What’s New
The Georgia Court of Appeals threw an ongoing racketeering case against President-elect Donald Trump and his allies into chaos on Thursday, when it disqualified Fulton Country district attorney Fani Willis from overseeing the case.
Why It Matters
In doing so, the appeals court overruled a trial judge who previously said Willis could stay on the case, despite the fact that she was romantically involved with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor her office had brought on to manage the case.
For now, the Georgia indictment against Trump still stands. But that could quickly change under the stewardship of a new prosecutor.
Evan Vucci/AP
What To Know
For the time being, the ruling doesn’t impact Georgia prosecutors’ indictment against Trump and his associates, which charged the president-elect with racketeering, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy, making false statements and writing, and filing false documents in connection to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Judge E. Trenton Brown, who wrote the majority opinion for the Georgia Court of Appeals, said Thursday that despite Willis’ disqualification, the indictment against Trump remains in place.
“The appellants contend that the trial court erred in denying their motions to dismiss the indictment,” the 2-1 majority opinion said. “The State responds that the appellants have failed to show that the trial court erred in finding that the appellants had not shown ‘that [their] due process rights have been violated or that the issues involved prejudiced [them] in any way.'”
Willis’ dismissal means a new prosecutor will take over the case. But legal experts are divided over what that means for the future of the indictment.
“The disqualification of Fani Willis is entirely unfounded, as bipartisan ethics experts have agreed,” Norm Eisen, who served as an ethics lawyer in the Obama administration, said in an email. “But there is a silver lining: even this misconceived opinion concedes that the indictment still stands. Moreover, as the judge in [Trump’s] NY criminal conviction just found, Trump is not immune for unofficial conduct under Trump v. USA and so it can proceed.”
Eisen was referring to a landmark Supreme Court ruling in July, which said that a president cannot be prosecuted for actions related to the core powers of their office.
But Joyce White Vance, the former US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, wrote that a new prosecutor taking the helm is “most likely a slow death knell if not an outright death for the case.”
Dave Aronberg, the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, echoed that sentiment on MSNBC.
“The prosecutor may not have the zeal on this case as Fani Willis,” Aronberg said. “This is a Fani Willis case. I could think that this case could be dropped by the new prosecutor once they get their eyes on it.”
Willis’ dismissal marks a significant legal victory for the incoming president, whose lawyers hammered Willis over her relationship with Wade, arguing that it represented a conflict of interest.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that either Willis or Wade should step down from the case, and Wade submitted his resignation shortly after.
Trump’s lawyers appealed the ruling, arguing that “nothing in the law — anywhere — says that the remedy for an appearance of impropriety is the disqualification of one apparently conflicted lawyer but not another.”
The president-elect’s team applauded Thursday’s ruling from the appeals court.
“In granting President Trump an overwhelming mandate, 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,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesperson, said in a statement.
What People Are Saying
Judge Ben Land, who sits on the Georgia Court of Appeals, dissented from the majority opinion: “It is not our job to second-guess trial judges or to substitute our judgment for theirs. We do not find the facts but instead defer to the trial court’s factual findings where there is any evidence to support them.”
Steve Sadow, Trump’s defense attorney, said in a statement: “This decision puts an end to a politically motivated persecution of the next President of the United States.”
What Comes Next
Willis’ office filed a notice saying it intends to appeal Thursday’s ruling. If the appeal is taken up, it would be decided by the Georgia Supreme Court.
