Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has urged Georgia’s appeals court to dismiss what she calls a “red herring” argument in an attempt to disqualify her from prosecuting the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his associates.
Willis, who unveiled a sweeping RICO indictment in August 2022 against Trump and 18 of his allies for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, is pushing back against efforts to remove her from the case.
Cathy Latham, a co-defendant and former GOP chair for Coffee County, spearheaded the disqualification effort.
Latham argues that Willis should be disqualified due to a prior conflict involving Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, whom Willis was barred from investigating in 2022 after holding a fundraiser for his political opponent.
However, Jones is not a defendant in the current Trump case.
In a filing reviewed by Newsweek, Willis contended that Latham’s argument is a distraction and irrelevant to the case at hand.
“This is a red herring,” Willis wrote, stating that the disqualification related to Jones does not extend to the other defendants in the Trump indictment.
The Fulton County district attorney’s office argued that there is no legal precedent preventing prosecutors from pursuing cases against other defendants where no conflict of interest exists.
Trump and his co-defendants have also raised concerns about Willis’s alleged personal interest in the case, citing her previous relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Although Wade has since resigned from the case following a ruling by Judge Scott McAfee, the defendants continue to assert that the relationship created an appearance of impropriety.
Judge McAfee had previously ruled that Willis could remain on the case, but allowed the defendants to appeal the decision to the Georgia Court of Appeals. T
he appeals court is set to hear oral arguments on December 5, with a final decision expected by March 2025. Until then, Willis is barred from prosecuting the case, effectively delaying proceedings until after the 2024 election.
In her brief, Willis argued that disqualifications should be an “extraordinary remedy” used sparingly, urging the court to affirm McAfee’s ruling and allow her to proceed with the case.
