The Georgia indictment of Donald Trump will collapse if District Attorney Fani Willis is removed from the case, a columnist in her home city has said.
The Georgia appeal court is currently deciding whether to remove Willis after Trump’s trial judge sharply rebuked her for her relationship with the chief prosecutor in the case.
Writing in the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Wednesday, columnist Bill Torpy said that no other District Attorney will want to touch the Trump case if Willis is removed.
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“If she is removed, the case is essentially dead because no other DA is likely to raise their hand and say, “Gimme this legal monstrosity,” Torpy wrote.
The Trump case got sidelined after a defense attorney (not the ex-president’s) noted Willis’ past romance with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired for the case. The two of them testified and Judge Scott McAfee, who was hearing the case, ruled one of them had to go. Wade left but defense attorneys appealed that decision, arguing it should be Willis.
Torpy also said that the Trump case will be stalled for many more months while the appeal court hears the Fani Willis removal application.
“The appeals court does not move quickly. It will hold oral arguments Dec. 5, meaning a trial (even if Willis wins the [removal] appeal) cannot be held before the November election.”
“That means Trump will be either president and probably immune to prosecution for four years, or a twice-defeated has-been when the court releases a decision,” he wrote.
Robert James, the former DA in DeKalb County, told Torpy that Willis was stuck with the Trump case.
“It’s gotten ugly like a lot of fights do. But the DA’s office is not knocked out. Fortunately, for her, the cases are in mothballs, not dead,” James is quoted as saying.
Danny Porter, DA in Gwinnett County, Georgia for nearly 30 years, told Torpy the Trump indictments were “too complex.”
“What (prosecutors) thought, especially in the Trump case, was that defendants would roll over (and testify against co-defendants). And largely, they have not. They thought that it has worked in the past. It was ‘Charge them all and let God sort it out,'” he said.
Willis, District Attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, which covers most of Atlanta city, indicted Trump, Rudy Giuliani and 17 others for alleged fraud in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. All of the accused pleaded not guilty but at least four are now cooperating with authorities.
Newsweek sought email comment from Willis’ office and from Trump’s attorney on Thursday.
On March 15, the trial judge, Scott McAfee, severely criticized Willis for the way she conducted the relationship and said either she or Wade had to leave the case.
Wade resigned from the case several hours later.
In a lengthy ruling, McAfee attacked Willis’ aggressive tone when she was called before him to testify about the relationship.
While finding that the prosecution of Trump could continue, he added:
“This finding is by no means an indication that the court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the district attorney’s testimony during the evidentiary hearing.”
Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, is now asking the Georgia Court of Appeals to dismiss the charges or, if not, to remove Willis from the case.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.