Georgia's top prosecutor is publicly urging the state Supreme Court not to take up an appeal of a lower court's decision disqualifying Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the election racketeering case against President-elect Donald Trump and several of his associates.
"The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that the Fulton County DA created her own conflict and rightfully removed her from the case against President-elect Trump," wrote Attorney General Chris Carr. "'Lawfare' has become far too common in American politics, and it must end. As such, I would encourage the Georgia Supreme Court to not take her appeal."
"It's our hope that the DA will now focus taxpayer resources on the successful prosecution of violent criminals in Fulton County," the statement concluded.
Willis subpoenaed Carr two years ago for more information about a 2020 call Trump made to him warning not to let the Georgia GOP challenge his legal efforts to overturn his loss there.
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Willis' disqualification from the case came out of a challenge by some of Trump's co-defendants regarding a romantic affair Willis was having with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she assigned to the case. A relationship between two attorneys in a prosecutor's office is not inherently a conflict of interest; however, the co-defendants argued that Willis and Wade ran up taxpayer expenses in the case to finance their pursuits. Willis categorically denies this ever happened.
A lower court judge found that Willis could remain in charge of the case as long as Wade resigned, which he promptly did. However, the matter went up to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which found Willis should be disqualified altogether. Willis is trying to appeal that matter to the state Supreme Court.
Assuming the appellate decision holds, the case against Trump isn't automatically ended, unlike the federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, which is winding down in accordance with DOJ policy not to prosecute sitting presidents. However, the case will have to be reassigned to another prosecutor, and it's unclear if Willis' replacement will be willing to move forward.
