The potential demise of Fulton County’s election interference case adds to a growing list of political headaches for District Attorney Fani Willis as she prepares for a second term and the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
The ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals that disqualified Willis and her office from pursuing charges against Trump and 14 co-defendants also rekindled brutal political fights even as the underlying racketeering charges remain unsettled.
Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and other top Georgia Republicans lashed out at Willis over what they framed as a weaponized criminal justice system or a brazen misuse of public resources.
And state Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, unveiled plans to extend the life of a special Senate Committee on Investigations into next year that will probe her office’s handling of the case and press Willis to comply with subpoenas seeking documents and testimony.
“The people of this great state deserve a justice system that operates with integrity, transparency and respect for the rule of law,” Dolezal said.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
At least for now, the court’s 2-1 ruling doesn’t entirely scuttle the case, the result of years of investigatory work by Willis’ office and a monthslong special grand jury probe. But it could wind up dooming it from moving forward.
The opinion concluded that Willis’ onetime romantic relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade was a conflict of interest — a “rare case in which disqualification is mandated,” the judges wrote.
Though Willis will appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, some legal experts say a reversal is unlikely — if the justices even decide to hear the case. Few other prosecutors have the resources or the willingness to take on the matter if it’s transferred.
For Willis, the legal smackdown is one of many setbacks she’s faced this year. Her office’s racketeering case against “Young Slime Life” members recently unraveled, ending the longest criminal trial in Georgia history.
And while her case against Trump has made Willis one of the nation’s most visible prosecutors, it’s also made her a top target of Republicans and others who see the Democrat’s case as a perversion of the justice system.
“This whole thing seems very political to me,” Kemp said in an interview, adding: “As much time and as many resources as they’ve been putting into this case after all these years, what’s not getting done in that office? What cases aren’t being prosecuted?”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Jones took his criticism a step further. A judge disqualified Willis from investigating Jones in 2022 because of another conflict of interest — she co-hosted a fundraiser for his 2022 campaign opponent — and he’s led the charge in the Capitol scrutinizing four trips Willis took with Wade to the Bahamas, Napa Valley, Belize and Aruba.
“Willis wasted millions of tax dollars on a bogus case to build her political profile, and all she got were trips to the Caribbean and Napa Valley,” he said. “Who should the state invoice for a refund, her or Mr. Wade?”
Added Trump: “Everybody should receive an apology, including those wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years.”
Willis, who coasted to a second term in November, has yet to comment on the ruling beyond a filing that served as a notice of her office’s intent to appeal shortly after the court’s decision.
Some senior Democrats, meanwhile, wonder how the case could have unfolded if not for Willis’ conflict-of-interest issues.
Former state Sen. Jen Jordan, the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2022, said the case “effectively ended as soon as Trump won reelection.” But Jordan also noted that courts have yet to resolve the underlying merits of the election interference case.
“We, as a country, might be in a very different place today if the criminal trial of Trump had not been derailed by the issue of disqualification in the first place.”
Staff writer Tamar Hallerman contributed to this article.
About the Author
