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Fulton County DA Fani Willis urges judge in brief to reject motion to disqualify

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Published  March 6, 2024 4:14pm EST
Fani Willis
FOX 5 Atlanta
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks during a news conference at the Fulton County Government building on August 14, 2023 in Atlanta. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will hear the judges decision on if she should be disqualified from the Georgia election interference case within the next two weeks. 

Defendant Michael Roman and his lawyer, Ashleigh Merchant, filed a motion to disqualify Willis and her office in early January based on an "improper" relationship between Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade and financial benefits from pursuing the case. 

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee heard closing arguments from several lawyers involved in the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and others during a hearing on March 1. 

McAfee must decide whether the relationship between Willis and Wade presents a conflict of interest. 

State files supplemental brief

Following the hearing on March 1, the state filed a supplemental brief on March 5 urging Judge Scott McAfee to reject the motion to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office. The basis for this request is that the defense did not meet the "high" standard required by law.

According to the brief, the elected district attorney is not "merely any prosecuting attorney." Willis is a constitutional officer, and there is only one such officer in each judicial circuit. Under Georgia's Constitution, a district attorney is constitutionally mandated "to represent the state in all criminal cases in the superior court of such district attorney’s circuit."

Willis' office asserts that the law requires the judge to find that Willis has an actual conflict of interest or that she engaged in forensic misconduct. She argues that disqualification cannot be solely based on an appearance of a conflict.

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The brief also contends that the defendants are urging the court to adopt a legal standard not recognized under Georgia law, relying on cases cited in a misleading way, being inapplicable, or actually supporting the state's position.

Former President Trump's team responds to the state

Former President Trump's attorney filed a response to the state's supplemental brief soon after.

In their brief, they reemphasized their stance that Willis committed "appalling and unforgivable" types of forensic misconduct, including "testifying falsely" in court about her relationship with Nathan Wade and "stoking racial and religious prejudice against defense counsel and the defendants" during the district attorney's speech at the historic Black church on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

The response then points out that while the State claims that no prosecutor has ever been disqualified in Georgia for forensic misconduct, Trump's attorneys reiterate that no prosecutor in Georgia, elected or otherwise, has engaged in misconduct like Willis.

Trump co-defendant Jeffrey Clark responds to the State

Attorneys for former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark filed a response to the state's supplemental brief later Wednesday afternoon.

In Clark's brief, his attorneys argued that multiple conflicts of interest had been established and that the team provided ample evidence to prove them during the hearing.

Similarly to Trump's response, Clark's also suggested that Willis demonstrated an impairment in professional judgment when she gave a speech at the Big Bethel AME Church "in order to advance her personal interests and those of Mr. Wade – an actualized conflict in which she preferred her personal interests to the detriment of her professional responsibilities."

He also pointed to Willis' motion for a protective order in Wade's divorce case, suggesting it was an abuse of power for personal gain.