The Georgia Court of Appeal’s ruling on Thursday to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from the 2020 election interference case sent shock waves through Georgia political and legal circles.
Here is some of the reaction:
Fulton DA’s office
Filed a court notice laying out its intent to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court and had no additional comment.
President-elect Donald Trump
“The case is entirely dead,” he told Fox News Digital. “Everybody should receive an apology, including those wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years.”
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead Atlanta attorney
“The Georgia Court Of Appeals in a well-reasoned and just decision has held that DA Fani Willis’ misconduct in the case against President Trump requires the disqualification of Willis and her office … This decision puts an end to a politically motivated persecution of the next President of the United States.”
Ashleigh Merchant, attorney for defendant Michael Roman who filed the original Willis disqualification motion
“We are very pleased the Court of Appeals agreed with Mr. Roman and the other defendants that Ms. Willis should not have been allowed to prosecute this case. We regret that Ms. Willis did not do the right thing and voluntarily recuse herself when Mr. Roman raised the issue because failing to do so put (Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott) McAfee in an untenable position. This failure of judgment is the exact reason Mr. Roman was forced to move to disqualify her in the first place, so we are thankful that the court agreed she should not be allowed to prosecute this case any further.”
Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican
“I’m not surprised. Like I’ve said before, this whole thing seems very political to me. And for (Willis) to continue to do that, it seems political. But as you know I was subpoenaed in that case, so I have to be careful about what I’m saying.
But I wonder: 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? Who’s walking on our streets right now who are out on bail who are not receiving the justice they deserve and their victims deserve?”
Georgia State University Professor Anthony Michael Kreis
“The fundamental Court of Appeals’ job was to clarify the rule for prosecutorial disqualification for appearances of a conflict. They didn’t do that. They essentially stepped in and redid Judge McAfee’s job without any real explanation.
This might give the Supreme Court of Georgia good reason to step in and reverse because it’s an opinion that doesn’t fit with what appellate courts are supposed to do — not second guess trial court judges’ fact-finding. On the other hand, it gives the court an out to not hear the case because it doesn’t disturb the law and they can wash their hands of it by denying a petition to hear it.”
Former White House Ethics Czar Norm Eisen
“The majority opinion is profoundly misguided, and the dissent hits the nail on the head. This panel should have left the sound trial court opinion in place. But that being said, the valid part of today’s decision is that the indictment need not be dismissed. That means this case can be taken up by another prosecutor, and it should be, because it concerns chargeable conduct that is not covered by the” U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision.
Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican
“I think there’s a lot that’s gone on in this country for the last several years, where it’s happening on both sides of the aisle,” he said on the AJC’s “Politically Georgia.” “One of the things we need to do in politics is stay in our lane … I would just suggest it is not going to serve our nation well if we go after our political enemies if we don’t like what they’ve done, in office or not.”
Former state Sen. Jen Jordan, a Democrat who ran for state attorney general
“The reality of the situation is that Fulton County’s prosecution of former president Trump effectively ended as soon as he won reelection. 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.”
State Republican Party chair Josh McKoon
Today’s decision was “a total vindication of our strategy” to push back against Willis’ “frightening abuse of her prosecutorial powers,” he said in a statement.
“We will fight to see the final dismissal of this case and that those responsible for this farce are fully held to account so that no one is ever put through this disgusting perversion of our criminal justice system again.”
Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this report.
