Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R) went after fellow Republicans over their calls to defund Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after her office indicted former President Donald Trump earlier this month.
“A select few are calling to defund a duly-elected district attorney of this state and her office in an attempt to interfere with the criminal justice system,” Burns wrote in a letter to the state’s GOP caucus on Wednesday.
“Regardless of your views of this case, removing this funding would also have the unintended consequence of causing a delay or complete lack of prosecution of other serious offenses like murder, rape, armed robbery, gang prosecution, battery, etc.,” he continued.
Burns went on to warn those concerned with “serious crime levels” in Atlanta that such a move to defund Willis would be harmful to public safety.
“It is unfortunate some would knowingly suggest such a reckless course of action despite the devastating effects it would have,” he wrote.
The Republican, earlier in the letter, referred to the threat of Hurricane Idalia on his state.
“It is an unfortunate reality of today’s politics that theatrics sometimes garner more attention than genuine human needs like those that will unfold today in south and coastal Georgia,” wrote Burns.
He also declared in the letter: “Targeting one specific DA in this manner certainly flaunts the idea of separation of powers, if not outright violates it.”
Burns’ comments follow a letter from Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore (R) to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in which Colton called for a special legislative session to impeach Willis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“America is under attack. I’m not going to sit back and watch as radical left prosecutors politically TARGET political opponents,” Moore wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this month.
Moore recently warned of a possible “civil war” if lawmakers don’t strip funding from Willis, Mediaite reported.
Kemp, meanwhile, has “been conspicuous in [his] unwillingness to pile on” the criticism toward Willis as he claimed that Democrats want Republicans to be focused on the former president’s legal concerns so they’re not focused on President Joe Biden’s record, The Associated Press noted.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform earlier this month, took aim at Willis along with Kemp.
“Governor Kemp of Georgia is fighting hard against the impeachment of the crooked, incompetent & highly partisan D.A. of Fulton County, Fani Willis, who has allowed Murder and other Violent Crime to MASSIVELY ESCALATE,” he wrote. “Crime in Atlanta is WORST IN NATION. She should be impeached for many reasons, not just the Witch Hunt (I did nothing wrong!).”
Other Republicans have been critical of the district attorney, as well, including Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who declared: “Fani Willis should be ashamed of herself and she’s going to lose her job. We’ll make sure of that.”