ATLANTA — A hearing was held Tuesday morning in a lawsuit against the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office related to the Georgia election interference case.
Judge Rachel Krause said she decided not to approve or deny the motion to dismiss because she wanted to give the plaintiffs, Ashleigh Merchant's Law Firm, time to respond to the motion to dismiss.
The lawsuit alleges the DA’s Office violated the Georgia Open Records Act and seeks to add Fulton County as a defendant. Both the DA’s Office and the county have filed motions to dismiss. The hearing started at 9 a.m.
Attorney Ashleigh Merchant and her law firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of Michael Roman, a co-defendant in the election interference case involving former President Donald Trump and his allies. The lawsuit was initially filed in January after Merchant questioned DA Fani Willis about her relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The suit claims the DA’s Office failed to provide requested documents related to Wade.
The Fulton County DA’s Office contends it cannot be sued and that the plaintiff has received all responsive documents. They argue the lawsuit is a case of "pure gamesmanship."
The county’s attorney argues it should not be added as a defendant since the open records requests were not directed at the county.
Judge Krause said on Tuesday that she would give the law firm 20 days from Tuesday, June 25, to respond with another motion to move the case further along.