Fani Willis and Kamala Harris Meeting Before Trump Case: What We Know

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was accused this week of meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris before indicting Donald Trump, but details of the “meeting” are not what they may seem.

Attorney Ashley Merchant this week told a Georgia state Senate committee, which is investigating Willis following allegations of wrongdoing, that a White House record showed Willis had a “meeting with the vice president” before the indictment.

Willis indicted the former president and 18 others in August for allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. The former president pleaded not guilty to all 13 charges against him and has said the case is politically motivated because he is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

Last month, Willis gave evidence in a two-day hearing following accusations by former Donald Trump staffer and co-defendant Michael Roman that she was having an affair with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired in the high-profile case. It was also alleged the pair had benefited financially from taxpayers’ money.

Willis and Wade later admitted they had a relationship but denied a conflict of interest. The timeline of their relationship has emerged as a key point of contention, and Roman has said it started earlier than they admitted.

Merchant, who is representing Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, told the Georgia committee that there were White House access records that showed “Ms. Willis and the mayor of Atlanta [Andre Dickens] were at [the]…meeting with the vice president.”

The committee was presented with a record that showed Willis appeared on a White House visitor log dated February 28, 2023. The record showed that Willis attended the vice president’s residence, listed as VPR, on that date.

However, as Newsweek has discovered, the “meeting” was a garden event attended by hundreds of people organized in affiliation with the Black entertainment network BET.

BET posted a video of the event, “BET Goes to the White House to Honor Young Black Emerging Leaders #TBT,” and an accompanying article that matches the date, location, and the rough numbers of guests in the White House record.

The article said: “In honor of Black History Month and in keeping with the theme of celebrating Black excellence, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff hosted trailblazing Black leaders at their private residence last month.

“In collaboration with BET, Harris and Emhoff opened the door to their home on the evening of February 28 to honor a group of emerging, young Black leaders who are making impactful changes in several industries throughout the country.

“Harris spoke to more than 400 guests at the event about the importance of Black History Month and the responsibility of each generation to carry forward the ‘baton.'”

A February 2023 newsletter from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office included a photo of Willis and Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Dexter Bond at the event, the background matching the event’s stage dressing.

The newsletter said: “Our very own Madam DA and Deputy DA Dexter Bond were invited to our nation’s capital for a Black History Month celebration on February 28th hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff.

“VP Harris and Mr. Emhoff honored Black leaders who are forging paths and making history across the country and within their respective communities.”

Harris also published photos on March 2, 2023, from the event.

A publicly available spreadsheet of Harris’ engagements in February 2023 provides a list of its attendees that corresponds with guests named by BET and in a brief report by Politico.

Merchant’s description of the event may give the impression that there was a direct meeting with Harris and Dickens at the White House. Although Dickens was at the event, the public record does not show that he attended with Willis or had a conversation with Willis and Harris.

While it’s possible that Willis could have spoken with Harris during the event, any notion this was a private face-to-face meeting with the vice president at the White House appears to be misleading.

The vice president’s residence is not on the White House grounds. As stated by the White House, “Vice Presidents since Walter Mondale have lived with their families on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory,” which is two and a half miles from the White House.

Newsweek has contacted representatives for Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, the White House, the Mayor of Atlanta’s Office, BET and Harris via email for comment.

During the Georgia state Senate committee meeting, Merchant was asked whether the White House keeps records of “anybody that comes in and has any kind of official meeting for sure.”

Merchant replied: “Yes and my understanding is it’s highly regulated who can access the White House and so you have to apply in person or apply ahead of time. And then they give you a time when you make the appointment, and they give you a time when you’re allowed to be in, and when you have to be out by, and they track you.”

It’s not clear whether Willis had to apply to attend the event. While Merchant did not explain what the event was, she added that Bond and Dickens also attended.

The idea that the meeting was private or face-to-face is further undermined by the White House log that Merchant presented to the committee, which says there were 456 people at the event.

Regardless of how many people there were, it’s still entirely possible that Willis could have spoken directly with Harris at some point. However, the idea that this was a secretive or private meeting between the pair at the White House or otherwise is not supported by the evidence.

Newsweek has contacted Merchant’s law firm via a contact form for comment.