Atlanta prosecutor removed from Trump 2020 election case

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could not remain on a legal team prosecuting President-elect Donald Trump. Willis’ office has alleged that Trump and numerous co-defendants conspired in an attempt to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. The 2-1 Thursday ruling followed revelations that Willis engaged in an extramarital affair with a special prosecutor she’d hired to work with her on the prosecution against Trump. The trial court judge initially decided in March 2024 that either Willis or the special prosecutor could remain on the case, but not both of them. The special prosecutor resigned soon afterward.

So what was the exact reasoning for making Willis step down? Removing Willis from the team prosecuting Trump was the only way to restore public confidence in those particular legal proceedings, the appeals court said. Simply demanding that either the special prosecutor or Willis step down was not enough, the appeals court added.

So does this end Fulton County’s case against Trump? The appeals court refused to dismiss the indictment against Trump and his alleged co-conspirators. The court acknowledged that an air of impropriety surrounded the case. However, it argued that dismissing an indictment was an extreme measure used only for addressing unlawful government conduct that wasn’t in the case. Even so, the court pointed out that the assistant district attorneys appointed by Willis did not have the power to continue a prosecution she could not be a part of.

Going ahead, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia may appoint a new prosecutor to take over the case, but Willis may also appeal to the state Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in the WORLD archives diving into the details of Willis’ indictment of Trump.