Fani Willis Disqualified

President Donald Trump is celebrating after the Court of Appeals of Georgia disqualified Fulton County DA Fani Willis (and her entire office) from the case against Trump for Georgia election interference. It took a long time to reach this conclusion, especially considering the “odor of mendacity” (the judge’s words) that permeated Willis’ case.

Trump appealed Judge McAfee’s ruling that DA Willis was not disqualified, which sent the case to the Court of Appeals of Georgia. The Court noted in its 2-1 decision:

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 remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the 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. While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.

Willis deserved to be disqualified for a myriad of reasons (improper relationship with Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, possible improper use of funds, her outrageous behavior in disqualification hearings, allegations of obstruction of justice, etc.). The ACLJ also filed an amicus brief calling for Willis’ dismissal to preserve the justice system’s integrity.

So the Court of Appeals of Georgia was right to dismiss Willis from her political prosecution of Trump and 18 of his associates. The case will now move to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. The nine members of that council, all from different counties in the state, will decide if the charges will be dismissed or if a prosecutor in a different county should proceed with the case.

Just to be clear: No one from Fulton County can be involved ever again. To reiterate, President Trump winning the election didn’t derail this case. Willis’ illicit behavior and questionable legal practices led to her office being disqualified from the case.

And Willis’ unethical history didn’t begin with this case. Don’t forget that in 2022, a judge openly criticized Willis, asking, “What were you thinking?” when it was revealed that she had hosted and contributed to a fundraiser for a political opponent of a target in a grand jury case.

My dad, ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, reacted to the news of Willis’ disqualification:

The victory here is huge because the Court of Appeals correctly took her off the case and her entire office. So as you said, it goes to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council. I do not see any way in which they bring a charge based on the same charges she brought in the RICO case from a new DA. . . . Another thing that’s important in the opinion, and I think this goes to the heart of what we argued in the case, was that, remember, the trial court judge said there was an “odor of mendacity” surrounding this. But he didn’t think it rose to the level of disqualification. . . . And that’s what we wrote in our brief. I thought it was enough for disqualification. The disqualification here is also significant because it goes back to the pre-indictment investigation. In other words, what the Georgia Court of Appeals is saying is her office should not have been involved even in the pre-indictment issues. So it puts into question the entire process.

It’s highly unlikely that this case against Trump will go any further. I don’t foresee the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia choosing to continue to prosecute Trump. If they decide to prosecute the case again, they must start over from scratch.

We are in the final days of our Faith & Freedom Year-End Drive. The ACLJ continues to fight against the political prosecution of President Trump. We need your support. Sign our petition and donate today – gifts are doubled.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included a full analysis of the Court of Appeals of Georgia rightly disqualifying DA Fani Willis from her case against Trump. We also told you about a new ACLJ religious liberty case where we are defending a client’s right to say “Merry Christmas.”

Watch the full broadcast below: