself remains in limbo. Willis first brought charges in August 2023, accusing Trump and 18 others—including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer—of orchestrating a “criminal enterprise” to overturn the state’s election results. The indictment cited, among other evidence, Trump’s infamous phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2021, where Trump asked him to “find” enough votes to reverse his narrow loss in the state.
Following her disqualification, the Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear Willis’s appeal on September 16, 2025, effectively cementing her removal and leaving the prosecution of Trump and his allies in the hands of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. Several co-defendants have since taken plea deals, while others continue to fight the charges. The case’s future is now uncertain, with no clear timeline for resolution.
The federal subpoena for Willis’s travel records has fueled speculation about the motivations behind the investigation. Some observers, as noted by The New York Times and USA Herald, see it as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to pursue political adversaries. Indeed, the subpoena was revealed just days after former FBI Director James Comey was indicted, reportedly over the objections of career prosecutors. Trump has repeatedly pressured the Justice Department to take aggressive action against his perceived enemies, including public criticism of Attorney General Pam Bondi and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump himself responded to the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision with characteristic bombast, posting on social media that Willis and others who brought cases against him “are now CRIMINALS who will hopefully pay serious consequences for their illegal actions.” Speaking to reporters as he departed for the Ryder Cup golf championship, Trump added, “There’ll be others,” hinting at further legal action against his political opponents.
For her part, Willis has remained largely silent, letting her spokesman’s brief statement speak for her. The lack of clarity about whether she is a target of the federal investigation, or whether she might ultimately face charges, has only intensified public interest. Grand jury proceedings remain sealed, and, as FOX 5 Atlanta pointed out, the federal subpoena is focused on her travel in the fall of 2024—distinct from the earlier trips that became the subject of courtroom drama and public controversy.
The man leading the investigation, Theodore S. Hertzberg, is no stranger to high-profile cases. Recently made permanent in his role by local federal judges, Hertzberg pledged that “prosecutors under my charge will act decisively and aggressively to excise dangerous offenders from our community,” according to The New York Times. Whether that promise will extend to Willis herself remains to be seen.
This tangled legal and political drama is unfolding against the backdrop of a polarized nation, with both Trump’s supporters and his critics watching closely for any sign of vindication or retribution. The outcome of the investigation could have lasting implications not only for Willis’s career but also for the future of high-profile prosecutions involving political figures in Georgia and beyond.
As the dust settles, one thing is certain: the story of Fani Willis, Donald Trump, and the 2020 Georgia election is far from over, with the next chapter now being written behind the closed doors of a federal grand jury.
