Georgia Supreme Court Rejects Last-Ditch Effort From Fani Willis To Prosecute Trump

Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis cannot continue her criminal prosecution of President Donald Trump and his allies after a ruling from the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday.

In a 4-3 decision, the state’s high court declined a request from Willis to review the Georgia Court of Appeals’ ruling that disqualified the Democratic district attorney from prosecuting the 2020 election interference case over the conflict of interest she created when she hired her then-boyfriend, Nathan Wade, as a special prosecutor. The ruling means that the 2020 case against Trump and his allies is dead, unless another prosecutor brings charges, The Hill reported.

“The Georgia Supreme Court has correctly denied review of the Georgia Court of Appeals decision disqualifying DA Fani Willis and her office as prosecutors in the Fulton County RICO case,” said Steve Sadow, the lead attorney for Trump in Georgia. “Willis’ misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious, and she deserved nothing less than disqualification. This proper decision should bring an end to the wrongful political, lawfare persecutions of the President.”

A nonpartisan state agency will now be tasked with finding another prosecutor to determine if the case against Trump can proceed, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Willis said that she hopes another prosecutor “will have the courage to do what the evidence and the law demand.” If another prosecutor is assigned the case, he could continue pursuing the exact charges that Willis did, choose to pursue some of the charges, or dismiss the case, according to the Associated Press.

In December, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that Willis’ actions presented a “rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.” Wade had little experience prosecuting cases when Willis hired him to lead the Fulton County prosecution of Trump. Willis was accused of paying Wade hundreds of thousands of dollars and vacationing with him multiple times, with Wade paying for some of the trips. Both Willis and Wade testified that Willis reimbursed him for her share of the trip costs.

Willis became a star in the Democratic Party when her office brought 13 charges against Trump after he challenged Georgia’s election results in 2020. In 2023, Trump and 18 others were indicted under Georgia’s anti-racketeering law and accused of engaging in a scheme to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results that helped push Joe Biden into the White House.

Trump said the charges were another political “witch hunt.” The case brought against Trump by Willis’ office resulted in Trump being forced to pose for a mug shot, which quickly went viral. Trump displayed a framed picture of the mugshot just outside the Oval Office shortly after he was sworn in for his second term.