CNN —A Georgia state Senate committee investigating allegations of wrongdoing by the Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis heard more than three hours of testimony from defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant that largely went unchallenged by the mostly Republican committee and offered little to no new information about the claims. Merchant is representing one of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the sprawling 2020 Georgia election interference racketeering case and is seeking to have Willis, a Democrat, removed from the case, possibly endangering the entire prosecution. Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, chairman of the committee, told CNN that endgame of the panel is, “to determine whether there has been improper behavior. They’re going hear the evidence…and I’m sure both sides will actually do their role in that particular situation,” Jones said. The panel can amend Georgia law or create new legislation but lacks the power to directly sanction Willis.

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Persons: CNN —, Fani Willis, Ashleigh Merchant, Merchant, Donald Trump’s, Willis, Sen, Bill Cowsert, “, it’s, ” Cowsert, Democratic Sen, Jason Esteves, ” Esteves, Harold Jones, ” Jones, Wade, Jones, ” “, he’s, ”, CNN’s Jade Gordon, Shirin Faqiri, Olivia Laborde Organizations: CNN, Republican, Democratic, Merchant, Trump Locations: Georgia, Fulton County, guardrails