Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is accustomed to prosecuting high-profile, challenging cases. But as she parried questions about her own personal conduct from the witness stand against the legal teams for defendants her office has accused of election interference, many Black women recognized a disheartening scene.
‘It definitely feels familiar. It is no secret that the common sentiment among Black women in positions of power is that they must overachieve to be seen as equals to their counterparts,” says Jessica T. Ornsby, a family law attorney in Washington, DC. area.
“Here, Ms. Willis is being scrutinized for issues not directly related to her job performance in a way that we see other Black women picked apart on a regular basis,” Ornsby said.
Willis testified at an extraordinary hearing that could lead to her office being removed from the state’s election interference case against former President Donald Trump. She was questioned Thursday about her relationship with the attorney leading her office’s prosecution, Nathan Wade.
Willis and Wade have acknowledged they had a “personal relationship” but denied any inappropriate behavior.
Regardless of the legal merits of Trump and his co-defendants’ claim that Willis’ conduct was improper, relationships between colleagues are often prohibited or required to be disclosed in many workplaces, including large private law firms. Willis has received criticism from many legal experts who otherwise supported the case due to her relationship with Wade.
Yet few people in such circumstances have the most intimate details of their lives broadcast so publicly.
In interviews with The Associated Press, many Black women leaders expressed frustration and disappointment that public attention had shifted from the merits of the criminal case to the personal behavior of the Black woman who oversaw the prosecution. For them, the case against Willis reflects familiar experiences testing their authority, competence and character.
“I love that she stood up for herself, but I hate the fact that she had to do that,” said Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation. She said that when she saw the video of the testimony, she felt, “Why are you all treating her like she’s on trial?”
“Black women feel like we’re under attack. And that is a fact,” Campbell said.
Willis, who has a reputation as an astute litigator, was visibly upset as she took the stand Thursday, rejecting allegations that she improperly benefited from the prosecution because of the relationship.
“It’s a lie,” the prosecutor said of allegations in lawsuits.
“You have been intrusive into people’s personal lives. You’re confused. Do you think I’m on trial,’ Willis testified. “These people are on trial for trying to steal the 2020 election. I am not on trial, no matter how hard you try to bring me to justice.â€
For many black women, the investigations into Willis’s romantic and financial life were rife with tropes and accusations often wrongly leveled against black women.
Keir Bradford-Grey, a partner at the Philadelphia law firm Montgomery McCracken, found the questions about Willis’ personal life “disgusting.” She also said the episode had troubling implications for Black women in leadership roles: “I can do it.” I can’t imagine a world where we continue to be treated this way as we seek leadership roles, and we fill them well.”
LaTosha Brown, co-founder of voting rights group Black Voters Matter, despaired over Willis having to answer questions about “whether she has money, whether she has cash or not and why she has cash, who she sleeps with, Who is she flying in a plane?â€
“So, what is this even about?†Brown added. “When white power, especially white men, is held accountable… the first thing we need to do is disqualify the people who hold them accountable,” especially when those people are Black women.
Investigations into Willis’ personal life have diverted attention from the allegations against Trump.
In the past year, he has been charged four times, in Georgia and Washington, DC, with plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, in Florida with hoarding classified documents and in Manhattan with falsifying corporate records regarding hush money. paid on his behalf to porn actor Stormy Daniels. Trump has railed against individual prosecutors, judges and the justice system as a whole. But he reserves special, often coded rhetoric for his attacks on women and people of color.
“Donald Trump knows he can make a black woman an easy target for his base,” said Brittany Packnett Cunningham, a racial justice activist and podcast host. “What we have to recognize is that in many of the charges, this particular attack “The disqualification through her personal activities is unique. Of all the prosecutions he has faced, this is not the approach he has taken. But he took that particularly a black woman.”
Willis’ testimony also reminded many of similar public questions about Black women’s leadership, including the recent impeachment of former Harvard University President Claudine Gay and the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
“Images from the legal proceedings also reflect many of our daily experiences: defending ourselves against a sea of individuals who do not share our backgrounds and harbor both implicit and explicit biases,” Ornsby said.
On Friday, Willis’ team did not call her back to the stands. While the court considers whether to disqualify her from the criminal case, the case remains largely in limbo.
“We’re not talking about the things that really matter, including, but not limited to, bringing the country at least a small step back from the brink of fascism. No, instead we evaluate the appearance, character and professionalism of a black woman when all she did was do her job,” Cunningham said.
“The standards by which they are judged, where their actions are scrutinized every step of the way, just seems a little different, not a little, a lot different than what I see from our male counterparts,” Bradford-Gray said. “I wish there would come a day when women would stand together and say we want the same treatment as men.”
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Matt Brown is a member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on social media.