Georgia Appeals Court Disqualifies Fani Willis from 2020 Election Subversion Case
The Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the 2020 election subversion case against President-elect Donald Trump and dozens of others but rejected a request to dismiss the indictment.
The court issued its opinion on Thursday, ruling that Willis’ “romantic relationship” and multiple vacations with Special Assistant District Attorney Nathan Wade, who was her lead prosecutor on the case, resulted in a “significant appearance of impropriety” and conflict of interest for the case.
In August 2023, Willis and her office charged Trump and numerous co-conspirators, including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, and Kenneth Chesebro, with crimes in connection with a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
In January, Michael Roman, a former top Trump campaign official and one of the co-defendants in the case, filed a motion to disqualify Willis from the case due to her relationship with Wade and dismiss the indictment altogether. Trump and eight co-defendants joined in the motion.
In March, a trial court ruled that Willis could stay on the case as long as Wade stepped down and declined to dismiss the case. Shortly after, the legal team for Trump and his co-defendants appealed the decision.
Georgia’s second-highest court ruled on Thursday that removing Willis from the prosecution is necessary “to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.”
However, the court said that “we cannot conclude that the record also supports the imposition of the extreme sanction of dismissal of the indictment under the appropriate standard.”
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office filed a notice Thursday indicating that it will appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Disqualifying Willis could delay proceedings, but it’s unclear if Trump will remain on the case. Last week, he asked the appeals court to dismiss the charges against him, since the court won’t have jurisdiction once he becomes president Jan. 20.
Even if the indictment against Trump is dismissed, the case against his co-conspirators will still continue.
Read the court’s opinion here.
Learn more about the case here.
This story was updated Dec. 19 to add that the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office indicated it will appeal this decision.