WASHINGTON: The Georgia Supreme Court has declined to hear District Attorney Fani Willis’ appeal against her removal from the election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
This decision effectively ends any possibility of the case proceeding to trial before the November 2024 presidential election.
A Georgia appeals court had previously disqualified Willis in December due to an “impropriety” involving her intimate relationship with the special prosecutor she hired for the case.
The state supreme court rejected her appeal by a narrow 4-3 margin, upholding the lower court’s ruling.
Trump celebrated the decision on his Truth Social platform, calling it a “big win for justice and law in Georgia.”
He accused prosecutors of targeting their political opponent and stated they should now “pay serious consequences for their illegal actions.”
Trump and several co-defendants faced racketeering and other charges for allegedly attempting to subvert Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
The Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia must now find a new prosecutor to handle the case, though prosecution appears unlikely while Trump serves as president.
Two federal cases against Trump were previously dropped by Special Counsel Jack Smith following the election, adhering to Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
Those cases involved allegations of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and improperly removing classified documents from the White House.
Trump was convicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to a porn star before the 2016 election. – AFP