Fani Willis Disqualified in Trump Georgia Case: Here's What Happens Next

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A Georgia appeals court has ruled against Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis. should be disqualified to oversee the criminal case against President-elect Donald Trump and his allies over his romantic relationship with former prosecutor Nathan Wade – which could significantly prolong the case, or even end it, as a new prosecutor will need to be appointed.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis attends a hearing in her case against Donald Trump … (+) on March 1 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Key facts

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Willis should be disqualified to pursue the case against Trump and his allies — but did not completely dismiss the litigation — overturning a lower court judge’s ruling that Willis could stay on the case as long as Wade resigns.

While Willis’ office said On Thursday, he will appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court, if that court upholds Willis’ disqualification under Georgia state law. said It would be up to the executive director of the Georgia State Attorney’s Council to find a replacement.

Director Pete Skandalakis said CNN in February, he would likely hand the case over only to a prosecutor who actually wanted to take it on, noting that the complexity of the sprawling case means “you have to find someone with the resources and the experience, who can deal with this type of case.

It’s unclear how long it will take Skandalakis to appoint a new prosecutor, but it could take some time, as the director has already been criticized for taking nearly two years to appoint a new prosecutor. appoint a prosecutor to oversee an investigation into Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, after Willis was barred from prosecuting the Trump ally due to a conflict of interest.

Skandalakis may also refuse to move the case forward, Lawfare note Thursday, with former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance argue The appeals court’s decision is “very likely a slow deathblow, if not outright death, for the case.”

If a new prosecutor takes over the case, they can move forward as they see fit, including dropping the charges altogether or adding new ones, according to the New York Times. note in February.

Who could replace Fani Willis?

Willis’ disqualification means the entire Fulton County District Attorney’s Office must be removed from the case, the appeals court ruled Thursday, so Willis’ subordinates cannot take over the case. The Times noted in February that Democratic prosecutors in Georgia’s DeKalb or Cobb counties would likely be best equipped to take on the case, although it’s not yet clear whether they would want to or whether Skandalakis would. would choose. Even beyond the logistics of handling such a large case, it may be difficult to find someone to replace Willis, as prosecutors may be “hesitant to take on the case, knowing the threats of political violence made against officials in Willis and Fulton,” Georgia. Anthony Michael Kreis, professor at State University wrote in a February editorial for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Whoever is chosen “may also not have the same political will, resources or leeway to tackle the case with the zeal necessary to see justice done,” Kreis added. Skandalakis, a Republican, said According to the Times, he could appoint someone if no one volunteers, or even take on the matter himself.

News

The panel of judges of the court of appeal governed Thursday in favor of disqualifying Willis, a Democrat who Trump and his allies have frequently criticized as being biased against him. While a lower court was willing to keep the district attorney in charge of the case as long as Wade — the former lead prosecutor in charge of the investigation — stepped down, the appeals court disagreed with that ruling. Simply dismissing Wade does not resolve the “appearance of impropriety” that Willis may have acted inappropriately in actions she had already taken in the investigation – particularly when she and Wade was in a romantic relationship, before Trump was charged – the court ruled: as his decision to file charges. “No other remedy,” other than his disqualification, “will be sufficient to restore public confidence in the integrity of this proceeding,” the appeals court wrote. The court refused to grant the defendants’ request to dismiss the indictment altogether, but said there was no evidence to suggest such an “extreme punishment” was necessary.

What’s happening to Trump’s accusations against Georgia?

THE eight Criminal charges against Trump in the Georgia case are still pending following Thursday’s ruling and the criminal case against him remains ongoing, although it is now in limbo given Willis’ disqualification. Trump has argued state charges against him are expected to be dropped because of his presidential election, with his lawyers asking the appeals court in early December to order the lower court to dismiss his indictment. However, no court ruling has yet been issued on the matter, as Thursday’s appeals court decision only rejected the defendants’ claims that the charges should be dismissed due to Willis’ alleged misconduct . It is unclear when a ruling might be issued on Trump’s request, nor whether it might be issued before a new prosecutor is named. Even if the charges against Trump survive, his criminal case is not expected to go to trial until he leaves office in 2029.

Key context

Willis indicted Trump and his allies in August following a years-long investigation, accusing them of a massive racketeering conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election. (Trump and his remaining co-defendants have pleaded not guilty, (although a few initial defendants reached plea deals.) The prosecutor named Wade — a private attorney who was not yet part of the prosecutor’s office — to serve as special prosecutor in the case in 2021. Defendant Michael Roman is the first accused Willis in January of having a conflict of interest due to his relationship with Wade, with many other defendants in the case, including Trump and ex-attorney Rudy Giuliani, soon joining Roman’s motion seeking to disqualify Willis. The defendants claimed that the “inappropriate and clandestine personal relationship” between Willis and Wade while the case was pending constituted a conflict of interest, arguing that Willis named Wade because of their romantic relationship. The defendants also took issue with vacations the two men took together, accusing Wade of financing the couple’s trips with taxpayer money Willis paid him. Willis and Wade have strongly denied any wrongdoing, insisting that their romantic relationship began in 2022, after Wade was named in the case, and that they split pretty much all of their costs equally. They also claimed to have ended their relationship around the time the indictment was filed. Wade and Willis both spoke during a February hearing on the dispute, in which the prosecutor accused the defense attorney of telling “lies” about him and said their accusations were “anti-democracy.”

Fani Willis Disqualified in Trump Georgia Case: Here’s What Happens Next