On Thursday, the Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump and his co-defendants. The court stopped short of tossing out the entire indictment, saying that action would be an “extreme sanction.”
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Trump disagreed, saying the case "should not be allowed to go any further" and that the "whole case has been a disgrace to justice."
Trump told Fox:
It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump. They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.
Trump was referencing Willis-appointed special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who withdrew from the case after Judge Scott McAfee ruled that the romantic duo gave the case "an appearance of impropriety" in March. McAfee did not go as far as to call the relationship a conflict of interest.
Read more: Fani Willis Disqualified From Trump Case: The President-Elect Reacts
In his resignation letter, Wade wrote:
I am sure the case, and the team, will be in good hands moving forward and justice will be served.
However, in Thursday's ruling, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that the trial court "erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office."
Related:
NEW: Fani Willis Was Just Officially Disqualified From the Prosecution of Donald Trump
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The decision states:
The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring. The court said while it recognizes that "an appearance of impropriety generally is not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings.
Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of the appellants’ motion to disqualify DA Willis and her office. As we conclude that the elected district attorney is wholly disqualified from this case, ‘the assistant district attorneys – whose only power to prosecute a case is derived from the constitutional authority of the district attorney who appointed them – have no authority to proceed.
Trump told Fox:
There is no way such corrupt people can lead a case, and then it gets taken over by somebody else. It was a corrupt case, so how could it be taken over by someone else?
Trump not only insists that the case should be dismissed but that the defendants deserve apologies, too, saying:
Therefore, the case is entirely dead. Everybody should receive an apology, including those wonderful patriots who have been caught up in this for years.
Eighteen co-defendants were charged alongside Trump in the Fulton County case. He faces a series of charges, including one count under the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents, and two counts of making false statements. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges filed against Trump in Fulton County are part of a troubling trend: the weaponization of the courts for political gain. Trump has faced three other indictments this year, one resulting in a guilty verdict in New York and two federal cases recently dropped by special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump's assertion that the entire case should be dismissed isn't without merit. Proceeding with a case marred by allegations of impropriety, conflicts of interest, and political bias is not just reckless—it’s deeply damaging to the integrity of the justice system.
American's confidence in the judicial system is at a record low, as I recently wrote about here: Biden’s Legacy of Distrust: Confidence Hits Historic Low As Americans Trust Elections More Than Judiciary
As lame-duck President Joe Biden's administration prepares to depart, his legacy of division and distrust is solidifying in the American psyche. This damage is evident in a record low of just 35 percent of Americans expressing confidence in the judicial system, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday. This marks a staggering 24-point decline over the past four years.
At the center of this dramatic decline is none other than President-elect Donald Trump. His legal battles have become a flashpoint. Together, the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the first-ever indictment of a former president created a turbulence in trust that is not confined to one side of the political spectrum.
This resulted in a national crisis of confidence in the judiciary. Both Biden’s supporters and critics saw a sharp decline in confidence—17 points among those who disapproved and 18 points among those favorable to Biden’s leadership.
Beyond the interest of justice, it's in the interest of the fabric of American society to dismiss these politicized prosecutions. The American people need a judiciary that is impartial and focused on upholding the rule of law—not one that is perceived as an instrument of political warfare. And for that reason, Trump is right, we all deserve apologies.
