California man indicted for allegedly threatening Georgia prosecutor over Trump election

ATLANTA — A California man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta for sending death threats to District Attorney Fani Willis, who is overseeing the prosecution of former President Donald Trump and 18 others accused of illegally attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. in Georgia.

Marc Shultz, 66, of Chula Vista, is charged with transmitting interstate threats to harm Willis. Prosecutors alleged that Shultz posted comments on live-streamed videos on YouTube in October 2023 that threatened Willis, including saying the prosecutor “would be killed like a dog.”

“Sending death threats to a public official is a criminal offense that will not be tolerated,” Ryan Buchanan, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta, said in a statement Friday.

The April 24 indictment was unsealed Thursday. A federal public defender listed as representing Shultz did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Records show Shultz appeared before a judge in San Diego on Thursday and was released on bond. Buchanan said Shultz will be formally arraigned in Atlanta in June.

Also Friday, Fulton County leaders testified before a state Senate special committee that they had no legal authority to control Willis’ spending or his hiring of former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

The Republican-led committee is investigating Willis’ hiring of Wade to lead the team that investigated and indicted Trump, his lawyers and other aides in the Georgia case. Willis and Wade admitted to having a romantic relationship with each other.

Trump and other defendants in the case tried to remove Willis and his office from the case, saying the relationship with Wade created a conflict of interest.

Wade withdrew from the prosecution after Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee concluded in March that no conflict of interest existed that should force Willis to withdraw from the case. But he ruled that Willis could only continue pursuing Trump if Wade left. Trump and others appealed that decision to a higher state court.

Allegations that Willis inappropriately profited from her relationship with Wade led to tumultuous months in the case, as intimate details of Willis and Wade’s personal lives were aired in court in mid-February . Serious charges in one of four criminal cases against the former Republican president have been largely overshadowed by prosecutors’ love lives.

Willis told reporters Friday that she had done nothing wrong.

“They can look whatever they want,” Willis said. “The prosecutor’s office did everything by the books. We follow the law. I’m sorry that people get angry when everyone in society can be prosecuted.”

Willis is running for office this year and will face a Democratic opponent, Christian Wise Smith, in a May 21 primary. Early voting for this election is underway.

But the attorney who initiated the effort to impeach Willis, Ashleigh Merchant, also claimed that Wade’s firing violated a state law that required approval of the hiring of a special prosecutor by the county commission.

Fulton County Commission Chairman Rob Pitts, a Democrat, and Fulton County Attorney Soo Jo both told the committee that although the law appears to require approval from the county commission, judges interpreted the law decades ago in a way that gave Willis the freedom to hire whomever she wanted. wants without approval. Jo, who represents the commission, cited three separate Georgia Court of Appeals cases to support this point.

“What I found is that the court rejected the proposition that this particular law requires a district attorney to obtain explicit permission from a county before appointing a special assistant district attorney,” said Joe.

State Sen. Bill Cowsert, the Athens Republican who chairs the committee, disputed that interpretation when questioned by reporters after the hearing.

“I think the plain language of the law says it requires county approval, and particularly when it’s funded by the county,” Cowsert said.

He then suggested that the committee, which does not directly have the power to sanction Willis, could change the law to give counties more control over the spending of county-funded state officials, including prosecutors and the sheriffs. Fulton County officials said they don’t think they can control how Willis spends the money once it’s awarded to him.

Cowsert said increased county oversight would be “extraordinarily complex” for district attorneys handling funds from more than one county. While Willis and 15 other district attorneys in Georgia only prosecute cases from one county, others prosecute cases from up to eight counties.

Senate Democratic Whip Harold Jones II of Augusta said hours of questioning on the details of how Fulton County budgets money shows the panel is “at the end of its rope,” noting that three of the six Republicans failed to show up for a committee meeting called on short notice.

“They don’t even care anymore,” Jones said. “Frankly, there’s nothing else to say. And we found out today.