FULTON, GA- On Thursday, December 19th, the Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump and his co-defendants in a case she brought over his effort to overturn the 2020 election results.
According to NBC News, the decision is likely to cripple the case and bring a halt to the efforts to try Trump and his allies for their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. In the wake of Trump winning the 2024 election, federal prosecutors have already dropped his federal criminal case related to the 2020 election.
The court wrote, "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 court was referring to an earlier ruling that did allow Willis to remain on the case. Willis had been under scrutiny over her relationship with a special prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade. Trump and other co-defendants had requested to have Willis removed from the case.
ABC News reported that although the court moved to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the case, the criminal indictment against Trump and his co-defendants still stands. In 2023, Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty 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.
Following Thursday's ruling, the Fulton County DA's office filed notice that they intent to appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. The appeals court ruling leaves the question of who takes over the case and whether it continues on at all to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia. The decision may be delayed due to the appeals process.
The ruling said, "While this is the rare case in which DA Willis and her office must be disqualified due to a significant appearance of impropriety, we cannot conclude that the record also supports the imposition of the extreme sanction of dismissal of the indictment under the appropriate standard."
Georgia law allows for the case to be assigned to a different county prosecutor in the state. However, legal experts have said that is likely to be a difficult task given the complicated, political, and novel nature of the case brought by Willis. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement, "The American people have demanded an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all the witch hunts against him. We look forward to uniting our country as President Trump Makes America Great Again."
The appeals court ruled to disqualify Willis and her entire office from the case because "no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings." The order, reversing Judge McAfee's original decision, said, "The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing 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."
Wade, who had been the lead prosecutor in the case, resigned as special prosecutor in March after McAfee issued his ruling that either Willis or Wade must step aside from the case due to a "significant appearance of impropriety" stemming from a romantic relationship between the DA and prosecutor.
In a statement, Trump attorney Steve Sadow said, "The Georgia Court of Appeals in a well-reasoned and just decision has held that DA Fani Willis' misconduct in the case against President Trump requires the disqualification of Willis and her office. The Court highlighted that Willis' misconduct created an 'odor of mendacity' and an appearance of impropriety that could only be cured by the disqualification of her and her entire office. As the Court rightfully noted, only the remedy of disqualification will suffice to restore public confidence."
According to NBC News, the decision is likely to cripple the case and bring a halt to the efforts to try Trump and his allies for their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. In the wake of Trump winning the 2024 election, federal prosecutors have already dropped his federal criminal case related to the 2020 election.
The court wrote, "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 court was referring to an earlier ruling that did allow Willis to remain on the case. Willis had been under scrutiny over her relationship with a special prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade. Trump and other co-defendants had requested to have Willis removed from the case.
ABC News reported that although the court moved to disqualify Willis from prosecuting the case, the criminal indictment against Trump and his co-defendants still stands. In 2023, Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty 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.
Following Thursday's ruling, the Fulton County DA's office filed notice that they intent to appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. The appeals court ruling leaves the question of who takes over the case and whether it continues on at all to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia. The decision may be delayed due to the appeals process.
The ruling said, "While this is the rare case in which DA Willis and her office must be disqualified due to a significant appearance of impropriety, we cannot conclude that the record also supports the imposition of the extreme sanction of dismissal of the indictment under the appropriate standard."
Georgia law allows for the case to be assigned to a different county prosecutor in the state. However, legal experts have said that is likely to be a difficult task given the complicated, political, and novel nature of the case brought by Willis. Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement, "The American people have demanded an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all the witch hunts against him. We look forward to uniting our country as President Trump Makes America Great Again."
The appeals court ruled to disqualify Willis and her entire office from the case because "no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings." The order, reversing Judge McAfee's original decision, said, "The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing 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."
Wade, who had been the lead prosecutor in the case, resigned as special prosecutor in March after McAfee issued his ruling that either Willis or Wade must step aside from the case due to a "significant appearance of impropriety" stemming from a romantic relationship between the DA and prosecutor.
In a statement, Trump attorney Steve Sadow said, "The Georgia Court of Appeals in a well-reasoned and just decision has held that DA Fani Willis' misconduct in the case against President Trump requires the disqualification of Willis and her office. The Court highlighted that Willis' misconduct created an 'odor of mendacity' and an appearance of impropriety that could only be cured by the disqualification of her and her entire office. As the Court rightfully noted, only the remedy of disqualification will suffice to restore public confidence."
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Comments
2024-12-23T08:21-0500 | Comment by: Rhonda
wait a minute, wait a minute whoa hold our horses she's being disqualified for her part in a case pertaining to P. Trump and his allies a might much under the circumstances has she been charged? ok our president of the USA has some fails as well it's not fair to hurt those who are speaking what they consider to be a cause worth fighting for her actions outside 9f work has nothing to do with the case whether they are more than friends or what. see now what if we as people in America did not give him a fair chance of dictating due to his many imperfections? so he has been charged with all of these senseless charges but he's allowed to run the country, now what if we said naw podna we don't see u fit for the role of President of the USA because of your reported doings to the people? you cannot use ower to destroy people because you do not like what they say or do before looking at your own house and cleaning it up.. now is that really fair? all the charges that are going to make his record great only to hurt some people who do not have a record such as his, or money just trying to do their job and get paid as they should as he does.