#Socialites, get into this: This Thursday, a Georgia appellate court disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. She has now been removed from prosecuting Donald Trump and co-defendants in a case she brought in relation to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The move comes just months after a Georgia judge ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should not be disqualified from prosecuting the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump. In March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee found that the “appearance of impropriety” brought about by Willis’ romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade should only result in either Willis and her office leaving the case—or just Wade, whom she had appointed to head the case. He eventually stepped down.
However, a Georgia appellate court stated, “After carefully considering the trial court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office. The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring. While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”
The court further stated, “Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of the appellants’ motion to disqualify DA Willis and her office. As we conclude that the elected district attorney is wholly disqualified from this case, the assistant district attorneys—whose only power to prosecute a case is derived from the constitutional authority of the district attorney who appointed them—have no authority to proceed.”
As we previously reported, Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last year to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
While federal prosecutors have already dropped the other criminal case related to the 2020 election in the wake of Trump winning the 2024 election, the latest decision is likely to cripple the case originally brought on by Willis.
