JUST IN: Fmr Georgia Governor Explains Why He Turned Down Fani Willis Offer To Be Special Prosecutor

Roy Eugene Barnes r y e g NE e bares b a r NES see uh good uh good morning Mr can you tell the court um a little bit about uh your background as it relates to um your service uh in the in public service uh I was uh first elected to the state senate in 197 for from Cobb County and I served 16 years there and then in 1990 I ran for governor and was defeated and two years later I went back to the House of Representatives I was elected the House of Representatives and served six years till I was elected governor in 1998 and I served in that position till January of 2003 and um after serving uh in the position of Governor can you tell the uh Court a little bit about what you transitioned into um after your public service I I did uh exactly what I was doing before uh I was elected I went back to practicing law in maretta Georgia with my daughter who's now judge of the state court and my son-in-law and now we have uh I think six or seven lawyers Charlie Bailey back there was one of them at one time okay and um Governor Barnes would you consider yourself a to be a trial lawyer yes that's we don't write contracts or we don't write Wills all we do is try cases and I want to direct your attention uh back to uh 2021 um where you've approached um by the district attorney of fton County fonnie Willis um about being a special prosecutor I was uh I don't do you I don't recall the exact date but uh I know it was sometime uh in 2021 and uh she asked me to come down and uh I met with her and Nathan Wade and there were several other in the meeting uh she asked me uh said they were beginning this investigation and she asked me if I'd be interested in being special prosecutor to which I replied that I had mouthes to feed at a law office and uh that I could not I would not do that and and also I just had a bad well I won't say bad because it happens from time to time but I just had a FBI to report u a fell uh militia trainer to me that said they were concerned uh that he was making threats against me and because I was I thought it was because of the flag but I asked him and he said no it was because I was too close to the Jews quote unquote and uh I told uh da Willis I didn't I'd live with the bodyguards uh for four years and I didn't like it and I was going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life ultimately you you turned down yes yeah I told her I I said uh uh I'm not interested nothing F from St morning Governor burn how are you just fine how are you good good to see you see you um you said it was sometime in 2021 do you remember I think it was I don't remember the dates they all go I could look it up on my calendar at the office but I don't have that well um I want to ask you about U some statements that Miss Willis made um March 28th 2021 um she was talking about assembling a team for this case are you familiar with her work assembling a team for this case well I assume that's what she was talking to me about U uh but um besides that I don't know I know you said you had a meeting with some folks and Mr Wade was at that meeting correct okay so he was um with the district attorney interviewing you about taking this case well he of course I know Nathan very well as you do uh and um I exchanged pleas with him but the conversation was with Miss Willis okay with M Willis um were you aware at the time that her team what consisted of Brian Watkins Megan Vargas Sonia Allen Shannon Troy sa Chan and John Floyd she had reported that was her team on this case I know John Floyd was uh involved and she probably told me the others but listen I barely remember what case I tried last year much less uh every word that that was said in the conversation I understand fair enough um but she said she was looking to hire more lawyers and investigators to work on this case she told me uh it was to me she said uh would you be interested in being special prosecutor in this case and I gave the reply that I've already known I mean about hiring other lawyers or whatever I don't know I all I can testify to is what she told me um did she tell you at all why she wanted to hire special counsel and not use someone who was an ABA not have an actual employee no she did not I mean we did not discuss that and U but I would assume it was because in a case is big as this that you'd have to have an SIS help I know John Floyd has been in some cases over the years out in cob County for example and others would you agree that an employee of her office office someone who was paid a state salary or a county salary as an ADA could handle a case like this I couldn't tell you that unless I knew the person knew their experience and really had been with them in a courtroom has an opinion on that thank you yes ma'am say down hello Mr s it's been a while it has been a while I hope you're well I'm doing fine just getting older with that beats all time that's true but that applies all of us I believe um I think you indicated that if you had your calendar you'd be able to pinpoint a date for us I would is there a way for you for example at a break before you actually leave to contact your folks to see if you can get a date um I guess I could I put I it I I don't know how far back we archive those but I assume I could would you be willing to give that a shot for I mean I'll do whatever the court instructs so if I ask the court in the Court says go ahead and you could do it that's all right I'll do whatever the court instruct I hear you and you should too I I try to live by those words I'm not always successful but I try um if I pinpoint a date for example I think the record is clear that Mr Wade was hired for the position on November 1 of 2021 does that help you at all no it does not then let's go to the meeting it sounds like it was just one meeting yes and could you tell us where that meeting took place if you remember was in the conference room um adjacent to the district attorney's office so it was in was it in this other the adjoining building it was in Lewis lton building and uh uh district attorney Willis was there obviously right yes and Mr Wade was there the best I recall now I could be mistaken about that it's like uh uh anything that far away way but that that's my recollection do you have a recollection of anyone else being present yeah there were uh there was some other folks but I don't remember do you remember were you introduced to Mr Wade by anything other than you already knew him um was he given a title or anything so at least as you're there if I heard you correctly Miss Willis did all the Talking Mr Wade did not I mean we exchange pleasantries but as far as the uh basis of the conversation the reason I was there Mr Willis did the talk and would you be able to give us an estimate how long this meeting lasted just rough probably an hour and it during the meeting you made it clear but it was the thanks for the offer but no thank you oh yes uh I did um as I said um you know I started off as a prosecutor and for about 10 or 15 years uh I did nothing nothing but criminal and then but I've tried to move away from it uh and do primarily civil now Mr Gillan and I have done some white collar uh cases over in federal court I've got one over there right now but it's generally business related you know where I have a client that's got a kid or him getting indicted and the case I have over there now is an alleged fraud case Fair say that based on your career and the work that you've done you've handled high-profile cases correct I have I've uh um I've I've handled some pretty good cases I sued Syria one time for beheading a uh a client of mine recovered $82 million I guess that's the best high profile but that was in DC I tried that up in DC and what would be considered comp complex cases you've handled those as well correct yes I mean we we uh we regularly do Mass torts U class actions uh business uh business torts uh breach of contract and most of those are high complex our complex requiring many uh experts I I also we also do um malpractice I was Ma I did Mal defense for about 25 years but since I've returned from the governor's office I I try not to represent an insurance company anymore and I just tried a malpractice case before judge edin in November and those are complex cases because of the type of uh you know uh medical uh knowledge and that you have to have and also because of the many experts that you have thank you did Miss Willis and this is the last question did Miss Willis tell you why she had sought you why you had been her choice no uh I hadn't but you know uh I get consulted fairly often on major cases would would you believe based on circumstances in which you were given the offer that it had to do with fact that you had handled complex and high-profile cases in the past it could have been uh I know her very well um the I tried a case against her U uh she worked for the jqc and uh I represented um judge Rob Robert Crawford Matt Crawford and uh I and she prosecuted him and I defended him she beat me at the trial I turned it around at the Supreme Court so you had some experience with oh I I had plenty of experience with it she's she's a very qualified young uh Well everybody's young to me but she's a very qualified young after that uh that one occasion MH did you have any other contact with her in reference to the position itself or who she might be considering you know I had some conversations with her or Jeff desis or some of those uh but not really an indepth um you know about who she should hire or anything like that did the name Nathan Wade come up in those conversations with her no right y um Nathan was there I thought now I could be mistaken but I thought Nathan was there when I for for the conf I think Nathan was I'm I'm positive Nathan was there when I uh when I met with him right and and my question was probably poor poorly worded but what I was asking is after the conference and whatever Consulting you might have done yes did Miss Willis or Mr DeSantis bring up the name Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor I don't think so I I I don't recall one I mean Nathan is a good organizer uh you know Nathan can organize stuff I've watched him over the years uh so I wasn't surprised that he was acting as a special prosecut and Mr DeSantis for the record who was that Jeff DeSantis Jeff Jeff s do you know who he is oh yes could you tell us who he is for the record uh Jeff works in the DA's office I knew him when he worked for thurbert Baker you know what his what his role in the DA's office is I I have no worthly idea is he in media does that sound familiar he has he has done media in the past Jeff has generally been I like Jeff and I'm very close to him but he's generally been on the other side of my campaigns all right so we're talking the best of of your recollection conference we don't have the date I'm asking if you could possibly get it but the conference you have Mr Wade could have been there yes I'm almost sure he was there and Miss Willis obviously and Mr D santis was there I think Mr D santis was too and as far as whether there's anyone else there you don't have the present recollection no okay thank next time next time I'll take a picture so I'll have an exact next time hopefully we you won't have to be here well hopefully not thank you sir all right all right Mr stocken no question thank you Mr Durham no questions joh Mr McDougall no questions for the governor Mr rice question Mr Gillan I've been waiting for this I couldn't give up the chance getting up here Governor good to see you again good to see you we've done some work in the past together haven't we I consider you to be one of my best friends and a crackerjack lawyer well I will say to you uh on the record that I can understand why they came to see you because you're the finest lawyer that I've ever worked with thank you I need to put you in the next day yeah there we go we'll get that but one or two more questions um okay you and I working together when it the appropriate when it's appropriate um there's you know we've had no quals about filing motions to disqualify the da have we no matter of fact you and I successfully disqualified the da out in Cobb County in the Brown case didn't we we did so whatever needs to be done should be done represent your client you got that thank you so much uh Mr curo are you still with us by Zoom I am your honor all right any questions no sir all right and Mr Cromwell for Miss lean no no questions all right any redirect Mr a I got can this would us be excused is there a way that we could potentially ask you for that the issue the question is you want the exact date that the meeting occurred yes and I'm wondering if we can if it's if it's really material the exact date rather than just its proximity to the November 1 hiring is that fair if he knows whether it was our earlier in the year versus maybe closer would that obviate the need for the exact date if you can't get the exact date course we'll take the best we okay let's start there let me think well you may take care of it for us just if we hold in place here I'm not sure this well let me try this first uh Governor Barnes before you uh do a deep dive in the uh in the email there do you recall what time of year it was when this meeting occurred I'm afraid not okay I I mean you know U you you know how this is the day the cases and the days moved together I had a fellow a few years ago that said I re represented him in 1978 and I told him I'd take his word for now you would I got to ask you wouldn't do that if it was a question of him saying he just paid you no I would not uh I will tell you I believe lawyers should be well paid Mr s all right so sir I I'll have to look it didn't come up right here okay uh all right we'll ask this witness to step down subject to recall and and that might be the state can present

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Length: 17min 31sec (1051 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 16 2024