Fani Willis Is Dismissed, but Her Case Staggers On — Can Her Zombie Prosecution of Trump Survive?

The disqualification of the district attorney of Fulton County, Fani Willis, from her racketeering case against President Trump and 18 others throws into high relief the prosecution’s uncertain future as the case staggers on without her, a zombie indictment in search of a prosecutor. A panel of the Georgia court of appeals found, by a 2-to-1 margin, that the trial judge, Scott McAfee, “erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office” on account of her romantic affair with her handpicked special prosecutor, Nathan Wade. The appellate judges found that the relationship compromised her “discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring.”That ruling not only dismisses Ms. Willis from the case, it also disqualifies her entire office, whose authority to prosecute is downstream from hers. The review court, though, declined to pursue what it describes as a more “extreme” remedy — the dismissal of Ms. Willis’s indictment. The charges still stand even though she does not, pending her possible appeal to the Georgia supreme court.If Georgia’s high court upholds Ms. Willis’s disqualification, state law mandates, “When a district attorney’s office is disqualified from interest or relationship to engage in a prosecution, the district attorney shall notify the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of the State of Georgia of the disqualification.” That position is now held by a veteran Peach State prosecutor, Pete Skandalakis, a Republican.Mr. Skandalakis will have three options to replace Ms. Willis. He can pick an attorney from the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council, “appoint a competent attorney” from outside the council, or “request the services of and thereafter appoint a district attorney, a solicitor-general, a retired prosecuting attorney … or an attorney employed by the Department of Law.”Mr. Skandalakis told NBC News earlier this year that if Ms. Willis were to be disqualified it “would be disingenuous to say politics isn’t a part of any process” to find her replacement, “but I’m still looking for someone who could be neutral and could make their decision based on the evidence that’s available.”This is not the first time that Mr. Skandalakis has had to replace Ms. Willis. In 2022, she was disqualified from investigating the Peach State’s lieutenant governor, Burt Jones, as part of the election interference probe. Ms. Willis had hosted a fundraiser for a political opponent of Mr. Jones, who was then a state senator running for higher office. Mr. Skandalakis eventually determined that “this matter does not warrant further consideration.”The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council — which Mr. Skandalakis leads — explains that it “provides a number of important services to the hundreds of elected and appointed prosecutors across the State of Georgia. The council consists of nine members, six district attorneys and three state court solicitors who establish policies that guide the day-to-day work of the Council staff.”Mr. Skandalakis, though, will likely eschew replacing Ms. Willis until her fate is decided by the Georgia supreme court. All eight jurists who sit on that body were appointed by Republican governors. As the issue of Ms. Willis’s disqualification appears to be entirely a state matter, there is likely no viable appeal to America’s Supreme Court.

Fani Willis Is Dismissed, but Her Case Staggers On — Can Her Zombie Prosecution of Trump Survive?

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