One of the biggest names in the news lately has been Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has been in the national spotlight for her vigorous prosecution of some high-profile cases.
In 2022, Willis brought RICO charges against local Atlanta rappers Young Thug, Gunna and his YSL organization.
Now she’s back in the media after charges are expected to be filed in Fulton against for President Donald Trump related to the 2020 election. But with all the hoopla surrounding this South Fulton mother of two, you might wonder who is Fani Willis?
How Old Is Fani Willis?
Willis celebrated her 52nd birthday in October 2023. At a private fund-raising event that month, Willis decried the verbal and racist attacks against her.
“I think the craziest ]lie] was that I was sleeping with a gang-banger. Like, what?! I like them old. What are you talking about?” she told the crowd as they laughed.
Fani Willis: Howard Alum Traces Name To African Roots
Willis was born and raised in Inglewood, California, but moved to Washington, D.C., with her father after his divorce. As a former member of the Blac Panthers, he was active in his community. He was also a criminal defense attorney.
Willis was raised in a household that encouraged her to be proud of her blackness. Her name — Fani Taifa — is actually Swahili and means “prosperous” (fani) “People” (taifa).
In 1992, she graduated from Howard University in Washington D.C., and went to grad school at Atlanta’s Emory University School of Law. She graduated in 1996.
In 2000, she was lead prosecutor in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, which made regional headlines. She also became inept at applying Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act to many of her cases.
Championing father’s custody rights, Willis made a name for herself as a strong lawyer who specialized in criminal cases, especially those involving juveniles. Five years after graduating from law school, she got a job as Assistant DA in Fulton.
Willis Unseats Longtime Fulton DA Paul Howard
Willis had been a lawyer for nearly a quarter-century before she decided to try to unseat who many people had thought could be unseatable, six-term Fulton DA Paul Howard. But Howard, whom Willis worked under for six years, had been rocked by a number of scandals, all of which he dutifully put out, but workplace issues, including sexual harassment lawsuits, spelled the end of his career.
Willis, who had been asking God if challenging Howard was the right thing to do, soon saw the many problems at the Fulton DA’s Office as her opportunity to change things for the better.
“I have gotten calls from South Fulton, North Fulton, Buckhead just begging me to run,” she said.The office under Howard’s leadership is broken, she told reporters at the time. “I believe I’m the right person to fix it.”
When she defeated Howard in August 2020, a new day had dawned in Atlanta.
““I always knew that I wanted to be the district attorney, but in my mind, I would never run against the sitting DA,” she told South Atlanta magazine, “but the cries got louder and louder and louder… and I just took the leap of faith and did what God called me to do.”
Willis took over for Howard, the first African-American to win election as a district attorney in Georgia. Willis is now the first African-American woman to serve as district attorney in the state.
Photo credit: Fulton County District Attorney’s Office
Willis Takes On Trump
In January 2021, when it was clear that America was turning the page on his presidency, Trump made an illicit phone call to a Georgia election official in search of more than 11,000 votes. Days later, Willis vowed that she would be looking into whether any tampering was done to “influence” the election.
Her quest has led to what many people say is the strongest indictment against Trump. At issue, is the former Republican president’s attempt to seat fake electors to overturn the results of the 2020 election that put President Biden into office.
But Trump has not taken the charges quietly. He has built up a considerable narrative about Willis that he tells to large crowds. According to him, Willis is sleeping with a gang member.
Why is ‘Phoney’ Fani Willis, the severely underperforming D.A. of Fulton County who is being accused of having an ‘affair’; with a gang member of a group that she is prosecuting, leaking my name in regard to a grand jury pertaining to election fraud and irregularities that I say took place in Georgia,” Trump posted on a social media network on August 13.
Willis responded with an email to her staff, swatting the allegations away as “derogatory and false” as she awaits to bring indictments against Trump.
““You may not comment in any way on the ad or any of the negativity that may be expressed against me, your colleagues, this office in the coming days, weeks or months,” Willis wrote. “We have no personal feelings against those we investigate or prosecute and we should not express any.”
Despite the allegations, Trump remains the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
