Georgia Supreme Court declines to hear Fani Willis’ appeal of her removal from Trump election case

ATLANTA — Georgia’s highest court has declined to consider Fulton County Dist. Atty. Fani Willis’ appeal of her removal from the Georgia election interference case against President Trump and others.

Citing an “appearance of impropriety” created by a romantic relationship Willis had with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to lead the case, the Georgia Court of Appeals in December ruled that Willis and her office could not continue to prosecute the case.

Trump hailed the court’s ruling as “a great decision” and called Willis’ prosecution of him and others for their attempts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia “a rigged case to start off with.”

“What Fani Willis did to innocent people, patriots that love our country, what she did to them by indicting them and destroying them, she should be put in jail,” Trump told reporters.

Ashleigh Merchant, who exposed Willis’ romantic relationship with Wade as defense attorney for Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, said: “We hope this will finally close this chapter.”

Willis said she disagreed with the court’s decision, but would direct her office to make the case file and evidence available to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia so it can appoint a new prosecutor to replace her.

Willis in January asked the Georgia Supreme Court to review that ruling, and the high court on Tuesday declined in a 4-3 decision to take up the case. One judge didn’t participate and one judge was disqualified.

That means it will be up to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council to find another prosecutor to take the case. The council’s executive director, Pete Skandalakis, said Tuesday he will begin searching for a new prosecutor but didn’t know how long that might take.

A new prosecutor could continue on the track that Willis has taken, decide to pursue only some charges or dismiss the case altogether. It could be difficult to find a prosecutor willing to take the case, given its complex nature and the resources required.

Even if a new prosecutor wants to continue on the path charted by Willis, it seems unlikely that Trump could be prosecuted now that he’s the sitting president. But there are 14 other defendants, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who still face charges in the case.

A grand jury in Atlanta indicted Trump and 18 others in August 2023, using the state’s anti-racketeering law to accuse them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia.

The alleged scheme included Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urging him to help find enough votes to beat Biden. Four people have pleaded guilty.

Brumback and Amy write for the Associated Press. Brumback reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Russ Bynum in Georgia and Darlene Superville in Washington, D.C., contributed.