Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis isn’t backing down. She’s pushing hard for the Georgia Supreme Court to step in after a major setback in her office’s case against President-elect Donald Trump and others involved in election interference.
Back in December, Willis and her team were disqualified by the Georgia Court of Appeals, leaving them unable to continue their efforts in the racketeering case. The state, however, believes the court made a mistake, arguing that the decision was full of errors and overlooked both the facts and the law.
In a petition filed Thursday, the state asked the Supreme Court to review the decision, claiming the Court of Appeals overstepped its authority. The petition boldly states, “The majority’s opinion below overreached the Court of Appeals’ authority in all directions and warrants review on certiorari.”
Why This Matters
At the heart of the dispute is the question of whether or not Willis should be disqualified from the case due to a potential conflict of interest. Back in January of last year, a group of nine co-defendants worked to have Willis removed, pointing to her past romantic relationship with a special prosecutor involved in the case. This led to delays and a heated legal battle that saw Willis and her team removed from the case in a decision that was criticized for creating a new standard for disqualifying prosecutors.
But the state isn’t having it. They argue that Georgia courts have never used the “appearance of impropriety” standard to disqualify a district attorney—only an actual conflict of interest. In fact, Georgia law has consistently upheld that prosecutors can only be disqualified for real, verifiable conflicts—not just the appearance of bias.
What’s Next?
In the petition, Willis’ team accuses the Court of Appeals of inventing new rules and straying from Georgia’s long-standing legal standards. They also argue that the appellate court didn’t give proper weight to the trial court’s earlier decision, which allowed Willis to stay on the case.
Willis and her lawyers are clear: the court’s ruling is a mess that sets a dangerous precedent. They explain that the decision essentially means that if any appearance of impropriety is found, a district attorney and their entire office could be disqualified—without any actual evidence of misconduct.
“The result of the majority’s cursory reasoning is as follows,” the filing states. “If an appearance of impropriety involving a district attorney is established, the remedy must address the possible effects upon public perception, even if there’s no proof that the charging decisions were affected in any way.”
In short, Willis’ team argues that this ruling could lead to a situation where public perception alone could force prosecutors out of important cases—whether or not they’ve actually done anything wrong.
Why This is a Big Deal
The filing makes it clear that unless the Georgia Supreme Court steps in, this new “appearance of impropriety” rule could spread and create confusion in future cases. The state urges the highest court to take action and correct what they see as a flawed decision before it can cause long-lasting damage to Georgia’s legal framework.
With the pressure mounting, all eyes are on the Georgia Supreme Court to decide whether to review the case and potentially overturn the decision made by the Court of Appeals. If they do, it could have major implications for how disqualification cases are handled in the future, not just in Georgia, but across the nation.