Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been removed from Georgia election case against President-Elect Donald Trump. The effects of the ruling are wide-ranging.
A Georgia appeals court on Thursday ruled to disqualify Willis from overseeing the criminal election interference prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump and other defendants.
The ruling is a victory for MAGA Republicans, who have vowed to upend Willis’ case for political reasons. Months earlier, leading Republicans aligned with Trump tried to stop the indictments brought by Willis and have tried to reprimand her over the charges. Although as a county prosecutor, she’s not alone, Willis is the first prosecutor to bring charges against Trump related to the 2020 election.
Last September, Willis wrote a scathing letter to Ohio Congress Jim Jordan, a Republican that has attempted to derail her investigation.
Despite this decision, the Court of Appeals allowed the indictment against the defendants to stand, but it is unclear who will take the helm. What is clear is that the case won’t proceed anytime soon.
The charges stem from their alleged efforts to overturn Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden in Georgia’s 2020 election.
However, Trump’s defense attorney later argued that the court’s ruling regarding Willis effectively ended the case against the president-elect.
In response, Willis’ office filed a statement indicating that it planned to request the Georgia Supreme Court review and potentially overturn the appeals court’s decision to disqualify her from handling the case.
The appeals court’s decision reversed a ruling by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who had previously allowed Willis to remain on the case. Trump’s attorneys had argued that Willis should be disqualified due to concerns about her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor she had appointed to handle the case.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeals stated that Judge McAfee’s remedy—allowing Willis to stay on the case as long as Wade withdrew—was insufficient.
“After carefully reviewing the trial court’s findings, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the appeals court wrote.
The court added that the trial judge’s approach did not adequately address concerns about the appearance of impropriety during the crucial pretrial phase, when Willis held significant discretion over prosecution decisions and charges.
