by Ty Tagami | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday shut the door on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ election interference case against Donald Trump and his supporters.
The high court, in a 4-3 vote, declined to consider Willis’ appeal after the Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified her from prosecuting conspiracy charges against Trump and eight others. The appeals court found an appearance of impropriety in her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she had assigned to the case.
Three of the judges in the Supreme Court majority concurred that the Willis case was so unique that her appeal was “a poor vehicle” for establishing precedent on when to disqualify a prosecutor for misconduct. (Two of the nine justices did not vote in Tuesday’s decision.)
The state Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council could take over the cases, as it did in a related one involving Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. Willis had targeted Jones along with Trump and the other co-defendants, but a judge disqualified her from that investigation. A special prosecutor took up the Jones investigation and decided not to prosecute him.
The court decision sidelining Willis from investigating Jones came after she hosted a fundraiser for a Democrat who was running against Jones for lieutenant governor.
Jones is now running to be the Republican nominee for Governor, with Trump’s endorsement. Jones accused Willis of weaponizing the justice system for political gain.
“The Supreme Court just shut Fani Willis down. Her political circus is OVER,” Jones’ campaign said in a statement. “Today justice is served for Georgia, and justice is served for President Trump.”
Jones and fellow Republicans are now pursuing Willis, setting up a Senate committee to investigate her investigation of election interference.
