Fani Willis disqualified as prosecutor

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A Georgia appeals court booted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s (D) office from the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump on Thursday due to her relationship with a top prosecutor on the case.

The panel described Willis’s relationship with ex-special prosecutor Nathan Wade as a “significant appearance of impropriety.”

The court declined to outright dismiss Trump’s indictment, but disqualifying Willis’s office throws the future of the case — already complicated by Trump’s impending return to the White House — further into doubt.

“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,” Judge E. Trenton Brown III wrote in the court’s ruling.

“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,” it continued.

The decision leaves open a theoretical possibility another prosecutor could take over the case, but the path forward remains precarious. Trump’s legal team has separately sought to dismiss all his criminal prosecutions on the grounds that he is the president-elect.

“As the Court rightfully noted, only the remedy of disqualification will suffice to restore public confidence,” Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement. “This decision puts an end to a politically motivated persecution of the next President of the United States.”

A Georgia appeals court booted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s (D) office from the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump on Thursday due to her relationship with a top prosecutor on the case.

The panel described Willis’s relationship with ex-special prosecutor Nathan Wade as a “significant appearance of impropriety.”

The court declined to outright dismiss Trump’s indictment, but disqualifying Willis’s office throws the future of the case — already complicated by Trump’s impending return to the White House — further into doubt.
“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,” Judge E. Trenton Brown III wrote in the court’s ruling.

“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,” it continued.

The decision leaves open a theoretical possibility another prosecutor could take over the case, but the path forward remains precarious. Trump’s legal team has separately sought to dismiss all his criminal prosecutions on the grounds that he is the president-elect.
“As the Court rightfully noted, only the remedy of disqualification will suffice to restore public confidence,” Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement. “This decision puts an end to a politically motivated persecution of the next President of the United States.”