The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ appeal of her removal from the criminal case alleging efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, leaving the decision of who will prosecute the matter to the state’s Prosecuting Attorneys' Council.
The Court of Appeals in December disqualified Willis and her office from continuing the prosecution, citing an appearance of impropriety arising from a romantic relationship between Willis and Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she hired to lead the investigation. Willis had asked the state Supreme Court to reverse that ruling, arguing disqualification based solely on an appearance of impropriety — absent a finding of an actual conflict or forensic misconduct — was unprecedented in Georgia law.
The high court, in a 4-3 vote, declined to take the case. One justice did not participate and another was disqualified from the proceedings. With the denial, Willis said she disagreed with the court’s decision but would direct her office to make the case file and evidence available to the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council so it can appoint a new prosecutor.
"I hope that whoever is assigned to handle the case will have the courage to do what the evidence and the law demand," Willis said in an emailed statement. Trump lawyer Steve Sadow, who represents the former president in the Georgia matter, praised the appeals court decision, saying Willis’ "misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification."
The Prosecuting Attorneys' Council now must select a replacement to take charge of the case. That person could continue the course charted by Willis, pursue only some of the charges, or move to dismiss the prosecution. Legal observers say it may be difficult to find a prosecutor willing to assume the extensive work and political scrutiny that the case requires.
A Fulton County grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 others in August 2023 under the state's anti-racketeering law, accusing them of participating in a broad scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 loss to Joe Biden in Georgia. The allegations include Trump’s recorded call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to "find" enough votes to change the outcome. Four people charged in the matter have pleaded guilty; 14 other defendants remain charged alongside Trump.
Willis had urged the state Supreme Court to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred by disqualifying her on the basis of appearance alone and by substituting its judgment for that of the trial court. In filings, Willis’ lawyers argued that no Georgia court had previously disqualified a district attorney for mere appearance of impropriety without an actual conflict, and that the trial court’s discretion should not have been overturned.
Attorneys for Trump contended the opposite in their filings, arguing that disqualification was the only remedy that could remove the taint of impropriety from the prosecution. The appellate court sided with that view in December, leading Willis to seek review by the state’s highest court.
The practical implications of the court's refusal are uncertain. Some legal experts say a prosecution of a sitting president presents complex legal and constitutional issues, and the political and logistical challenges of the Georgia case could make it harder to find a successor willing to pursue all charges. The new prosecutor will inherit voluminous evidence and the procedural posture of multiple co-defendants, and could decide to move forward, narrow the scope of the case, or discontinue it.
The case was one of several criminal matters brought against Trump in 2023. The timeline for any further action in Fulton County now depends on how quickly the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council appoints a replacement and what decisions that prosecutor makes about the scope and direction of the prosecution.