CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ disqualification will bring the election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump to an end.
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Willis is to be disqualified from the case against Trump and 18 other defendants over her previously undisclosed relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, stating that the lower court allowing her to remain on the case was an “erred” decision. Honig said the case will never reemerge despite it not being officially dismissed as a result of Willis’ disqualification.
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“For all practical purposes, it’s over,” Honig told CNN’s Jim Acosta. “This case was already in deep trouble because of the conduct of the district attorney, Fani Willis. And now, it’s all but over.”
Willis charged Trump and the 18 other defendants in August 2023 with violating 16 statutes in Georgia, including the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, in connection to their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Trump co-defendant Michael Roman filed a motion in January alleging that Willis financially benefited from awarding him a lucrative contract to Wade when he took her on luxury vacations using money earned by his position on the case.
Judge Scott McAfee, who oversaw the initial disqualification case against Willis, concluded in March that the district attorney’s relationship with Wade created a “significant appearance of impropriety.” He allowed Willis to remain on the case if Wade agreed to step aside.
“Now as result this case, it’s not quite dismissed, but Fani Willis and her office will be disqualified from handling it and as a practical matter, it now goes into a sort of purgatory for an undefined amount of time. It’s not coming back, it’s over,” Honig continued.
Honig said Willis could have stepped aside early on in order to prevent the case from falling apart. McAfee also said that Willis engaged in “legally improper” conduct by stating that the pending case against her was brought about due to her race, the legal analyst added.
Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, special counsel Jack Smith voluntarily dismissed his two cases in connection to the president-elect’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021.
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Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s lawyers’ request to dismiss his 34 felony convictions in the case brought forth by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who alleged that the president-elect falsified business records to cover up a $130,000 non-disclosure payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels. The judge ruled that the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have immunity for official acts does not apply to the president-elect’s convictions.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.