While she may have won reelection as the Fulton County District Attorney, a state appeals court on Dec. 19 removed Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others. However, the court did not dismiss the indictment, leaving the future of the prosecution uncertain.
The new ruling means it will be up to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to find another prosecutor to take over the case and to decide whether to continue to pursue it, though that could be delayed if Willis decides to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Willis famously indicted now President-Elect Donald Trump and 18 others in August 2023, accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 presidential election loss in Georgia. Four of them have since pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty.
The decision comes on the heels of Willis’ refusal to turn over any communications from U.S. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, regarding the Trump cases. Smith has since turned in his two weeks’ notice to the DOJ earlier this month.
The case has garnered more attention for its love drama than the actual case itself. Defense attorneys quickly discovered that Willis had a relationship with the then-lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade. After several hearings and briefings, a judge found that the relationship between Willis and Wade was not a conflict of interest but an appearance of impropriety. Wade soon resigned as lead prosecutor from the case.
This is another devastating blow to Willis’ office. Willis also infamously indicted Young Thug and others affiliated on RICO and murder charges. To date, Young Thug and his co-defendants have either been acquitted or received probation or lesser charges.
