In yet another twist surrounding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, her 25-year-old daughter, Kinaya Willis, found herself on the wrong side of the law last month. The young woman, who happens to be pregnant, was arrested in Tyrone, Georgia, on August 24 for allegedly driving with a suspended license—a charge that’s raising eyebrows given her mother’s high-profile position.
Kinaya Willis was initially pulled over for driving while using a cellphone, a violation in itself, but things quickly escalated when police discovered her license had been revoked since May 13, also due to an earlier suspension. According to reports, Kinaya claimed she was “unaware” of the status of her license, and that she had been using her cellphone because her mother was calling her about matters related to her pregnancy.
This arrest couldn’t come at a more awkward time for DA Fani Willis, who is currently leading the prosecution in the politically charged case against former President Donald Trump. As Trump and his legal team battle accusations of election interference in Georgia, Willis now faces the added stress of her own daughter’s legal troubles.
In an interesting turn of events, when Kinaya was arrested, Fani Willis personally came to the scene to retrieve her daughter’s 2010 Nissan Altima. While the move was undoubtedly made to ensure her daughter’s car was safe, it’s not hard to imagine the optics of the situation—especially given Willis’s ongoing role in the Trump case.
Kinaya was subsequently booked at the Fayette County Jail on a misdemeanor charge of driving with a revoked or suspended license. She had her mugshot taken at the facility, which is just a half-hour drive from her mother’s office in Atlanta, before being released. She now faces an arraignment on October 24 in Tyrone Municipal Court, where she could be looking at a minimum of two days in jail, a $500 fine, and an extended six-month suspension of her license if convicted.
Meanwhile, Fani Willis’s professional life is far from smooth sailing. Her racketeering case against Donald Trump has been temporarily put on hold as the Georgia Court of Appeals considers Trump’s motion to disqualify her from the case. Trump’s team has accused Willis of prosecutorial misconduct, citing her past relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a relationship that has already drawn significant scrutiny.
Trump and his co-defendants had previously petitioned the Georgia appeals court to review Willis’s involvement in the case, and the court is expected to hear arguments on this matter in December, well after the upcoming November 5 presidential election.
Adding to Willis’s woes are multiple investigations by state and federal lawmakers into her alleged misuse of taxpayer money, particularly concerning her relationship with Wade. These probes began after Willis secured a grand jury indictment against Trump and 18 others last August.
While the legal battle over the 2020 election results in Georgia rages on, Willis’s personal life has now been thrust into the spotlight. With her daughter’s legal troubles and ongoing professional challenges, Fani Willis is facing pressure from all sides—a situation that’s likely to intensify as the Trump case progresses.
