Disqualification of Fani Willis Likely the End of Trump Georgia RICO Case
Several days ago, an appeals court stunned the nation when it announced that it was disqualifying Fulton County DA Fani Willis from being able to prosecute Donald Trump in the Georgia RICO case related to the 2020 election.
The truly baffling thing about all of this is that the court had canceled arguments that were to be held in early December, only to announce her disqualification weeks later.
This likely means that the prosecution of Trump in Georgia has met its end.
Not Happening
Willis was in trouble in this case from the outset after rumors surfaced that she was having an affair with one of the prosecutors she hired on the case at a very high hourly rate was her lover.
The presiding judge eventually ordered that Willis could proceed, but only if the prosecutor, Nathan Wade, resigned from the case.
However, the judge did leave the door open for his decision to be appealed, which Trump obviously did.
When the latest ruling came down, Trump and his legal team celebrated, believing this yet again proved that the DOJ had been weaponized against Trump.
Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor, explained, “This is complete and total omnishambles because the avenues going forward pretty much look like this case is dead.
“Now that’s not necessarily the case — there are a few different ways that it could get resurrected. But it’s never looked more bleak.”
Chris Timmons, an Atlanta-based trial attorney, commented, “Uncharted waters — this is stuff that we don’t see every day.
“I think it’s really unusual to see the Court of Appeals disqualify the DA’s office. That just doesn’t happen. I mean, usually, the DA’s office disqualifies themselves.”
There is still a slim chance that this case will be resurrected by another DA, but that just seems unlikely with Trump about to take office.
While state cases do not have to adhere to the DOJ rule of not prosecuting a sitting president, that rule was expected to be followed in these cases when Trump won the election.
So, if they decide to move forward, that would likely not happen until Donald Trump left office, at which point he would be 82, so prosecuting him does not seem likely.